2024 second-round pick adds another gold to Blues prospects after Snuggerud won in 2024; Stancl helps Czechia to bronze medal win

Colin Ralph took a page out of Jimmy Snuggerud's playbook.

No, the second-round pick of the 2024 NHL Draft didn't play like Snuggerud did when USA won the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship last year in Sweden, but staked his claim to gold ... like the 2022 first-round pick (No. 23 overall) did.

USA reigned supreme for the second straight year, the first time ever it's gone back-to-back with a 4-3 overtime win against Finland in the 2025 gold medal game at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Jakub Stancl ended his tournament the way it started: by scoring and finishing among the tournament leaders.

Stancl, Adam Jiricek, Adam Jecho and Ondrej Kos all medaled with Czechia, which needed a 14-round marathon shootout to down Otto Stenberg, Theo Lindstein and Sweden, 3-2, in the bronze medal game.

* USA 4, Finland 3, OT -- It was a rematch of a pool play game, one in which Finland won 4-3 in overtime on Dec. 29 that gave USA its only loss, but the Americans won the game that mattered most when Teddy Stiga, a Nashville Predators prospect, scored at 8:04 of overtime to help his country rally from a 3-1 deficit.

Ralph played just 9:14 and was a minus-1 on Sunday, but it was a wealth of experience for the St. Cloud State University defenseman to gain. He finished the tournament with one assist and was even in seven games in plus-minus playing primarily on the third defensive pairing.

* Czechia 3, Sweden 2 (SO) -- A 70-minute slugfest, including a 10-minute overtime session, wasn't enough to decide a winner and it needed 14 rounds of a skills competition to decide the bronze medal.

Stancl, a fourth-round pick in 2023, gave Czechia a lead in the second round that was answered by Sweden's Alex Sandin-Pellikka:

Jecho, a 2024 third-round pick, and Stenberg, a 2023 first-round pick (No. 25 overall) each had an attempt in the third round, but Jecho's attempt was stopped, and Stenberg hit the post.

Stancl had a chance to end it in the sixth round, but his attempt was stopped by Sweden's Marcus Gidlof. Stancl came up again in the eighth round with a chance to win it but hit the post.

In the 13th round, Stenberg put Sweden ahead, needing just a save from Gidlof, but Eduard Sale, who eventually won the shootout, scored to keep the shootout going:

Stenberg came up again for Sweden in the 14th round and hit the post, while Sale ended it to give Czechia the win:

Stancl, who matched a team-high six shots on goal with Sale and played 22:00, scored his tournament-leading seventh goal in the first period off assists from Jecho and Jiricek (2024, first round, No. 16 overall) to give Czechia a 1-0 lead:

Stancl finished the tournament with 10 points (seven goals, three assists) and was a plus-6; he was also selected to the tournament's All-Star team:

Jiricek had an assist, was a plus-1 and played a team-high 24:26 in the game; he had five assists and was a plus-2 in seven games. Jecho had an assist and played 14:52; he had seven points (two goals, five assists) and was a plus-1 in seven games; and Kos (2024, third round) didn't factor in the scoring in 8:19 of ice time; he scored one goal in seven games and was a minus-2.

Stenberg played 22:03 and Lindstein (2023, first round, No. 29 overall) played 26:02. Stenberg finished the tournament with eight points (three goals, five assists) and a plus-4. Lindstein, who led all defensemen in scoring at last year's world junior, had four assists and was a plus-1 this year. 

Stancl was tied for second in points with four others, while Dalibor Dvorsky (nine points; five goals, four assists) was third in two fewer games than the leaders while the 2023 first-round pick (No. 10 overall) played for Slovakia.