Welcome back to winter folks, hockey is here and it couldn't be any better. The World Junior Championship is a little appetizer to the NHL season. The WJC will take place in Edmonton like it always does. This international ice hockey tournament features the best players under 20 years of age in the world. A large amount of NHL draftees are participating in the event this year. The main tournament features the top ten teams in the world, each team sports a 25 man roster. The ten teams are split into two groups of five teams -- Group A and Group B. The preliminary round is the first round, where a team plays the other four teams in its group. The point system to determine ranks at the end of the preliminary round is as follows.
Point System
Regulation Win - 3 Points
OT Win - 2 Points
OT Loss - 1 Point
Regulation Loss - 0 Points
Team Groups
Group A
Canada
Finland
Germany
Slovakia
Switzerland
Group B
Austria
Czech Republic
Russia
Sweden
USA
Schedule
The World Juniors is set to start on Christmas day and are anticipated to end on January 5th. With World Junior games on every day until December 31st, we can end 2020 strong and watch hockey until our eyes fall out. 2021 is bringing us a ton of hockey to be excited about, so let's take a look at the full schedule.
2021 IIHF WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Friday, Dec. 25
Slovakia vs. Switzerland, 2 p.m. ET
Finland vs. Germany, 6 p.m. ET
United States vs. Russia, 9:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, Dec. 26
Czech Republic vs. Sweden, 2 p.m. ET
Canada vs. Germany, 6 p.m. ET
Austria vs. United States, 9:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, Dec. 27
Switzerland vs. Finland, 2 p.m. ET
Canada vs. Slovakia, 6 p.m. ET
Russia vs. Czech Republic, 9:30 p.m. ET
Monday, Dec. 28
Sweden vs. Austria, 6 p.m. ET
Germany vs. Slovakia, 9:30 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Dec. 29
Czech Republic vs. United States, 2 p.m. ET
Switzerland vs. Canada, 6 p.m. ET
Russia vs. Austria, 9:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday, Dec. 30
Slovakia vs. Finland, 2 p.m. ET
Germany vs. Switzerland, 6 p.m. ET
Sweden vs. Russia, 9:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, Dec. 31
Austria vs. Czech Republic, 2 p.m. ET
Finland vs. Canada, 6 p.m. ET
United States vs. Sweden, 9:30 p.m. ET
Saturday, Jan. 2
Quarterfinal 1, 12 p.m. ET
Quarterfinal 2, 3:30 p.m. ET
Quarterfinal 3, 7 p.m. ET
Quarterfinal 4, 10:30 p.m. ET
Monday, Jan. 4
Semifinal 1, 6 p.m. ET
Semifinal 2, 9:30 p.m. ET
Tuesday, Jan. 5
Third-place game, 5:30 p.m. ET
Championship game, 9:30 p.m. ET
Predictions
Since Canada took home the gold medal last year, they will be fighting for the repeat. Russia also is going in this year with a chip on their shoulder because of a gold medal loss last year. But, every year is different, and here are my favorites and why. Finland, Canada, Russia, Sweden, and the United States all have packed squads. By packed, I mean there is a ridiculous amount of drafted players on these rosters. Granted all of these guys are NHL prospects, these teams are head to toe, filled with proven players. This is such a difficult prediction to make, I think team Canada is going to do it, but one thing holding them back is that Kirby Dach just got announced inactive. Will this hurt their chances, no, but Kirby is a phenomenal talent who has proven himself at the highest level of hockey. As a fellow American, I have to root on the homeland team. This US team is also very good, in the practice games we saw a flashy goal from Cole Caulfield. Can't wait to see what the guys in red, white, and blue can do. These guys are skilled and hungry for a gold medal. The best part about this tournament is that the medal is not what's at stake, it’s about these guys proving themselves and furthering their careers. All in all, we are in for an absolute treat of a WJC this year. With several great teams and it’s a time where no hockey is on television, we should for sure see some hard-fought competitions.