2025 World Junior Championship: Day One Preview

The World Junior Championship starts today. Four teams will play in today’s games. Let’s take a look at all the games today.

Related: A Quick Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship

Sweden vs Slovakia (11:00 AM CST)

This year’s World Juniors starts with a hard-hitting contest. The Swedes, who are looking to redeem themselves from last year’s gold medal loss, will face Slovakia, a team looking to get into the medal conversation this year.

Sweden is the heavy favourite in this contest, but don’t totally count out Slovakia. This will be a scratch-and-claw game all the way till the final buzzer sounds.

With both teams having wrapped up their pre-tournament competition, it’s time for the round-robing action of the World Juniors.

One Player to Watch from Each Team

For Sweden, Otto Stenberg is due to step out and make his presence known and lead by example for his team. He’s a strong player who’s returning to the U20 squad after last year’s gold medal loss in Sweden meaning there will be animosity to have a strong start in this year’s tournament.

For Slovakia, they’re joined by a lot of returners and a uniquely built roster, but it’s Luka Radivojevic who is a player to watch against Finland. The 17-year-old played for Slovakia at the U18 and U20 World Junior tournaments in 2024, meaning he’s got plenty of experience and he’ll be ready to be a force for his country.

Germany vs United States (1:30 PM CST)

This game is likely to be the first landslide of the tournament. Goals for and goals against matter in tie-breakers, so Team USA might step outside the box and seal the deal against Germany in this game. However, that doesn’t entirely rule out Germany.

After nearly being relegated in the 2024 tournament, Germany has opted to bring a more experienced roster as they look to stay in the top division. The coaches know it too, but Germany is playing three of the favorites in the round-robin schedule which will impact their win-loss record. It was said that Germany is competing to avoid relegation again this year.

Meanwhile, Team USA will be taking this game to build chemistry and work out any rough edges of their game as they look to get back to the Gold Medal game. The USA has a strong and deep roster, meaning they’ll likely pounce at everything regardless of their opponent and score. They’re hungry to go back-to-back and will scratch and claw just to defend their title.

One Player to Watch from Each Team

Team Germany only brings one NHL-drafted player to the World Juniors. Defender Norwin Panocha will likely be the player they look to for any sort of guidance as they look to avoid relegation again. Panocha was a part of the 2024 U20 squad that narrowly avoided relegation, and he’ll be moving hard to avoid a complete blowout by Team USA.

Team USA is loaded with NHL-drafted players, this game will be a great chemistry builder for them as previously mentioned. There’s a lot of good talent on Team USA, but it’s ultimately their goaltending that has been the difference maker for the past couple of years. Trey Augustine, who was the USA’s Gold Medal-winning goaltender last year, will look to start strong right out of the gate in this year’s tournament, and that’s if the USA starts him today.

Switzerland vs Czechia (4:00 PM CST)

Here’s a game that really intrigues me, Switzerland vs Czechia is on my watch list because the Swiss aren’t in the relegation conversation, but can finish as high as fourth or fifth. Meanwhile, the Czechs are looking to keep their medal streak alive this year, and as previously mentioned, everything matters in this tournament, so incredibly lopsided scores aren’t uncommon.

While we likely won’t see a lopsided score in this game, this will be a fun test for the Swiss. After a stronger performance in the 2024 tournament, it’s a given that Team Switzerland will want to build on that momentum and compete higher this year.

On the side of the Czechs, they’re coming into this tournament with a lot of momentum still in their favour after upsetting Canada in the 2024 quarterfinal stage. This tournament is all about big games on the big stage and the round-robin is never an exception. However, as mentioned with games being lopsided, once the game slips out of favour for a team, that’s when the goals start to pile up. This is a game that could get nasty if the game slips away from either team.

One Player to Watch from Each Team

While Switzerland doesn’t boast a roster full of NHL drafted prospects, they have four players drafted by NHL teams and one at each position. Like Team USA, Switzerland’s goaltending will be the make or break for them, for the Swiss, it’s Christian Kirsch who will find himself in a position playing in the majority of games. If he gets on his game, Switzerland will ride it out as much as possible and be in a good spot to compete, but it’s one game at a time.

For Czechia, they find themselves boasting a decently built roster with its fair share of NHL drafted prospects, but they will certainly rely on the returning Eduard Sale for his leadership and scoring strength. It will be interesting to see how the Czechs utilize their top players, and they have the entire round robin to figure that out. Sale’s return to the Czech roster is a sign of confidence in the player and the team that they can continue their strong performance at the World Juniors.

Canada vs Finland (6:30 PM CST)

The marquee matchup on today’s list of games features the hosting country, Canada, and Finland, who will be looking to make their mark at this year’s tournament. Canada, like the USA, is decked out with NHL drafted prospects. Canada’s goaltending being their biggest weakness will give the Finnish squad a chance to post a major upset in Canada.

This is one of those games that Canada has to win, but the Finnish group will not go down without a fight. They are going to scrape and claw in every aspect of the games, and the Canadians know that. This will be a great test of endurance, it has a big game feel for a round robin game on opening day. Canada will rely on their strong puck management and high scoring potential if they want to keep Finland at bay.

One Player to Watch from Each Team

Both Finland and Canada boast a lot of NHL drafted talent on their teams respectively, and for Finland, they’re going to be looking at Konsta Helenius to be the guy to lead them in the scoring department and overall game. A close second will be Finland’s captain, Aron Kiviharju, but he’s leading in every possible aspect already.

The Canadians have just four undrafted and/or 2025 NHL Draft eligible prospects on their roster, meaning they’re loaded with NHL drafted talent. They’re going to see how the 2025 draft eligilble Porter Martone shapes up tonight, but ultimately, they’ll look at Easton Cowan to really take centre stage and be a force against Finland. Like I said earlier, this is a great test of endurance and a game where you for sure want your top guys to play like top guys.