Today is Gold Medal Day, where the World Junior Championship will be awarded. Team USA is looking to win back-to-back championships for the first time in history. They had a dominant win over Sweden in last year’s final. Will they do the same to Finland this year?
Top Players Leading the Way for USA
Team USA has received significant contributions from its returning players from last year’s World Junior Championship. Forwards Ryan Leonard and Gabriel Perreault have been dominant on offense, each producing over a point per game. Returning defenseman Zeev Buium has been a standout on the back end. Buium is a dynamic defenseman who utilizes his speed and edgework to his advantage, enabling smoother breakouts and creating more separation in the offensive zone. Goalie Trey Augustine will look to avenge Team USA’s only loss of the tournament, which came against Team Finland.
This highly anticipated gold medal matchup promises to be a thrilling contest, as the preliminary game between these teams was widely regarded as the best of the tournament.
Finland Looks to Regain Glory
After a tough start to the tournament, Team Finland has completely turned things around. They started things off with a 4-0 shutout loss to Team Canada and have gone undefeated since.
Petteri Rimpinen has been truly outstanding for Finland. He has a .940 save percentage and a 2.12 goals-against average throughout the tournament. Goal scoring has been consistent for this team and has come through in clutch situations. These have included overtime wins against the USA and Sweden in the semifinals.
Finland is looking to win its first gold medal since the 2019 tournament. This happened to be against the United States, where Kappo Kakko scored the game-winning goal in the final minutes of the third period. This highly anticipated rematch gets underway at 7:30 EST.
Who do you think brings home gold?
Benjamin Rautiainen scoring the overtime winner to send Finland to the gold medal game is your @CanadasLifeline Blood-Pumping Play of the Day! 👏
— #WorldJuniors (@WorldJuniors) January 5, 2025
#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/vW8unDPOqJ
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