On Tuesday night, the United States junior national team defeated the Canadian junior national team 2-0 to win their fifth world junior championship. It was an upset win for the Americans against the heavily favored Canadians. While these were the two most talented teams coming in to the tournament, the Canadians appeared to be a cut above the rest, entering the game 6-0 in the tournament and had outscored their opponents 41-4. The Canadians were also the deepest team in the tournament with 21 first round picks on the roster, their fourth line could have been the first line for most teams in the tournament. However, none of this phased the Americans who had a much different path on their way to gold, starting the tournament with a 5-3 loss to Russia on Christmas day. The U.S. then went on to win their next five games, including a thrilling 4-3 win over Finland in the semifinals.

The Canadians were expected to dominate the U.S. in the final game, but the opposite occurred. The U.S. was able to take an early 1-0 lead in the first which was the first time the Canadians trailed the entire tournament. The U.S. answered with another goal in the first minute of the 2nd period thanks to Trevor Zegras, an Anaheim prospect who was the mvp of the tournament scoring 18 points in 7 games. For the last 39 minutes of hockey, the U.S. played stout defense and were led by Goaltender Spencer Knight, who made 34 saves to record his 3rd shutout of the tournament which tied the tournament record.

This year’s World Juniors tournament was different than any other, all ten teams were kept in a bubble, and no fans were allowed to attend. However, thanks to some special performances and an atmosphere different than any other. The 2021 World Juniors was a tournament to remember.