In its 50th year, the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship has returned to Minnesota, where in 1982, it became the first host site in the United States. To put into perspective just how long ago that really was, the U.S. team had future NHL Hall of Famers, Chris Chelios, John Vanbiesbrouck and Phil Housley on their roster.
However, the U.S. squad finished in sixth place of the eight teams, just ahead of Switzerland and West Germany – no, that is not a typo. Canada took home its first World Juniors Championship after beating Czechoslovakia in the gold medal game.
Fast forward to 2025 and once again, hockey fans from around the world are descending on the State of Hockey to watch their national teams in the best venues Minnesota has to offer. The crown jewel of arenas, of course is the Grand Casino Arena, home of the Minnesota Wild in beautiful downtown St. Paul. There is a fan fest just outside of the arena in Rice Park where fans can enjoy skating, bon fires, take pictures with the world’s largest puck and enjoy postgame fireworks with the St. Paul skyline in the forefront.
Home to the men’s University of Minnesota Golden Gopher Hockey Team, 3M Arena at Mariucci on the U of M campus in Minneapolis is the secondary host rink for the tournament. Pre-tournament games also took place at other sites around the State of Hockey, such as Mayo Clinic Event Center in Mankato, MN, home to the men’s and women’s hockey teams for the Minnesota State Mavericks.
As the Grand Casino Arena filled to the brim with fans on Wednesday night, the excitement from American and Swedish fans was evident even before the first puck dropped. Fans dressed in yellow and blue representing the Swedish fan base were in small bunches throughout the arena, while American fans donned jerseys, hats and even full suits made to look like the American flag. Various celebrities, NHL scouts and former players were also on-hand in the sold-out arena.
The Swedes and Americans surely provided an entertaining game and in effort to promote positive international relations, I’ll just say the referees provided some “debatable” calls and non-calls, depending on what colors we were wearing. Sweden jumped to a 3-0 lead before Team USA finally got on the board, but the Americans never got any closer than two goals. After the clock hit all zeroes, Sweden thoroughly man-handled the American boys, winning 6-3 and securing the Group A Title and the top ranking in the upcoming quarterfinals. Sweden finished with a 4-0 record in the prelims, while Team USA finished at 3-1 with victories over Slovakia, Germany and Switzerland.
The quarterfinal matchups are now set with all games taking place on Friday, January 2. Games will begin at 11:30 AM CDT with Germany vs. Denmark (at U of M), Sweden vs. Latvia (at GC Arena) at 1:00 PM, Czechia vs. Switzerland at U of M), USA vs. Finland (at GC Arena) and finally, Canada vs. Slovakia (at U of M). Semifinals are scheduled for Sunday, January 4, with the Bronze Medal game and Gold Medal games occurring on Monday, January 5 at the Grand Casino Arena.