The first matches of the U-20 World Junior Hockey Championship, held in the elite league in the USA, have ended.

The current champion and host of the tournament defeated the German team without any problems with a score of 6:3 and scored three goals each in the first and second periods.

Forward Will Zellers scored two goals and one assist. Earlier in this group, Sweden beat Slovakia.

In Group B, Finland defeated Denmark 6-2, while Canada defeated the Czech Republic 7-5 with four goals in the third period in a tough match.

World Hockey Championship U-20. Group A

Germany – America 3:6 (1:3, 2:3, 0:0)

Stamps: 05:54 Plant – 0:1, 10:53 Reed – 0:2, 15:55 Horcoff – 0:3, 17:39 Kose – 1:3, 25:46 Seidl – 2:3, 30:31 Zellers – 2:4, 31:27 Boos – 3:4, 34:58 Zellers – 3:5, 38:07 Iceman – 3:6

Goalkeepers: Nisse – Hale

Group B

Denmark – Finland 2:6 (1:3, 0:3, 1:0)

Discs: 01:48 Vesterinen – 0:1, 02:19 Kalto – 0:2, 06:08 Bundgard – 1:2, 10:07 Suvanto – 1:3, 24:45 Koivu – 1:4, 26:19 Sarelainen – 1:5, 32:21 Vesterinen – 1:6, 42:22 Linda-2:6

Goalkeepers: Vilde-Rimpinen

Czech Republic – Canada 5:7 (1:2, 2:1, 2:4)

Discs: 13:53 Martin – 0:1, 17:01 Poletin – 1:1, 17:38 Hage – 1:2, 24:04 Tsinar – 2:2, 32:13 Sikora – 3:2, 37:03 Parek – 3:3, 43:49 Parek – 3:4, 45:21 Poletin – 4:4, 46:32 Iginla – 4:5, 49:12 Mackenzie – 4:6, 55:26 Galvas – 5:6, 59:00 Martone – 5:7

Goalkeepers: Korsulak – George

The U-20 World Junior Hockey Championship in the elite league in the USA has started. One of the favorites in the opening match was the Swedish team and the Slovak team.

The Swedish youth team won with a score of 3:2. Let’s touch on two points from forward Anton Frondell, who was selected third overall by Chicago in the last draft.

At the same time, Slovakia also made a comeback, losing 0:2, but were still defeated at the end of the match.

In addition to the Swedes and Slovaks, teams from the USA, Switzerland and Germany will also play in this group.

World Hockey Championship U-20. Group A

Swedish – Slovakia 3:2 (0:0, 2:1, 1:1)

Discs: 29:05 Frondell (Frey, Stenberg) – 1:0, 33:16 (Frondell, Berglund) – 2:0, 39:55 Run (Misiak) – 2:1, 50:55 Tomik (Pitka) – 2:2, 56:03 Stenberg (Genborg) – 3:2

Goalkeepers: Harenstam – Lendak

Dmitry Khristich, the coach of the Ukraine national hockey team, made a 2025 prediction for the team. The main event was the World Championship in Division 1A, where the team only lost their chance to reach the elite league in the last match.

“I think the year has been positive. We won most of our matches. I also rate our performance in the World Championship positively. Many people probably wanted us to get into the elite league immediately, but I believe that we need to gain experience and confidence at this level. You have to believe in yourself and build on your experience by getting positive results against D1A teams and promotion teams that constantly jump from league to league.”

“We need to learn to play the full 60 minutes, to play against any opponent, to be tactically flexible… All these and many other nuances still need to be worked out,” Khristic said.