The quarterfinals at the 2024 World Junior Championship are over. There were a couple of upsets in the first two games and an almost upset in the final game. While the best team in the tournament continued to roll. With that being said, we are off to the semifinals of the World Juniors, taking place on Thursday, January 4th.
It has been an exciting tournament thus far. The upsets kept coming in the quarterfinals. Remember how Germany beat Finland to start the tournament? Well, Finland knocked off Slovakia in overtime, while Czechia knocked off the defending two-time gold medalist, Team Canada, with 11.9 seconds left in the third period.
We saw Team USA steamroll Latvia. That is the advantage of winning your Group: you can get an easier matchup in the quarterfinals. Sweden, the host country, almost went home as well, needing overtime and a power play goal in the extra session to advance to the semifinals. As the tournament started, this was the American’s medal to lose, but anything can happen in the knockout round.
Time to dive into the semifinals at the 2024 World Junior Championship.
2024 World Junior Championship Semifinals
Team USA vs. Finland
Team USA continues to look like the best team in the tournament. Their offense can score at will. Team USA has scored 36 goals, which leads the tournament. Their offense is led by Gavin Brindley (six goals), Cutter Gauthier, Jimmy Snuggerud, Rutger McGroarty, Ryan Leonard, Will Smith, Gabe Perreault, Issac Howard, and Frank Nazar. Defensively they have two of the best puck-moving defensemen in the tournament with Lane Hutson and Seamus Casey. Not to mention, Trey Augustine and Jacob Fowler have been solid for Team USA as well.
However, this will not be an easy game as Finland is finding their form. Similar to how Russia did it so many years ago. Just get to the knockout round and start playing their best hockey. Finland plays with so much structure. It drove Sweden crazy in the preliminary round, and they did the same thing to Slovakia in the quarterfinals. Finland might not have been the best team coming in, but they will, and hard work almost gets them far in tournaments like this. Lenni Hämeenaho has goals in back-to-back games. Kasper Halttunen, Tommi Mannisto, Alexander Kaskimaki, and Captain Jere Lassila are names to watch, along with Konsta Helenius.
This game will be a battle for Team USA, whose transition game will be put to the test. They came through Czechia and had to stay patient, but they cannot lose in their own zone if they want to beat Finland.
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Sweden vs. Czechia
Sweden was put to the test against Switzerland. Give credit to Swiss goalie Alessio Beglieri, who stood on his head. He was the reason why Switzerland almost beat Sweden. But the Swedes will be tough against Czechia, who has Michael Hrabal between the pipes. He was excellent against Canada. Especially in periods two and three when Czechia just sat back in their own zone and played defense the whole time, looking for that one bounce or turnover to capitalize on.
I’m not sure Czechia can play that way against Sweden and win. But the Czechs have pretty much their entire team back from last year, who lost in the Gold Medal Game against Canada. Jiri Kulich has been the best player for Czechia, along with Eduard Sale, and Matyas Sapovaliv has been the two-way presence they needed. Jakub Stancl scored twice against Canada and has the scoring touch. However, Czechia can play like Finland with that structure, and you saw what Finland did to Sweden in the preliminary round.
This will not be easy for a highly skilled team like Sweden. Sweden has the firepower to match any team in this tournament. Team Sweden is getting goals from all four lines. They are led by Otto Stenberg, Felix Unger Sorum, Noah Ostlund, Filip Bystedt, Theo Lindstein and Mattias Havelid. Both Lindstein and Havelid have been effective from the backend. Lindstein is leading the tournament in scoring amongst defensemen after coming as an injury replacement. Let’s not forget about Axel Sandin Pellikka, the Detroit Red Wings prospect, who scored the game-winning overtime goal against Switzerland. He is a threat on the backend for Sweden as well.
These two semifinal games at the 2024 World Junior Championship should be excellent.