It’s been said before, and it’ll be said again – anything can happen at the World Junior Championship – and it did at this year’s tournament. The USA won its first back-to-back gold medals, but they nearly had that moment taken from them after falling 3-1 to Finland early in the second period. The Americans clawed back to push the game into overtime, where Teddy Stiga scored the golden goal.
Team Canada, who was expected to be a top competitor and finish with a medal after missing out on one in 2024, again failed to respond to the ups and downs of the challenging tournament. The team finished third in their pool and then bowed out in the quarter-finals against Czechia for a second straight year. Coaching – specifically head coach Dave Cameron – was a major issue, as they appeared to give up on their team after a surprising loss to Latvia early on, dooming them to struggle against tougher teams later in the schedule.
This year, I made a few predictions. Logan Horn, who made six bold predictions for the 2024 World Juniors, did pretty well last year, nailing two of his predictions and getting very close on two more. That’s nearly a 50% success rate (if you give partial marks to his two close calls). While I would like to say I followed suit, I think my predictions were just a bit too bold.
1. Gabe Perrault Leads the Tournament in Scoring
The Americans entered the 2025 tournament with established chemistry thanks to Boston College, where Gabe Perreault, James Hagens, Ryan Leonard, and Stiga play. Perrault leads that team with 23 points and 16 assists. He’s a playmaking machine, and given his familiarity with his teammates and the USA’s chance to return to the World Junior Final, I made him my choice as the tournament’s point leader.
Unfortunately, he didn’t quite get there. After four games, he had just four points, including two pointless games against Finland and Canada. He turned it on in the playoffs, scoring six points over the next three contests, but that left him just one point shy of the leader, teammate Cole Hutson. However, 10 points were still good enough to put him tied for second place alongside Leonard and Czechia’s Jakub Stancl. I’ll give myself half marks on this one.
However, I don’t get any bonus points for my bonus prediction. Despite having one of the best shots of the 2024 Draft class, Cole Eiserman finished his first World Junior…
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