Yahoo Sports World Juniors: Team USA Earned Its Place In History
OTTAWA - In the end, it wasn't one of the team's superstars that clinched world juniors gold but one of the hardest workers in Nashville Predators prospect Teddy Stiga - a player who had been a healthy scratch to start the tournament.
Nevertheless, Team USA earned its second gold medal in a row, defeating Finland 4-3 in overtime.
For the Americans, it was the first time they've won back-to-back championships ever at the world juniors, and it's fair to say that this group, led by Ryan Leonard (WSH), Gabe Perreault (NYR) and Zeev Buium (MIN) - not to mention coach David Carle - will go down as one of the best cohorts in American junior history.
"It's sick, there's no better feeling," Leonard said. "We wanted to do something that had never been accomplished. We talked about it in the summer and yeah, it's crazy."
Related: Ryan Leonard At The World Juniors: "It's Cool To Be Hated."
Not enough can be said about just how special this group was. Their victory in Sweden, against the Swedes no less, for gold, was well-earned and frankly, dominant.
On top of Leonard, Perreault and Buium, that 2024 team also had goaltender Trey Augustine (DET) as the starter, and with him back in the crease, it was easy to pencil in the Americans as favorites for this tournament in Ottawa. And yes, Canada was playing on home ice, but we've all spilled enough ink about how they sabotaged themselves in numerous structural ways.
Related: World Juniors 2025: Canada's Kids Lost - But The Adults Were Largely To Blame
Make no mistake about it: This was Team USA's gold medal to lose and the fact they did indeed go back-to-back earned them their rightful place in American hockey history.
"It's an awesome feeling," Augustine said. "The past two years we've had the right guys in place and this speaks to everyone that has been part of the process."
It wasn't easy, of course. The Finns came out blazing and showed impressive speed, catching the Americans off-guard. In fact, with a 3-1 lead in the second period, it appeared as though Finland was in firm control. But when a Brandon Svoboda (SJ) shot hit a body in front of the Finnish net and deflected past goalie Petteri Rimpinen, Team USA's luck had turned. A Cole Hutson (WSH) goal tied the proceedings and the tides had clearly shifted.
Midway through overtime, Stiga took a lead pass from Buium and buried the winner past Rimpinen, who had been outstanding for Finland throughout the tourney and particularly in overtime. But that's the thing about this American squad: They could capitalize on the smallest mistakes and often did.
Teddy Stiga, the golden goal belongs to you! 🥇#USAFIN #WorldJuniors #IIHF @usahockey pic.twitter.com/o9kNXQsmhu
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) January 6, 2025
"I'm so happy for the kid," Leonard said. "Scratched at the beginning of the tournament and he fought his way into the lineup. He's a helluva player."
With Leonard, Perreault and Buium among those moving on - and James Hagens potentially going straight to the NHL from the draft this summer - Team USA will look very different next season. If they're going to win again, it might have to be on the backs of battlers such as Stiga, or from bigger contributions from the likes of Cole Eiserman (NYI) or Trevor Connelly (VEG), who experienced their first world juniors this year. But that's a long ways away. At the least, those veterans set the table for the kids still eligible for next year's tournament in Minnesota.
"It's really special," Stiga said. "The '05 (birth year) group we have, they're great leaders and friends and good teammates to everyone. It really rubbed off on the younger guys and the guys who hadn't been here and it was awesome."
So for now, America remains on top - just like we predicted before the tournament began. And Stiga proved that it takes an entire team - no matter how star-laden they may be - to win gold.
"You gotta find a role," he said. "I just tried to do what I could to help the team win even if it wasn't always points and scoring. Being able to top it off like that was pretty cool, but everybody has their own role and we bought into it."
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