U.S., Canada Win in 2026 WJC Openers

Will Zellers (North Dakota) scored two goals and set up another, and Cole Hutson (Boston University) tallied two assists as the host United States defeated Germany, 6-3, tonight in its opener of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship in St. Paul, Minn. The U.S., which has won the last two WJC gold medals, will next face off tomorrow with Switzerland, which will be playing in its first game of the tournament.

In the nightcap in Minneapolis, Canada outlasted Czechia, 7-5, by scoring four times in the third period. Michael Hage (Michigan) notched a goal and two assists for the Canadians, who also got two assists from Gavin McKenna (Penn State) and an empty-net goal from Porter Martone (Michigan State). Canada will next face Latvia on Saturday.

ADDENDUM: Team USA edged Switzerland, 2-1, on a goal by Zellers, while Canada topped Latvia by the same score on an overtime goal from Hage.

USA Upends Latvia in WJC Quarterfinal

The United States has advanced to the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. Team USA made it to the WJC final four by routing Latvia, 7-2, on Tuesday in Sweden.

The U.S. tallied three goals in each of the first two periods to win going away. Gabe Perreault (Boston College) scored twice and asded an assist for the Americans, who also got three assists apiece from Cutter Gauthier (Boston College) and Seamus Casey (Michigan). Jacob Fowler (Boston College) finished with 25 saves in goal for the U.S., which went 1-for-5 on the power play. 

The U.S. will face Finland (1:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network) in one of the two semifinal contests on Thursday. The other will feature Sweden, which edged Switzerland on Tuesday, vs. Czechia, which upset defending WJC champion Canada in the final minute of regulation in their quarterfinal matchup.

Team USA Wins First Two at Rescheduled World Juniors

The United States National Junior Team is off to a solid start at the revamped 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton. Team USA defeated Germany, 5-1, in its opening game, and then pasted Switzerland, 7-1, in its next outing.

Luke Hughes (Michigan) leads all defensemen in the tournament, and is fifth overall among all skaters so far, with five points through two games, on a goal and four assists. Mbereko Kaidan (Colorado College) is 2-0-0 in net for the Americans, with a 1.00 goals-against average and .943 save percentage to date. 

This month's tournament (Aug. 9-20) replaces the original event that was canceled shortly after it began in December, due to COVID-19/Omicron variant concerns. The U.S. won the last World Junior championship that was played to completion in 2020, which was also held in Canada.

The U.S. will now face Switzerland in in its next contest today (2 p.m. ET, NHL Network), before meeting Sweden on Sunday night to close out the preliminary round.

ADDENDUM: After routing the Swiss by a 7-1 count, Team USA held on to defeat Sweden, 3-2, to finish with a 4-0-0 record in group play. Matthew Coronato (Harvard) scored two goals, including the game-winner, for the Americans, who will now face Czechia in a quarterfinal contest on Aug. 17.

BC's Woll Wins First Two NHL Starts

Joseph Woll (Boston College) took some time in making it to the NHL. When he finally did, he won his first two career starts—both on the road, and the second by shutout.

Woll, 23, who was drafted 62nd overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016, made his first start as an NHL goaltender on Nov. 13 at Buffalo. The Missouri native made 23 saves as the Maple Leafs outlasted the host Sabres, 5-4. Eight days later, Woll notched his first career NHL shutout, making 20 stops in Toronto's 3-0 whitewash of the New York Islanders.

A product of the St. Louis AAA Blues organization and the U.S. National Team Development Program, the 6-foot-4 Woll played three seasons at BC (2016-2019), going 47-45-8 in 101 NCAA appearances with a 2.51 goals-against average, a .916 save percentage and six shutouts. A member of the 2016-17 Hockey East All-Rookie team, he led the Eagles to the 2017-18 Hockey East regular-season title. He also won a gold medal with the U.S. at the 2017 World Junior Championship, before following up the next year with a WJC bronze medal.

After signing with Toronto in 2019, Woll saw his first pro action with the AHL's Toronto Marlboros. He went 20-24-4 (3.66, .885) in 50 games with the Marlies, including two wins in three games earlier this season, before being summoned to Toronto on Nov. 7. He got the start again tonight in net, as the Maple Leafs visited the San Jose Sharks.

U.S. Ousted at World Juniors

The United States will not medal at this year's IIHF U20 World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic.

The Americans fell, 1-0, to defending champion Finland in a quarterfinal match Thursday, despite 28 saves by Spencer Knight (Boston College). The loss snaps a U.S. string of four years worth of World Junior medals, including silver last season.

