2025 IIHF World Juniors12.26.24 - 01.05.25
Ottawa, ON
So this is why the Senators are on a nine game road trip! This is the first time Ottawa has hosted the IIHF World Junior Championship since 2009. I remember watching 2009 edition as a kid; it's not just my hometown bias, I genuinely think that was one of the most exciting international hockey tournaments I've watched. That semifinal game against Russia, with Jordan Eberle tying it in the dying seconds... that's a memory etched into my head.
Having the tournament back in Ottawa, under the watch of the Senators' new ownership, is a pretty big win for the team and the city. Games were held at the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata and TD Place at Lansdowne Park; Group A (Canada's group) assigned to Canadian Tire Centre and Group B assigned to TD Place. And all medal games were played at Canadian Tire Centre.
I only made it to one game live, which was USA vs Germany in the preliminaries on Boxing Day. Yeah, everyone knew that would be a rout, but at least Germany potted a few before USA starting running away with it. Final score was 10-4 in favour of the Americans. They adopted Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird" as their goal song... safe to say I'll never hear that song the same again.
And Canada fared pretty horribly in this tournament, getting knocked out by Czechia in the quarter finals. Not before falling to Latvia in a shootout during the round robin. This falls squarely on the shoulders of Hockey Canada, with their questionable roster decisions resulting in a cast of players that really did not have any game-breaking talent. They really could have used someone like Senators 2024 first-rounder Carter Yakemchuk!
At least I can say I got to see the gold medal winning team live? Oh well, hopefully Hockey Canada actually learns their lesson by the time we reach the 2026 tournament in Minnesota. But in general, I realize now that international hockey is not something I've seen much of in person, so hopefully I get more opportunities to do so.
