Sweden, Finland and USA earn wins at the U18 and U20 Five Nations. Flyers prospect Max Westergård impresses, while 2026 NHL Draft star Viggo Björck shines.
It was an exciting opening day at the international tournaments in Europe at both the U20 and U18 levels. Sweden opened with wins in both age groups, while Finland and the United States also claimed victories in U20 and U18 play. Read more on each game below.
U20 Five Nations
Switzerland 1-6 Sweden
Sweden eased to victory in its opening game of the U20 Five Nations. Draft-eligible defenseman William Håkansson opened the scoring late in the first period. In the second, Sweden poured it on with four more goals. Two of them came from 2026 NHL Draft top prospect Viggo Björck, who struck twice on the power play to make it 2–0 and 3–0.
1st 17:01 0–1 Sweden, Hakansson W. (Berglund J., Fernstrom M.)
2nd 03:52 0–2 Sweden, Bjorck V. (Danielsson L., Sjostrom O.) PP
2nd 08:35 0–3 Sweden, Bjorck V. (Danielsson L., Sjostrom O.) PP
2nd 10:32 0–4 Sweden, Gastrin M. (Danielsson L., Pettersson L.)
2nd 19:21 0–5 Sweden, Gustafsson V. (Berglund J., Fernstrom M.)
3rd 16:48 0–6 Sweden, Gustafsson V. (Lindberg V., Annborn K.)
3rd 19:55 1–6 Switzerland, Aebli N. (Keller C., Von Rohr M.)
Finland 6-2 Slovakia
Philadelphia Flyers prospect Max Westergård had himself an afternoon in Finland’s 6–2 win over Slovakia at the U20 Five Nations. Westergård scored Finland’s first two goals and added an assist on the third. He later capped things off by scoring the final goal of the game to make it 6–2.
1st 03:30 1–0 Finland, Westergard M. (Somervuori J., Soini S.)
2nd 07:11 2–0 Finland, Westergard M. (Suvanto O., Somervuori J.)
2nd 12:22 3–0 Finland, Suvanto O. (Westergard M., Kopiloff O.) PP
2nd 13:59 3–1 Slovakia, Gaso A. (Liscinsky M.)
3rd 06:04 4–1 Finland, Saarelainen J. (Valila A., Tuuva L.) PP
3rd 16:46 5–1 Finland, Kopiloff O. (Suvanto O., Nieminen D.) PP
3rd 18:09 5–2 Slovakia, Goljer A. (Gaso A., Fabus A.) PP
3rd 18:55 6–2 Finland, Westergard M. (Suvanto O.)
U18 Five Nations
Switzerland 2-5 USA
The United States claimed an expected win in the opening game of the U18 Five Nations in Sweden. After taking an early lead, Switzerland managed to respond and tie the game late in the first period. But Team USA eventually took control and skated away with a 5–2 victory.
1st 09:29 0–1 USA, Glance J. (Francisco A., Cullen W.) PP
1st 16:19 1–1 Switzerland, Reist N. (Berger T., Fueter S.) PP
1st 18:03 1–2 USA, Cullen W. (Berchild M.)
2nd 23:49 1–3 USA, Lutner L. (George B., Garcia A.)
2nd 37:20 1–4 USA, Plante V. (Berchild M., Mutryn C.) PP
3rd 45:01 1–5 USA, Nelson S. (Trottier P., Mutryn C.)
3rd 52:58 2–5 Switzerland, Schürmann P.
Czechia 1-4 Sweden
Sweden came out flying, taking a 2–0 lead just 1:30 into the first period. Only minutes later, they extended the lead to 3–0 in front of the home crowd in Ulricehamn. After that, Sweden eased off the gas and closed out a 4–1 win.
1st 01:04 0–1 Sweden, Command A. (Bartholdsson N.)
1st 01:34 0–2 Sweden, Isaksson M. (Hermansson E.)
1st 06:36 0–3 Sweden, Hermansson E. (Elofsson A.)
2nd 38:34 1–3 Czechia, Hrouda O. (Pufr A., Marik N.)
3rd 45:35 1–4 Sweden, Nordmark M. (Command A.) PP
