ST. PAUL – The World Juniors gets very real, very quick at this stage of the tournament. After an intriguing preliminary round, the rubber meets the road as we reach the elimination stage of the tournament. For Team USA, dropping their final preliminary-round game against Sweden means a date with Finland in a rematch of last year’s gold-medal game.

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The quarterfinal can often be one of the more dangerous games in the tournament. You’re not quite deep enough in it to be playing your best hockey, yet the margin for error is no thinner. Every mistake can lead to disaster, every great play can lead to an iconic moment. The stakes are impossibly high and for Team USA, they feel even higher on home ice.

Friday evening, the U.S. will meet a Finnish team that has had its own ups and downs as the tournament has progressed, but both teams fully understand the danger each presents to each other. Finland’s stifling team defense and excellent goaltending, USA’s speed and tenacity are both going to be critical to the respective teams’ chances in this win or go home game.

Here’s what we’ll be watching for in Friday’s quarterfinal.

What To Watch For In USA-Finland Quarterfinal

Cole Hutson Likely To Return From Injury In QF

Team USA could not ask for a bigger boost heading into the quarterfinals with the potential return of No. 1 defenseman Cole Hutson, who was a full participant in practice on New Year’s Day. While Hutson has not officially confirmed that he will play, all signs are pointing to him being in the lineup. 

Hutson has the ability to take over games and dictate his shifts on the ice with his ability to distribute the puck. USA has sorely missed his presence on the blue line as they’ve had to up the minutes for a number of players that haven’t exactly been playing particularly well.

With Hutson and Adam Kleber (BUF) as USA’s top pairing, they have a duo that can be put out in just about any situation with full faith from the coaching staff.

Nick Kempf Getting The Nod In Net

Bob Motzko told the media Wednesday that Nick Kempf (WSH) is expected to start in the game. He has appeared in two games here so far, allowing two goals. This will only be his second start of the event as Kempf was in net against Switzerland, but came on in relief against Sweden. 

USA needs strong goaltending in this game and so far Kempf has been their best between the pipes. We’ll see if the inconsistent playing time has any factor in his performance, but I can’t recall a U.S. roster using a goalie rotation quite the way they have this year. All three goalies have played, yet Kempf as really been the only one to provide consistent performances. My guess is the net is his the rest of the way, or at least it probably should be.

Is Finland Healthy?

The Finns have been dealing with some illness going around their room. Captain Aron Kiviharju (MIN) missed the game against Canada because he was too sick to play. We’ll see if he’s had enough time to recover and get back into the lineup.

This is actually a fairly common occurrence at the World Juniors. Teams will have one player get sick or maybe a few teams have something going around and if it doesn’t get everybody, it gets a lot of them. It’s the tough part of these short tournaments. Anything can happen to knock you off course.

The Gold-Medal Game Rematch

There are quite a few players on both sides that were in the gold-medal game last year that USA found a way to win in overtime. That adds another wrinkle to the motivation of Team Finland in this game. 

Petteri Rimpinen (LAK) was so good in net that game and has been strong once again here. He could be a real difference maker in this one. Finland had a bit more depth last year than they do this year, but they’re no less a threat. Neither the U.S. or Finland have played their best game yet in this tournament and are fairly evenly matched.

USA did beat Finland in a pre-tournament game in Duluth a few weeks ago, but both teams are going to have a bit more to them than last time. 

This is the premiere matchup of the quarterfinals and it really does feel like it could go either way. The intensity of this matchup is going to be pretty incredible. I’d expect another tight, close-score finish to this game and maybe we even need overtime. It’s going to be a battle.

2026 World Juniors Quarterfinal Schedule

Friday, January 2

• 12:30 p.m. ET - Germany vs. Denmark
• 2:00 p.m. ET Sweden vs. Latvia
• 4:30 p.m. ET Czechia vs. Switzerland
• 6:00 p.m. ET USA vs. Finland
• 8:30 p.m. ET Canada vs. Slovakia

2026 World Juniors Medal Round Schedule, Semifinals and Final

Sunday, January 4

• 4:30 p.m. ET - Semifinals Game 1
• 8:30 p.m. ET - Semifinals Game 2

Monday, January 5

• 4:30 p.m. ET - Bronze Medal Game
• 8:30 p.m. ET - Gold Medal Game

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