In the final day of competition here at the 2019 World Junior Summer Showcase fans, scouts and spectators alike will be treated to two of the biggest rivalries in hockey. At 1 p.m. ET, Sweden will take on Finland and be followed by a tilt featuring the United States and Canada. Both games will be broadcast live on NHL Network in the United States and TSN in Canada.
This is the first Showcase meeting between Sweden and Finland this year. At the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship last December, the two teams opened tournament play against one another in a 2-1 Swedish win off a pair of goals from Erik Brannstrom. Aarne Talvitie scored in the loss for Finland. The U.S. and Canada are meeting for the second time this Showcase.
Five different players scored for the U.S., but the comeback effort fell just short as Finland held on to win, 6-5, at USA Hockey Arena. Curtis Hall got the scoring started for the U.S. in the second period, while Cole Caufield and Arthur Kaliyev added tallies of their own. Jack Drury scored a power play goal in the third period, and with the goalie pulled, Trevor Zegras brough the U.S. to within one. Two late U.S. efforts in the final minute were stifled. For a full recap, click here.
The last three IIHF World Junior Championships have ended with the gold-medal game featuring two of the four teams participating this week. In 2017, the U.S. defeated Canada in a thrilling 5-4 shootout victory before Canada topped Sweden, 3-1, a year later. This year, Finland edged Team USA, 3-2.
In fact, the last time one of the four participating teams did not capture the IIHF World Junior Championship was 2011, when Russia edged Canada, 5-3. In that eight-year span, Finland (2014, 2016, 2019) has won three gold medals, Canada (2015, 2018) and the U.S. (2013, 2017) have each won twice and Sweden has won once (2012). Additionally, the last time an IIHF World Junior Championship gold-medal game did not feature the U.S., Canada, Finland or Sweden was 2000, when the Czech Republic defeated Russia in a 1-0 overtime shooutout.