Trevor Zegras led all U.S. scorers in this year's tournament with nine points, all coming on assists, while Shane Pinto (North Dakota) tied for the American goal-scoring lead with four goals overall.

Finland moves on to the semifinal round against either Canada or Russia. The U.S. will seek to return to the WJC podium next year in Edmonton.

BC's Knight Makes U.S. World Junior Team

Spencer Knight is the lone current Boston College Eagle on this year's U.S. National Junior Team Roster. The group will compete in the 2020 World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic starting Dec. 26.

In all, 14 NCAA different schools are represented on this year's roster for the U.S., which finished runner-up to Finland at the WJC a year ago in Vancouver after falling by a 3-2 count in the gold medal game.

Knight has fashioned an 11-4-0 record with a 1.73 goals-against average, a .940 save percentage, and four shutouts so far for the No. 5 Eagles. Also in this year's American lineup is Oliver Wahlstrom (Boston College), who left BC after recording 17 points last season as a freshman and is now skating for Bridgeport (AHL).

Jacob Bernard-Docker (North Dakota) was the lone NCAA player selected for Team Canada's World Junior squad this year.

U.S. Falls to Finland in WJC Gold Medal Game

Sasha Chmelevski and Josh Norris scored goals (Michigan), and Cayden Primeau made 28 saves in all, but the U.S. National Junior Team came up short Saturday night in the 2019 IIHF World
Junior Championship gold medal game in Vancouver. A late third-period goal gave Finland a 3-2 victory and its first WJC gold since 2016.

After Finland took a 2-0 lead early in the third period, Chmelevski and Norris scored to tie the game before the Finns took the lead for good with 1:26 remaining in regulation on Kaapo Kakko's goal off a goalmouth scramble. A first-period goal by USA's Oliver Wahlstrom (Boston College) was disallowed, due to interference with Finnish goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

It was the first WJC silver medal since 1997 for the U.S., which was seeking its third gold medal in four years. Finland now has five WJC gold medals overall, while the U.S. remains at four. Ryan Poehling (St. Cloud State) of Team USA was named Most Valuable Player of this year's tournament, after finishing third among all scorers with five goals and eight assist for 13 points.

U.S. Wins 2019 WJC Opener

Mikey Anderson (Minnesota-Duluth) tied the game in the third period, and Evan Barratt (Penn State) tallied the game-winner shortly afterward as the U.S. National Junior Team opened the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship with a 2-1 win over Slovakia on Wednesday in Victoria, B.C.

Kyle Keyser of the Oshawa Generals stopped 13 shots for Team USA, including a third-period penalty shot with just over seven minutes remaining in regulation, after the Americans had taken
the lead. The U.S. outshot Slovakia, 34-14, overall and finished 1-for-3 on the power play.

The U.S., which is tied for first place in Group 'B' with Sweden, will next face Kazahkstan in WJC action on Friday (10:30 p.m. ET, NHL Network).

Team USA Wins World Juniors Opener

Casey Mittelstadt (Minnesota) and former Boston University forward Kieffer Bellows each scored two goals as the U.S. National Junior Team opened the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship with a 9-0 victory over Denmark on Tuesday night in Buffalo.

Mittelstadt and Bellows were two of seven players who recorded two points apiece for the U.S. in its opening game, and were also two of the seven American players who tallied a goal on Tuesday. Team USA led 5-0 after one period of play, and then added two goals in each of the final two stanzas.

Joseph Woll (Boston College) stopped all 17 Danish shots, as the U.S. outshot Denmark, 36-17. Team USA will next face Slovakia, a 6-0 victim of Canada earlier today, on Thursday.

Kariya Named to Hockey Hall of Fame

Former University of Maine star and Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Paul Kariya was announced Monday as part of the Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2017. The induction ceremony will be held in November.

The Vancouver native burst on the college hockey scene in 1992-93, when paced Maine with 25 goals and 75 assists for 100 points in 39 games, while also leading the Black Bears to their first-ever NCAA title. He also became the first freshman to ever claim the Hobey Baker Award, and was drafted fourth overall that summer by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

After recording eight goals and 24 points in just 12 games the following season with Maine, Kariya then joined the Canadian National Team. He competed in the 1994 Olympic Winter Games, where he won a silver medal, one year after earning gold at the World Junior Championship, and several months before winning gold at the World Championship. He then embarked upon a 15-season NHL career that saw him tally 402-587—989 points in 989 regular-season outings with Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville and St. Louis, before he retired in 2010.

