2025 World Juniors Notebook: Group A wide open after Finland beats USA

OTTAWA, Ontario - A packed house at the Canadian Tire Centre was treated to the best game of the tournament so far between USA and Finland. 

With most fans in the house wearing red Canadian jerseys, the energy was clearly on Finland's side. And the players did not disappoint. They went back and forth, trading goals and one-goal leads before Tuomas Uronen (Vegas Golden Knights) buried the overtime winner. 

Sweden held off a late push by Switzerland to win 7-5 to stay perfect in the preliminary round. Czechia defeated Slovakia 4-2, thanks to two goals from Eduard Sale (Seattle Kraken) and killing off a five-minute major in the final ten minutes of the third period. To end the night, Canada bounced back from their loss to Latvia with a 3-0 win against Germany, a victory that was way too close for comfort.  

Group A just got a whole lot more interesting…

Uronen scored the game-winner, but Finland would not have dispatched the Americans without the brilliance of goaltender Petteri Rimpinen – whose nickname is ‘Showtime’.

“Shooowtiiiiime,” joked Kasper Halttunen (San Jose Sharks) as he exited the media zone while Rimpinen was speaking to reporters. 

And did he ever live up to that nickname tonight. Rimpinen made 30 saves, including two incredible point-blank pad saves on Danny Nelson (New York Islanders) and Cole Hutson (Washington Capitals) in overtime, shortly before Uronen went down the other way to end the game.  

“A huge chance there,” Rimpinen said. “I was able to read it and come across the crease. Huge save, and Uronen scored a beautiful goal, so it was awesome.”

Today's game marked the first time Finland scored more than three goals in a game, which was not lost on the netminder. “We've had [a] little bit tough time scoring, and now we're playing against one of the best teams and then we got four goals.” 

“That was our best game,” added Konsta Helenius (Buffalo Sabres).

So now we have a tournament. With Canada taking care of business against the Germans, Canada and the USA are tied atop the group with seven points each. 

Meanwhile, the Finns have five points, and a date with Latvia in their final match of round-robin play, while the two North American teams square off on New Year's Eve to decide the winner of the group. If Canada wins in regulation, the Americans could be staring down a third-place finish in group play. 

Power play goals came fast and furious for Sweden and Switzerland

Twelve goals were scored between Sweden and Switzerland this afternoon. Eight of those goals were scored on the man advantage, with the teams recording four apiece. 

Sweden's undisciplined play almost proved to be their undoing – in fact, had they not run out of time, they might have almost blown a five-goal lead. They took three minor penalties in the final ten minutes of regulation, and Switzerland scored on all three power plays. 

Their penalty kill, particularly, didn't have an answer for Switzerland's quick puck movement, and goaltender Melker Thelin (Utah Hockey Club) was beaten on more than a couple of goals that he'll likely want back.   

Cleaning up their undisciplined play will be critical for Sweden moving forward. They are still the favourites to win Group B, but if their penalty kill continues to struggle in the medal round, it could be their undoing in an elimination game. 

Canada finally adjusts their lineup – and it didn't change much

A full day off and nearly 48 hours between games did little to quell the tide of noise surrounding Team Canada and their personnel decisions. It made the lineup changes not too surprising, but still notable. 

With Matthew Schaefer (2025 NHL Draft) gone for the duration, Sawyer Mynio (Vancouver Canucks) was activated and slid directly onto the team's third pairing. Beau Akey (Edmonton Oilers) remained their seventh defenceman. 

Up front, the even strength lines saw some changes as well. Bradly Nadeau (Carolina Hurricanes) dropped down to the third line and Cole Beaudoin (Utah Hockey Club) moved into his spot on the top line. Meanwhile, Carson Rehkopf (Seattle Kraken) entered the lineup in favour of his Brampton Steelheads linemate Porter Martone (2025 NHL Draft).

After much fanfare about who would (and should) quarterback the Canadian power play, Sam Dickinson (San Jose Sharks) finally got the green light, freeing up his London Knights teammate, Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia Flyers) to return to his usual spot in the bumper on the first unit.

And it took 25 seconds to work, as Easton Cowan (Toronto Maple Leafs) fed Bumper Bonk on the team's first power play of the night to put Canada up 1-0. It shouldn't have taken a near-nationwide referendum on the subject to see it happen, but at least they finally did it. 

After all, what’s the point in having so many Knights on one team if you’re not going to borrow the exact power play that helped lead them to an OHL championship last season?

However, one NHL scout was still sceptical of the move, telling Elite Prospects: “I know Bonk scored, but it’s absolutely unconscionable to me that you have some of the most talented offensive players on the planet at your disposal and your solution to getting the PP going is a two defenceman set with a guy who has average hands playing a forward position.”

And a broken power play is still not their only problem. The offence has completely dried up now. The line-juggling at even strength didn’t result in any tangible changes. They were closed off along the boards. Instead of dumping and chasing, they started delaying on the rush, but missed every trailer. They fired one-and-done shots from distance, often through closed lanes and eventually blocked. 

The game was pretty painful to watch for large stretches, and the power play failed to score on every subsequent chance after Bonk's initial goal. It took a huge ricochet off the end boards from Caden Price's (Seattle Kraken) point shot to finally get a second puck past German goalie Nico Pertuch, and in all honesty, it was a fluke goal.

USA proved that they are indeed mortal with their loss to Finland today. But this Canadian team, in its current state, doesn't look like a team who can contend with the American firepower. It's a good thing that Carter George (Los Angeles Kings) still hasn't allowed a goal, but he can't be expected to post a shutout for the entire tournament.

Time is running out for Canada to find some answers. Let's hope they have them, otherwise New Year's Eve could get ugly. 

Tomorrow's Schedule:

Slovakia vs. Kazakhstan - 1:00pm ET

Germany vs. Latvia - 3:30pm ET