2026 Tournament Will Be Held in St. Paul and Minneapolis
CHN Staff Report
Minnesota coach Bob Motzko has been picked to lead the 2026 U.S. World Junior team.
The 2026 World Junior Championship will be held Dec. 26, 2025—Jan. 5, 2026 in St. Paul, Minn.
It will be Motzko’s third time as head coach of Team USA at the World Juniors. He led the team to a gold medal in 2017 and a bronze in 2018.
“We’re fortunate to have someone with Bob’s level of experience coaching our team on home soil,” Team USA general manager John Vanbiesbrouck said. “Having guided our teams to medals on two other occasions in the World Juniors, he knows what it takes to have success and we’re excited to have him leading our team.”
The U.S. is coming off back-to-back golds with Denver’s David Carle as head coach.
Motzko is 437-274-70 in 20 years as head coach with St. Cloud State and Minnesota. He has 13 trips to the NCAA Tournament, including three Frozen Four appearances. He won two national championships as an assistant coach at Minnesota in 2002 and 2003.
Team USA will compete in Group A against Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland in the preliminary round at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. Group B, which includes Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland and Latvia, will play its preliminary round contests at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.
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