It’s time for the final day of the 2025 World Junior Championship. The bronze, silver, and gold medals are handed out today. Let’s take a look at today’s games with one player to watch.
Bronze Medal Game: Sweden vs Czechia (2:30 PM CST)
I didn’t expect the bronze medal game to be between Sweden and Czechia if I’m being completely honest. The way that the Swedes played in their semifinal game versus Finland, they just barely lost, and that says a lot for both teams.
Czechia looks to continue their medal streak as they compete for yet another medal while Sweden can’t redeem their gold medal loss on home turf last year. Czechia is defending their bronze medal from last year’s tournament and their opponents aren’t the same as last year, but they are a strong opponent nonetheless.
Both teams are trying to finish off strong in a tournament that has been unlike others. If I had to guess who’d win, I would figure that Czechia narrowly defends their bronze medal in overtime today.
One Player to Watch for Each Team
Sweden will be firing on all cylinders against Czechia, and that will be led by Victor Eklund and Axel Sandin-Pellikka. Yes, I’ve chosen two players to watch for Sweden, but it’s mainly because they’re looking for drive and compete against Czechia who have all of the momentum in the world heading into this game regardless of their loss against the USA. If Sweden wants to finish with a medal, they need big performances both offensively and defensively all across the board.
Czechia is ready to face an onslaught against the Swedish team, and Michael Hrabal will be the X factor for the Czechs. Hrabal’s five games with numbers that surprise most, a 2.49 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. The Czechs are going to look for a great performance from Hrabal, but they’ll need a 200-foot performance to complement Hrabal if they want to defend their bronze medal against Sweden.
Gold Medal Game: USA vs Finland (6:30 PM CST)
I thought that the gold medal game was going to be Sweden and USA competing against each other for a second straight year. I was wrong on that front. This game also marks the first time that the Americans compete for gold in consecutive World Juniors tournaments.
The Americans are not going to go down without a fight, and they only have one loss in this year’s World Juniors and last year’s combined. Finland, who arguably upset a heavily favourited Swedish team, will look to add a second loss to the American’s record.
The USA has been a force when it comes to goalscoring, and the Finnish team has relied on their strong two-way play while mostly focusing on the defensive aspect. This game will be incredibly interesting as both teams have been playing entirely differently from each other, and it will be an entirely new beast to tackle for both teams.
One Player to Watch for Each Team
Team USA will rely heavily on their captain to score yet again on the big stage for them. With eight points (5G, 3A) in six games, Ryan Leonard has been a powerhouse for the Americans for all the right reasons. If the Americans want to push for a second consecutive gold medal, the team will want their captain to model the effort level the Americans want in their game versus Finland.
The Finland team will be on the hunt for a gold medal this year as they’ve been one of the more underrated teams this tournament, but they’ll be looking at Konsta Helenius to lead them to victory with another strong performance. Helenius lifted the Finnish team to the gold medal game after a four-assist performance over Sweden. His seven assists in six tournament games are impressive, but it’s skewed by his lack of goal-scoring which will be a factor against the Americans. If he can break that drought, the Americans will have a big problem on their hands.
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