It's New Year's Eve and as we mark the final hours of 2024, the 10 teams at the world juniors celebrated the final day of preliminary round play.
And in a rare turn of events, every team except Sweden and Czechia had a loss on the books before the day began, which means the results of each game held significance for the elimination round to come.
The day started with a Switzerland-Kazakhstan tilt to determine the bottom-seed in Group B. With a 3-1 win, Switzerland advances to the quarterfinals where they will take on the United States. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, will play Germany for relegation.
Then, upstart Finland took on the surprising Latvians, who with wins over Germany and Canada were very much in the mix for the top end of Group A. Unfortunately, it was the Finns who would take their final group round game, shutting out the Latvians and securing their second-place standing in Group A. They'll face Slovakia in the quarters, while Latvia will see the powerhouse Swedes.
Speaking of powerhouses, the final two remaining undefeated teams in the tournament, Czechia and Sweden, faced off to determine who will take home first-place honours in Group B. It was a hard-fought battle, but Sweden came out of the gates in the second period with two goals to start the scoring. Czechia got one back but was soon followed by two goals in 30 seconds for Sweden, who finished group play with a perfect 12 points.
Then, it was the most anticipated nightcap of the tournament as the North American rivals took to the ice in a primetime, New Year's Eve matchup. It was a tense, gritty and heavily penalized game. This time, the United States got the last laugh over Canada, scoring three power-play and one empty-net goal to take the 4-1 victory and finish at the top of Group A. Canada, with its third-place finish, will face Czechia in the quarterfinals, who eliminated them in the same round last year.
With one more day of waiting before the real fun begins, let's take a look at the three top performers from Day 6 of the world juniors.
3rd star: Konsta Helenius, Finland
Konsta Helenius isn't atop the tournament scoring, nor is he a point-per-game player this tournament, but he sure did have an impressive assist on Tuesday's game-winning goal.
It all started when Helenius won a puck battle on the side boards. He came away with possession, then proceeded to dance around two Latvian defenders before sending it to Benjamin Rautiainen, who put it in the back of the net.
Of his three assists thus far in the tournament, that's got to be one of the prettiest. And since Finland shut out Latvia, the first goal of the game stood as the winner, too.
Helenius is playing in his second world juniors and has already eclipsed his point total from Finland's fourth-place 2024 team (two).
The 18-year-old is a Buffalo Sabres prospect, having been selected 14th overall by the Sabres in 2024. He made the jump to North American hockey right away, playing with the Rochester Americans in the 2024-25 season.
In 28 AHL games, he has six goals and 11 assists for 17 points.
2nd star: Herman Traff, Sweden
Sweden finished group play undefeated and it's been contributions from up and down their lineup that's been the key to their success. On Tuesday night, it was depth winger Herman Traff who chipped in with a pair of goals.
The 13th forward on Sweden's stacked squad proved that hard work and compete will eventually pay off. Traff finished with the third-lowest ice time of all players (5:57) and played no shifts in the first frame, but still managed three shots in his two periods of work — two of which hit the back of the net.
His first goal came on the power play early in the second period. A shot from teammate Theo Lindstein was blocked, sending the puck right to Traff in the slot. The 19-year-old wasted no time in sending it over the shoulder of Czech netminder Michael Hrabal.
His second came off a beautiful move from Otto Stenberg, who skated around the net and up to the right faceoff dot, sending a puck to the net. Hrabal made the initial save, but Traff was there to collect the rebound, jamming it into the back of the net on Sweden's third effort.
Traff is a New Jersey Devils prospect and was selected in the third round, 91st overall, at the 2024 NHL Draft.
He's split the 2024-25 season thus far between the Swedish junior league, the SHL and the tier-two league, accumulating five goals and 11 points in 23 games. Traff was not a member of Team Sweden during their silver-medal run in 2024.
1st star: Trey Augustine, United States
Oh boy, is there anything better than watching Canada and the United States battle on New Year's Eve?
Tuesday night's tilt didn't disappoint — unless maybe you're a Team Canada fan.
The final first star of the preliminary round went to the man responsible for the frustration of the red-and-white: U.S. goaltender Trey Augustine.
Canada gave everything it had, but the Detroit Red Wings prospect seemed to have a solution for every problem sent his way. Augustine turned away 38 of the 39 shots he faced, allowed zero goals at five-on-five and earned the U.S. player of the game honours for his efforts.
The Canadians came out swinging to start the game and hammered Augustine with 11 shots to Team USA's five in the first period alone. Canada wouldn't let up the pressure through the second and third periods, peppering the 19-year-old netminder with 15 and 13 shots, respectively.
Even after Brayden Yager scored Canada's lone goal on the power play, Augustine shut the door and made some key saves to keep the game tilted in the United States' favour. His .974 save percentage on the evening marks his best performance of the tournament thus far and ensured the Americans not only retained bragging rights over their regional rivals, but also ensured they secured top seed in Group A.
Augustine currently plays for the top-rated Michigan State University, where he owns a .930 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against average.
Honourable mentions: Sweden's Theo Lindstein was a driver of Sweden's offence and finished with a remarkable six shots on net against Czechia, with one assist. No other Swedish player finished with more shots than Lindstein. ... Kazakhstan's netminder Vladimir Nikitin has been their MVP all tournament long. Though his team finished their group play without a win, he kept them in the game most nights, including on Tuesday, when he made 32 saves on 35 shots. ... Canadian goaltender Carter George was really the only bright spot in Tuesday's game. Though his team left him out to dry by going short-handed eight times, he still managed to stop 24 of the 27 shots he faced.
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