A two-time 100-point scorer and a seven-time 30-goal scorer, according to hockeydb.com, Kariya also added 16-23—39 points in 46 Stanley Cup playoff contests, and helped Anaheim to within one victory of the Stanley Cup in 2003. He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy in both 1996 and 1997, earned World Championship silver in 1996, and claimed Olympic gold in 2002.

U.S. Wins 2017 World Junior Gold

For the first time in four years and second since 2010, the U.S. National Junior Hockey Team is golden.

The Americans rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal to defeat host Canada, 5-4, in a shootout in the gold-medal game of the 2017 IIHF Under-20 World Junior Championship.

Troy Terry (Denver) was again the hero in the extra session for the Americans. Following a scoreless 20-minute overtime period, Terry tallied the only goal of the shootout to lift Team USA to its first WJC gold medal since 2013 in Russia. He had three shootout goals the day before in 4-3 semifinal win over Russia. Tyler Parsons made 46 saves for the U.S. on Wednesday, while also stopping all five Canadian shootout attempts.

Trailing 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes, Team USA knotted things up on goals by Boston University teammates Charlie McAvoy and Kiefer Bellows (power-play goal). After Canada connected twice early in the third period to again pull ahead, 4-2, Bellows scored his second goal of the game to bring the U.S. back within one.

Colin White (Boston College) then tied the game with just under 13 minutes remaining in regulation. White finished with a team-high seven goals in seven games for the Americans (7-0-0), and along with McAvoy also played on last year's American WJC squad that won bronze in Finland. Canada outshot the U.S., 50-36, on the night, including 17-7 in overtime

The U.S. has now won four gold medals (2004, 2010, 2013, 2017) in WJC competition, with three of those wins in the championship game coming against Canada.

Russia defeated Sweden earlier on Wednesday, 2-1 in overtime, to claim this year's bronze medal. Next year's WJC competition will be held in Buffalo for the first time since 2011, when the U.S. won bronze.

U.S. to Play for Gold After Edging Russia

Troy Terry (Denver) scored three times in the shootout to lift the U.S. National Junior Team to a 4-3 victory over Russia in a 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship semifinal game at the Bell Centre in Montreal. It was the first time ever that the U.S. had defeated Russia in the medal round in WJC play.

Colin White (Boston College) scored twice in regulation for Team USA, giving him six goals in six games this tournament, with his second goal lifting the U.S. to a 3-2 lead late in the second period. Russia forced overtime with a third-period tally, after holding leads of 1-0 and 2-1 over the first 40 minutes. Luke Kunin (Wisconsin) scored a second period power-play goal for the U.S., which also got two assists on the day from Clayton Keller (Boston University).

Tyler Parsons made 33 saves for the Americans (6-0-0), which outshot Russia, 40-36, over regulation and a scoreless 10-minute overtime period that initiated the shootout. The U.S. then outscored Russia, 4-3, over the extra session, with former Boston College forward Jeremy Bracco getting the other American shootout goal to keep the U.S. effort alive at the time. Terry scored on all three of his shootout attempts, including two in a row, as international rules dictate that shooters can repeat after the first five shootout attempts have been conducted if there is no winner to that point.

Parsons was named the American MVP for the game, while Keller, White and Jordan Greenway (Boston University) were tabbed as Team USA's top players of the tournament. The Americans will now play the winner of Sweden-Canada on Thursday in Montreal for the gold medal (8 p.m. ET, NHL Network). The U.S., which will medal for the fifth time in eight WJC tournaments, last finished first in WJC competition in 2013 in Ufa, Russia.

Greenway Powers U.S. to Win Over Switzerland

A third-period power-play goal by Jordan Greenway (Boston University) broke a tie and allowed the U.S. National Junior Team to survive.

Greenway's goal, which was assisted by BU teammates Charlie McAvoy and Clayon Keller, lifted the Americans to a 3-2 win over upstart Switzerland in the quarterfinal round of the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship in Toronto. The U.S. improved to 5-0-0 overall in the tournament, and will now face Russia on Wednesday in a semifinal contest.

Greenway scored just 18 seconds after the Swiss had forged a 2-2 tie to complete a comeback from an early two-goal deficit. He also assisted on a first-period goal by Luke Kunin (Wisconsin), which followed one by former Boston College forward Jeremy Bracco.

