Segment 5: Ryan and Michael predict the medallists, relegation battlers, MVP, top forward, top defenseman and top goaltender. The 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2024. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAzMTE5NDYxNDA0NzgwMDk5/2024-iihf-wjc_1.jpg] The 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 5, 2024. The quarterfinal matchups are set at the 2024 world juniors in Gothenburg, Sweden. This year’s tournament features a deep pool of talent with six legitimate medal threats. The United States and Sweden won their respective groups in the round-robin. Canada, Slovakia, Finland and Czechia have all looked capable and dangerous at different times as well. Germany, despite defeating Finland for the first time in tournament history, fell in dreadful fashion to Latvia, which all but ended its tournament. Norway was feisty at times, giving the top teams in the group a run for their money, but didn’t secure a win against the weaker clubs. Germany and Norway will play a game against each other to determine who stays at the top level for next year and who's relegated to the U-20 World Championship Div I-A. Switzerland and Latvia earned their way into the quarterfinals as the No. 4 seeds. Needless to say, they will have a tough task going up against Sweden and the Americans, respectively. Here's the quarterfinals preview. USA VS. LATVIA The Americans have been dominant from start to finish in the group stage. Aside from Czechia pushing them to a shootout in a game where a few key American players were out of the lineup with the flu, Team USA has been a wagon. They’ve scored a tournament-leading 29 goals, led by Gavin Brindley’s six. Frank Nazar and Cutter Gauthier are tied with Brindley for the team lead with eight points. Trey Augustine has been fantastic in net, and Jacob Fowler has looked quite good when he’s filled in for rest or illness. On the back end, Lane Hutson hasn’t quite hit his stride fully, but Zeev Buium and Ryan Chesley have been solid. Latvia's leading scorers are the only two drafted players on the roster. Sandis Vilmanis and Dans Locmelis have done what they can, but even they’ve seemed overmatched in most games. All of their scoring came in their game against Germany, as the Latvians didn’t score outside of that match. The Latvians barely squeaked through the group stage thanks to that massive win against the Germans, giving them the tiebreaking edge. Latvia avoided relegation, but the reality is it doesn't have much of a chance against the Americans. It’s the most lopsided matchup of the quarterfinal round — a true David versus Goliath situation. SWEDEN VS. SWITZERLAND The Swedes looked fantastic through the first three games, handling everyone in their path with little issue. When they faced the Canadians in their biggest game of the group stage, they played a business-like game, got ahead and played impressive defense. They faced some adversity against the rival Finns in their final game, losing 5-4 after a shootout. It was the first time the Swedes were even scored on in the tournament. Despite the loss, the Swedes look like one of the most dangerous teams in the tournament. They have scoring coming from all four lines, from Otto Stenberg and Felix Unger Sorum to Noah Ostlund and Filip Bystedt getting on the scoresheet. Theo Lindstein and Mattias Havelid have also been productive from the back end, with Lindstein leading the tournament in scoring among D-men after coming in as an injury replacement. Switzerland has been a bit puzzling at the world juniors this year. The Swiss have struggled to score, and they’ve been fairly porous defensively. They played quite well in their final game against Czechia, but they couldn’t find an extra goal with the game tied in the final frame. They don’t have a true game-breaker offensively, and while their blueline is capable, they don’t have many players who can be a difference-maker. It’s been their biggest downfall. They must rely on the other team to make mistakes and take advantage of those opportunities. Otherwise, they don’t have the pop to make things happen. But even if everything goes right, it still might not be enough. CANADA VS. CZECHIA The rematch of last year’s gold medal game might be the most enticing of the quarterfinal matchups. Both teams have been good at times and struggled at others. Neither team has been the same beast as last year, but they still both boast impressive talent that could help get them into the medal rounds yet again. Canada has found ways to win, but it hasn’t always been pretty. The best players weren’t necessarily expecting to be the guys this team leans on. Macklin Celebrini is a 2024 NHL draft-eligible player and the youngest player on the team, but he’s easily been their best player. Mathis Rousseau has been the starter from Day 1, and he’s calmed any and all goaltending concerns to this point. Even a player like Owen Allard, an undrafted 19-year-old, has been impressive in a depth role, scoring some key goals. Captain Fraser Minten has been nearly invisible. The Boston Bruins loaned Matthew Poitras to Team Canada, but the Canadians haven’t seen the kind of impact they’d like to from him. Jordan Dumais might as well be on a missing poster before his goal against Germany. The defense group as a whole has been fine defensively, but it’s done a poor job of moving the puck up ice. These are all undoubtedly talented players, but the Canadians need more from them. On the Czechia side, they’ve gotten what they needed from their best players. Jiri Kulich continues to build his case as the best Czech player in world juniors history as he adds to his all-time Czech scoring lead. Eduard Sale finds a way to impact the game positively in nearly every game. Matyas Sapovaliv has been the two-way presence they needed. The Czechs are still waiting for their blueline to really assert themselves and play a full 60-minute game, and Michal Hrabal has been underwhelming in net. Czechia was expecting to lean on the highly touted veteran netminder, but he has done just enough. The Czech squad might be a dark horse if Hrabal can really get going. This game will be a battle, with Canada and Czechia looking to play their first complete game. This one could come down to one play or a goalie standing on their head. It’s going to be a fun one. SLOVAKIA VS. FINLAND This should be an exciting matchup. Slovakia will try to bounce back from its first bad performance, a thumping to the Americans, while the Finns finally put it together against the Swedes. Can Slovakia bounce back? Can the Finns put together another strong performance? Slovakia has been an entertaining club to watch. It's put up some impressive offensive performances on the backs of players such as Filip Mesar and Servac Petrovsky. Maxim Strbak has been a stud on the back end, getting the puck up to his teammates. Mesar has set the tone for this Slovak squad. The players play fast, skilled and high-energy hockey. So many of their depth players follow the lead of their top guys, attacking the middle of the ice, winning board battles and working pucks to the inside. Finland has looked disinterested in playing hockey for much of the tournament. But when the game mattered most, in their group stage finale against the host Swedes, they not only showed up but they found a way to win the game in a shootout. They were once at risk of being the team in the relegation round, but they played a cohesive game and got the goals when needed – something they struggled with early in the tournament. Kasper Halttunen has been the Finns' best player. Even though he was struggling to convert his chances early in the tournament, he still managed to lead the team in scoring through the group stage. His bomb of a shot has been a threat game in and game out. Lenni Hameenaho has generated as many chances as almost any other Finnish player – although they weren’t going in, he has started to heat up as the tournament continued. This should be a game of wills. The Slovak team has the firepower, and the return of Adam Gajan from an illness will solidify its goaltending. Finland has the structure, and if it can play the way it did against the Swedes, it can beat anyone. This has sneaky potential to be one of the tournament's best games.
