The 2017 World Junior Championship begins Monday, Dec. 26, runs through Thursday, Jan. 5 in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre and in Montreal at the Bell Centre.
The defending champions Finland highlight Group A along with rival Sweden and Czech Republic, Denmark and Switzerland. Host nation, Canada, draws into Group B with its biggest rivals the United States and Russia as well as Slovakia and Lativa.
The Chicago Blackhawks will be represented by three prospects: Forwards Radovan Bondra (Slovakia) and Mathias From (Denmark) and defenseman Lucas Carlsson (Sweden). Bondra and From will each play in the tournament for a second straight year while Carlsson makes his first appearance.
Two of Chicago’s top prospects, Alex DeBrincat and Chad Krys, were part of Team USA’s preliminary roster, but ended up being among the final cuts. The move to drop DeBrincat, who is among the top scorers in the OHL, was relatively surprising, but the Americans should still have a lot of firepower anyway.
Schedule
Day 1: Monday, Dec. 26
Sweden 6, Denmark 1
- Carlsson 1 assist, 3 shots on goal in 17:55 of ice time/
USA 6, Latvia 1
Czech Republic 2, Finland 1
Canada 5, Russia 3
Day 2: Tuesday, Dec. 27
Switzerland 4, Czech Republic 3
Russia 9, Latvia 1
Denmark 3, Finland 2
Canada 5, Slovakia 0
- Bondra 1 shot in 13:10/
Day 3: Wednesday, Dec. 28
Sweden 4, Switzerland 2
- Carlsson scored a goal and had two shots in 15:49/
USA 5, Slovakia 2
- Bondra zero shots in 13:11/
Day 4: Thursday, Dec. 29
Denmark 3, Czech Republic 2 OT
- From scored the OT game-winner/
USA 3, Russia 2
Sweden 3, Finland 1
- Carlsson zero shots in 19:09/
Canada 10, Latvia 2
Day 5: Friday, Dec. 30
Switzerland 5, Denmark 4
- From goal and an assist in 22:09/
Slovakia 4, Latvia 2
- Bondra three shots in 19:38/
Day 6: Saturday, Dec. 31
Sweden 5, Czech Republic 2
- Carlsson zero shots in 21:23/
USA 3, Canada 1
Finland 2, Switzerland 0
Russia 2, Slovakia 0
- Bondra one shot in 17:16/
Day 7: Monday, Jan. 2
Regulation: Finland 2, Latvia 1
Quarterfinal: Russia 4, Denmark
- From one shot in 19:14/
Quarterfinal: Sweden 8, Slovakia 3
- Carlsson one assist, two shots in 16:12
- Bondra no shots in 14:48/
Quarterfinal: USA 3, Switzerland 2
Quarterfinal: Canada 5, Czech Republic 3
Day 8: Tuesday, Jan. 3
Regulation: Finland 4, Latvia 1
- Finland wins best-of-3 series 2-0/
Day 9: Wednesday, Jan. 4
Semifinal: USA 4, Russia 3 (SO)
Semifinal: Canada 5, Sweden 2
- Carlsson zero shots in 15:50/
Day 10: Thursday, Jan. 5
Bronze medal game: Russia 2, Sweden 1 (OT)
Gold medal game: USA 5, Canada 4 (SO)