We’ve finally hit one of the best months of the year, December. It’s not only a great month because of Christmas, and being with family/friends, but because it means we’re about to witness some of the best hockey of 2020.
This year’s tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Edmonton, and Red Deer, Alberta, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, the IIHF and Hockey Canada moved the event solely to Edmonton. All ten teams will be in a bubble in Edmonton, similar to what the NHL did during their playoffs this year. Because the tournament will only played on one ice pad, rather than the usual two, the IIHF and Hockey Canada announced that for the first time since the 2005 tournament, this year’s edition will begin on Christmas Day. This is being done to accommodate the full schedule, and allows for three games to be played on each day during the round robin, with the exception of December 28th where only two games will be played.
Here are the groups for the 2021 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships:
Group A: Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany.
Group B: Russia, Sweden, USA, Czech Republic, Austria.
Now that we have the groups, it’s time for my game-by-game predictions for the round robin, as well as the playoffs, along with standings for each group.
Predictions
Round Robin
Group A
- December 25th. Switzerland (4) vs Slovakia (1)
- December 25th. Germany (2) vs Finland (4)
- December 26th. Germany (2) vs Canada (6)
- December 27th. Finland (3) vs Switzerland (2) OT
- December 27th. Slovakia (0) vs Canada (7)
- December 28th. Slovakia (1) vs Germany (5)
- December 29th. Canada (4) vs Switzerland (1)
- December 30th. Finland (3) vs Slovakia (0)
- December 30th. Switzerland (2) vs Germany (3) SO
- December 31st. Canada (6) vs Finland (2)
Group B
- December 25th. Russia (5) vs USA (3)
- December 26th. Sweden (4) vs Czech Republic (1)
- December 26th. USA (8) vs Austria (1)
- December 27th. Czech Republic (2) vs Russia (4)
- December 28th. Austria (1) vs Sweden (6)
- December 29th. USA (5) vs Czech Republic (1)
- December 29th. Austria (0) vs Russia (7)
- December 30th. Russia (3) vs Sweden (1)*
- December 31st. Czech Republic (5) vs Austria (2)
- December 31st. Sweden (3) vs USA (2) OT
*– Sweden’s round robin win streak will be stopped at 54. The loss against Russia will be their first round robin loss since New Year’s Eve 2006.
Standings
Note: 3 points for a regulation win, 2 points for a OT/SO win, 1 point for an OT/SO loss, and 0 points for a regulation loss.
Top four in each group advance to the playoff round.
Group A
| Position | Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS | GF | GA | +/- |
| 1st | Canada | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 23 | 5 | +18 |
| 2nd | Finland | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 10 | +2 |
| 3rd | Germany | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 13 | -1 |
| 4th | Switzerland | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 11 | -2 |
| 5th | Slovakia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | -17 |
Group B
| Position | Team | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | PTS | GF | GA | +/- |
| 1st | Russia | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 19 | 6 | +13 |
| 2nd | Sweden | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 7 | +7 |
| 3rd | USA | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 18 | 10 | +8 |
| 4th | Czech Republic | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 15 | -6 |
| 5th | Austria | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 26 | -22 |
Playoff Round
Quarter-Finals
- January 2nd. (A1) Canada (5) vs (B4) Czech Republic (0)
- January 2nd. (B1) Russia (6) vs (A4) Switzerland (1)
- January 2nd. (A2) Finland (2) vs (B3) USA (4)
- January 2nd. (B2) Sweden (3) vs (A3) Germany (2) OT
Semi-Finals
- January 4th. (A1) Canada (4) vs (B3) USA (3) OT
- January 4th. (B1) Russia (3) vs (B2) Sweden (1)
Bronze Medal Game
- January 5th. (B2) Sweden (4) vs (B3) USA (3) OT
Gold Medal Game
- January 5th. (A1) Canada (5) vs (B1) Russia (2)
Awards
- Best Goaltender: Yaroslav Askarov (Russia)
- Best Defenceman: Jamie Drysdale (Canada)
- Best Forward: Kirby Dach (Canada)
- MVP: Kirby Dach (Canada)
Thanks to everyone who has been reading. For the entirety of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships, I will be making daily recap blogs.
-Cooper.