MINNEAPOLIS – Canada has been pushed at the 2026 World Junior Championship. They’ve been pushed more than maybe anyone thought they would be in the tournament. Czechia took them to the brink, Latvia took them to overtime and they didn’t have too much trouble with Denmark. Now they take on last year’s silver medalist Finland on New Year's Eve with a chance to win their group and a top seed in the quarterfinals.

ST. PAUL – Some of the classic games in World Juniors history haven’t happened with a medal on the line. Many of them happen before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve.

The 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship has delivered fireworks through group play in St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, setting the stage for a can’t-miss quarterfinal round.

The United States and Sweden, the top two teams in Group A at the World Junior Championship, will play Dec. 31 at 6 p.m. ET in their fourth and final preliminary-round game.

Team Canada's journey along the road to a potential medal in the 2026 World Juniors continued with a Monday night puck drop against a struggling Denmark.

Team USA took on its third opponent, Slovakia, of the 2026 World Juniors after defeating Germany and Switzerland during the opening weekend in Minnesota.

The 2026 World Junior Championships are still going strong. With games already taking place on Dec. 29, one of the highlights will feature Team USA taking on Slovakia with a 5:00 PM CT / 6:00 PM ET puck drop.

As we close in on the 2026 IIHF World Juniors Championship, the ten top nations of junior hockey have pieced together the best rosters they can after months of hard work and, more recently, weeks of camps and cuts.

SAINT PAUL -- Cole Hutson, Team USA's alternate captain and No. 1 defenseman, will be sidelined for at least Monday night's game against Slovakia at the World Junior Championship. Hutson left Saturday night's game against Switzerland on a stretcher and was taken to a nearby hospital where he was cleared and later released to rejoin his team. USA Hockey is listing Hutson as day-to-day.

The third day of action from the 2026 World Juniors Championships is complete and the final match of the day saw absolute dominance on the ice.

Sweden rallied with a dominant third period to defeat Switzerland 4–2 on Dec. 28 at Grand Casino Arena, tightening the Group A race at the 2026 World Junior Championship.

Cole Hutson, Team USA’s No. 1 defenseman and one of its alternate captains, left the ice on a stretcher Saturday night at Grand Casino Arena. The Boston University sophomore was struck in the back of the neck by a puck during the second period of the game and laid motionless on the ice for several minutes.

Canada defeated Latvia 2-1 on an overtime power play in its second preliminary-round World Juniors game. Thirty-eight shots, two goals—so who was stopping all those pucks?

Team USA's journey to a potential third Gold medal in a row at the World Juniors Championship continued on Saturday, December 27 with their second of four preliminary round games—this time, Switzerland was the target.

The 2026 World Junior Classic has brought chaos in every match, but in the match between Canada and Latvia, the tension was high the whole way through.