The World Junior Classic (WJC) is a showcase that takes place once a year in late December and wraps up in early January. It is widely regarded as the top under-20 hockey tournament in the world. The WJC Attracts NHL scouts from all 32 professional teams. It’s an amazing opportunity for young athletes to showcase their skills.
This year’s WJC was held in Gothenburg, Sweden. The tournament was made up of ten different countries divided into two different groups of five. The two heavy favorites going into the 2024 tournament were Canada and the USA. Canada won the last two tournaments in decisive fashion and their expectations were no different coming into this year’s tournament, but if they were going to complete the three-peat they would have to go through a very talented USA team.
Both Canada and the U.S. were off to very strong starts at the tournament winning their first two games. With Canada outscoring their first two opponents by a margin of 15-2. The U.S. didn’t miss a beat either, outscoring their first two opponents 14-4. It was safe to say the U.S. and Canada were living up to their hype.
After pool play the U.S. was ranked one in pool B with a record of 4-0. Although Canada was ranked second in pool A after they were shut out by the home team Sweden 2-0. The bracket play was set for January second with eight of the ten countries advancing to the bracket round. Heading into the bracket play Canada and the U.S. were still the heavy favorites.
The U.S. won their quarterfinal match over Latvia 7-2 advancing them to the semi-final where they would take on Finland, a team they were very familiar with, as their record against one another at this tournament was a deadlock at 18-18-1. For Canada, they found themselves in very unfamiliar territory as disaster struck for them with Czechia scoring a late goal to win 3-2 ending their tournament. This was the first time in the past four tournaments Canada hadn’t reached the Gold medal game.
The U.S. went on to win their semi-final match over Finland in come-from-behind fashion as they went down 2-0 early in the first period. The U.S. went on to score three unanswered goals to win 3-2 and tilt the all-time record in their favor. With that win the U.S. found themselves in a championship game against the home team Sweden, who won their semi-final over Czechia 5-2. The U.S. went on to complete their dream of a Gold medal winning 6-2 over the Swedes, and finishing the 2024 WJC with a perfect 7-0 record.
This year’s gold medal team marked the 6th gold medal the U.S. has won at this tournament and the first gold medal since the 2021 tournament when they defeated Canada 2-0. The U.S. will look to continue its winning ways at the 2025 tournament, and it was just announced that the 2026 tournament will be held in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center giving the red, white, and blue home ice advantage.