Tyler Parsons made 19 saves for Team USA, which was outshot, 21-19, by the Swiss.

U.S. Edges Russia, Improves to 3-0

The U.S. National Junior Team made it 3-for-3 in the Group “B" round-robin portion of the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship with a 3-2 victory over Russia on Thursday afternoon in Toronto.

A tip-in goal by Troy Terry (Denver) in the second period gave the U.S. a 3-1 lead and held up as the game-winner. Clayton Keller (Boston University) staked the Americans to a 1-0 lead on a backhander in the first period, and Colin White (Boston College) put the U.S. up, 2-1, in the second period by putting home a rebound. Terry was named the U.S. Player of the Game, while White has scored a goal in each of USA’s three WJC games this winter, all victories.

Tyler Parson had 25 saves for the Americans, who snapped a three-game WJC losing string to Russia. Team USA will close out the round-robin portion of this year’s tournament against host Canada in Toronto on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET (NHL Network).

U.S Tops Slovakia, 5-2

The U.S Junior National Team got goals from five different skaters and improved to 2-0 in the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship with a 5-2 win over Slovakia on Wednesday night in Toronto.

Colin White (Boston College) scored a goal for the second straight game for the Americans, who also got 18 saves from first-time WJC starter Joe Woll (Boston College). Tanner Laczynski (Ohio State), Tage Thompson (Connecticut), Troy Terry (Denver) and Charlie McAvoy (Boston University) also scored for the U.S., which connected once on the power play and outshot Slovakia, 50-20, on the evening. Jack Roslovic (Miami) posted one assist and was named U.S. Player of the Game, according to usahockey.com.

Team USA will now face Russia (1-1), on Thursday at 3;30 p.m. ET (NHL Network). Russia, which fell to host Canada on Tuesday, has ended American medal hopes in the past three World Juniors.

U.S. Shut Out by Sweden

 
The U.S. National Junior Team suffered its first setback at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship in Finland with today's 1-0 loss to Sweden. The U.S. fell behind in the second period and could never get the equalizer, despite outshooting the Swedes, 46-23, overall at the Helsinki Ice Hall.

The Americans, who defeated Canada, 4-2, in their opener on Saturday, will continue the round-robin portion of the tournament against Switzerland on Wednesday (1 p.m. ET, NHL Network).

U.S. Opens World Junior Championship Today

The U.S. National Junior Team begins its quest for gold today at 1 p.m. EST against Canada in Helsinki, Finland in its opening game of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship. The U.S. is in a bracket that also includes Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland.

Schools represented on the U.S. roster this year, according to USCHO.com, include Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Miami, Michigan, North Dakota, Notre Dame, St. Cloud State and Yale.

The Americans previously won gold in 2004 in Finland, 2010 in Canada, and 2013 in Russia.

ADDENDUM: Team USA scored three times in the third period to defeat Canada, 4-2, for its first preliminary-round WJC victory over its neighbor to the north since 1998. Colin White (Boston College) scored the first American goal and was named the player of the game. Louie Belpedio  (Miami) scored the game-winner from the left point, after Zach Werenski (Michigan) had tallied from the right point to put the U.S. up by a 2-1 count.

... And Another One Gone ...

Boston University sophomore forward Charlie Coyle, who won a bronze medal with the U.S. in last season's IIHF World Junior Championship held in Buffalo, has left school to play for the defending Memorial Cup champion St. John's Sea Dogs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, according to the Patriot Ledger.

A native of East Weymouth, Mass., Coyle played for the South Shore Kings of the Eastern Junior Hockey League before enrolling at BU in the fall of 2010. He also played for both Thayer Academy and Weymouth High School in the Massachusetts scholastic ranks.

Coyle tallied seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points in 37 games a year ago with BU, and had posted three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 13 outings so far this fall. He played his last game for the Terriers in a 5-1 win at Maine on Dec. 10, notching one assist, and finished with 10-27—37 points in 50 collegiate contests.

A first-round draft choice of the NHL's San Jose Sharks in 2010, Coyle's rights were traded to the Minnesota Wild in June. He was named to the preliminary roster for the 2012 U.S National Junior Team earlier this month, and that team will compete in the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship in Alberta from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5. According to the St. John's web site, Coyle is expected to join the Sea Dogs following the tournament.

BU (10-5-1 overall, 8-4-1 Hockey East) is second in its conference, and is also ranked ninth in the nation by USCHO.com. The Terriers will return to action on Dec. 31 in a nationally-televised game at Notre Dame.