ST. PAUL – Sweden is on top of the junior hockey world after a convincing, thrilling gold-medal game victory over Czechia. For the first time since 2012, Sweden is wearing the gold medal at the World Junior Championship.

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While Czechia closed the gap very late in the game, Sweden was able to close out the victory in a way they had failed to do in previous trips to the final.

They had been hearing that they can’t win the big game and that they always find a way to choke, but this team always felt different. They were not the best team on paper, but they played better than anyone from Game 1 to Game 7 and earned their gold medal with a team dedicated to winning and playing to the final minute.

On their road to gold, Sweden secured key wins over USA in the final preliminary-round game, beat Finland in an insane shootout in the semifinal that only saw three players score and then outlasted a Czech comeback bid in the final minutes that saw Czechia score twice with their goalie pulled.

So how did they do it? How did Sweden manage to slay their demons? How did they conquer the World Junior Championship for the first time in 14 years? Here are a few reasons…

Sweden’s Best Players Were Their Best Players

You need big-time performances from individuals within the team structure to win this tournament. Sweden’s biggest talents delivered in the biggest moments. Many of Sweden’s biggest talents are also among their youngest players.

Anton Frondell (CHI) had five goals. Ivar Stenberg (2026) led the team with 10 points. Captain Jack Berglund (PHI) had two points in the final to push his total to 10 points to tie with Stenberg. First-rounders Victor Eklund (NYI) and Sascha Boumedienne (WPG) each scored in the gold-medal game. And Viggo Björck (2026), the team’s youngest player got all the toughest minutes the coaching staff could throw at him and excelled. On top of that, the club got exceptional goaltending from Love Härenstam (STL), who was consistent as he started every game but one in the tournament.

You can’t look at any player on Sweden’s roster and call their tournament a disappointment in the same way you can for many of the other countries. The players that were expected to perform performed. That’s often been a bugaboo for Sweden, but not at all this time.

Well-Coached, Well-Disciplined, Committed 

Magnus Hävelid became the first Swedish coach to win gold at the U18 Men’s World Championship and the World Juniors. He won the U18s twice, actually, and now has a U20 gold. Sweden has struggled at both of those tournaments, but Hävelid has pushed the right buttons and gotten the right performances out of his teams.

The coach knew which players he could trust in which situations and never wavered from giving those players the confidence they needed to succeed. The fact that he was not afraid to use Viggo Björck as much as he did in the biggest moments of the biggest games is something you rarely see from a coach, but the player earned it and he made the most of his chances.

When Sweden iced their gold-medal win, it was their two youngest players – Viggo Björck and Ivar Stenberg combining on the empty-netter. Those were the guys he trusted to protect the lead.

I thought Sweden’s deployment of their defensemen was exceptional too. They knew which players to use in the right moments. It always helps to have a true stopper and that’s what they had in Leo Sahlin Wallenius (SJS), who played 28:10 in the final. 

Hävelid still has some time at the helm of the U20 team and now he’ll have a chance to be the first Swedish coach to go back to back. 

Not The Same Old Sweden

Sweden has been viewed often as a team that didn’t have the killer instinct and maybe they weren’t as tough or as hard. This Swedish team had size, they had strength and they played an aggressive brand of hockey.

I wondered how they would handle Czechia’s incredible forecheck. The fact was, Sweden threw it right back in their face. They were harder on pucks, disruptive to Czechia’s transition and suffocating in their own zone. The way Sweden defended between the dots in their own zone should be studied because it was clinical. Breakdowns were minimal.

I look at players like Jack Berglund, Ivar Stenberg, Viggo Björck, Victor Eklund, Anton Frondell, and the list goes on and on that every player was dogged on pucks and in puck pursuit.

This team left nothing to chance. They were going to contest every puck and if you wanted to get up the ice, just expect you’d have to skate through bodies and sticks. 

From a work ethic, discipline and drive standpoint, Sweden was the best team in this tournament. They had enough talent, they got the goaltending and they made the plays when they had to make them.

A lot has to go right, but Sweden made a lot of things go right.

What’s Next For Team Sweden?

There’s a strong chance that Sweden will be the favorite in 2027 as well. While Sweden will have to replace all but two of their defensemen, they have a chance to bring back 12 total players from this year’s team. Almost half of their team can have experience.

Among the players still eligible to play in this tournament next year: Anton Frondell, Ivar Stenberg, Viggo Björck, Eddie Genborg, Milton Gästrin, Casper Juustovaara, Loke Krantz, Eric Nilson, Love Härenstam, Måns Goos, Sascha Boumedienne and William Håkansson.

Frondell could be with Chicago, but there’s a good chance that most of these guys will be back and have a chance to go for the first ever repeat by the Swedes.

It won’t be easy as so few teams go back-to-back, but this group is built as much for the future as it was to win this year. Look out for them in Edmonton and Red Deer.

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