And now the best holiday present of them all has arrived once again — it’s time for the annual World Junior Championships, hockey’s best international tournament. With teams from 10 different countries represented, hockey’s best young stars — and future NHL players — will be on full display for the next two weeks.
As outlined here in more detail earlier this month, three Kings prospects are participating in the action this year.
Goaltenders Hampton Slukynsky (USA) and Carter George (Canada) are perhaps the two higher profiled prospects, if for no other reason that they’re both playing on gold medal contending teams. However, the player who could actually see more game action just might be defenseman Jakub Dvorak. The latter is slated to play heavy minutes for Czechia. While they’re not quite at the same level as the two North American powerhouses, don’t sleep on Czechia. Not only did they win a bronze medal last year, but they also took out Canada 3-2 in the quarterfinals. That all came after they gave Team USA all they could handle during round robin play, before eventually falling in a shootout.
VIDEO: Discussion on Slukynsky and Geroge
This time around, Czechia is in a different pool than Canada and the USA, so Dvorak’s team would need to advance past round robin play for him to face one of the other two Kings prospects.
As is usually the case before tournament play even begins, Canada and the United States are expected to be medal contenders. Adding a little extra intrigue to everything, Team USA has won the tournament six times (including last year) but has never earned gold in back-to-back years. Meanwhile, Canada is looking to win it all on home ice, just like they did in 2023 (Halifax) and 2022 (Edmonton).
The last four times Canada and USA met for the gold medal, it was the Americans coming out on top (2004, 2010, 2017, and 2021). The only time Canada took out USA in a World Juniors final was 1997.
They’re guaranteed to faceoff at least once at this year’s World Juniors, a New Year’s Eve showdown to complete round robin play (and a game that will almost surely have implications on the standings).
When games begin on Thursday, George is expected to start off as Canada’s No. 1 goaltender; with his play in each game expected to then determine if he keeps the job throughout the tournament.
Slukynsky will most likely begin as a backup for the American squad; although we have him penciled in to start Game 2 on Saturday.
Round Robin Schedule
Group A: Canada, Finland, Germany, Latvia, USA
Group B: Czechia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland
(all times listed are Pacific)
Thursday, Dec. 26
Slovakia vs. Sweden – 9:00 am
USA vs. Germany – 11:30 am
Czechia vs. Switzerland – 2:00 pm
Finland vs. Canada – 4:30 pm
Friday, Dec. 27
Switzerland vs. Slovakia – 10:00 am
Germany vs. Finland – 12:30 pm
Sweden vs. Kazakhstan – 2:00 pm
Latvia vs. Canada – 4:30 pm
Saturday, Dec. 28
Kazakhstan vs. Czechia – 10:00 am
Latvia vs. USA – 12:30 pm *
* good chance Slukynsky starts this game
Sunday, Dec. 29
Switzerland vs. Sweden – 9:00 am
USA vs. Finland – 11:30 am
Czechia vs. Slovakia – 2:00 pm
Canada vs. Germany – 4:30 pm
Monday, Dec. 30
Slovakia vs. Kazakhstan – 10:00 am
Germany vs. Latvia – 12:30 pm
Tuesday, Dec. 31
Kazakhstan vs. Switzerland – 9:00 am
Finland vs. Latvia – 11:30 am
Sweden vs. Czechia – 2:00 pm
Canada vs. USA 4:30 pm
Playoff Schedule
Thursday, Jan. 2
Quarterfinal: TBD vs. TBD – 9:00 am
Quarterfinal: TBD vs. TBD – 11:30 am
Quarterfinal: TBD vs. TBD – 2:00 pm
Quarterfinal: TBD vs. TBD – 4:30 pm
Saturday, Jan. 4
Semifinal: TBD vs. TBD – 12:30 pm
Semifinal: TBD vs. TBD – 4:30 pm
Sunday, Jan. 5
Bronze medal: TBD vs. TBD – 12:30 pm
Gold medal: TBD vs. TBD – 4:30 pm
MORE LA KINGS NEWS:
December 2024 – Kings Prospect Report on LAKings.com
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