World Juniors: Minute-Muncher Zeev Buium Pushing USA’s Bid For Back-To-Back Gold

Should the USA win back-to-back gold for the first time in their world juniors history and their third in five years, many will point to the standout showings from Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perreault, James Hagens and Cole Hutson — this roster is armed to the teeth with offensive weapons.

But, that would be to ignore the all-world performance of defenseman Zeev Buium, arguably the USA’s most valuable player on its march to the gold medal game against Finland.

His stat line shows a modest two goals and four points through six games, but it would be a disservice to the Minnesota Wild prospect not to look beyond that. One could start by looking at his play in the USA's 4-1 semifinal victory over Czechia, where the 19-year-old logged a game-high 29 minutes, including 11 minutes in the third period alone.

Coach David Carle, who just happens to double as Buium’s bench boss at the University of Denver, might trust him more than anyone on USA’s talented roster, which features six NHL first-rounders and plenty more NHL prospects. Buium’s heavy minutes reflect that.

“(Buium is) obviously playing a lot,” Carle said. “He can play both ends, very reliable defensively, one of the obvious leaders, but has a high level of passion to win. That comes before anything else with him, as it does many of our players, and I thought he's been really effective.”

That passion to win manifested itself last year not only for the USA in Gothenburg but also for the Denver Pioneers, as Buium and Carle helped guide the program to its tenth national championship.

The good vibes go both ways in the player-coach relationship.

“He's an unbelievable coach, obviously,” Buium said of the two-time NCAA national champion. “Having him at Denver is no different than having him here and he's so calm, his presence on the bench is great and he always knows what adjustments to make on the ice. He's the best coach, I think, in the world.”

Carle’s familiarity and confidence in Buium is apparent, as the 12th overall pick has been a do-it-all blueliner for USA, shutting down opposing teams’ top lines with ease while gracefully quarterbacking the power play. And rightfully so.

He possesses a vision of the ice that few players in the tournament can match — his defensive breakouts are perfectly timed and he frequently spins off of attacking forwards as if he has eyes in the back of his head.

His high IQ translates to the defensive end as well. Carle pointed to Buium’s containment of Czech captain Eduard Sale, who plays for the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, as proof of his defensive acumen. Sale was held pointless and only managed a single shot in the semifinal.

“Tonight (Buium) got a lot of Sale, an excellent hockey player, and I thought he did a really good job against him,” Carle said.

But make no mistake, Buium can also put on a show.

“He's so crafty,” said USA forward Trevor Connelly. “He has so many different skills and he just breaks the defender down one-on-one when he has it on the blueline.”

Connelly was selected by the Vegas Golden Knights just seven picks after Buium in June, but he admitted he still feels like a student of Buium.

“You definitely learn a lot from these guys being on the ice with them for so many days and watching them in the games,” Connelly said.

But there’s still one last lesson to teach, and Buium is itching to exact revenge against Finland after suffering their only defeat of the tournament to the Finns in overtime.

“We didn't play our best game against them and that kind of showed and honestly, us losing showed what we needed to get better at, and I think they're gonna see a different team from us.

“That just kind of puts some more fire under us, but we play anybody, so we're just excited for the opportunity to play for gold again,” Buium said.

When asked what would be needed to overcome the Finns in the gold medal game, Buium stuck to the script.

“From first line, fourth line, first D-pairing, last D-pairing, it doesn't matter. Everyone's playing really hard and embracing their role,” he said. “ I think that was kind of our message going into this tournament is just whatever role you're in, embrace it and do the best you can.”

For Buium, his role is set: reliable, minute-munching, No. 1 defenceman. This is his final show at the world juniors. And it won’t be long before the bigger show of the NHL is calling.

“I think you save your best for last, so hopefully we bring it.”

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