MINNEAPOLIS — The first time Bob Motzko coached at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship, his U.S. team had to fend off a plucky Russian teenager.

Kirill Kaprizov, then 19, scored against Motzko’s team in both the preliminary round and the semifinals. Though Team USA survived both games and went on to win the tournament, Motzko never forgot about the little-known Russian star who nearly stopped them.

That experience is top of mind for Motzko this summer as he prepares to lead the U.S. National Junior Team for the third time, but the first in his home state of Minnesota.

Kaprizov, who joined the Minnesota Wild in 2021, needs no introduction in the Twin Cities these days. When Motzko tells that story to locals, the response is usually the same. 

“‘Oh, he was in that tournament?’” Motzko recalled at a media event at the University of Minnesota on Thursday morning. 

Motzko, who also coaches at the University of Minnesota, shared the memory to impress upon local fans the kind of talent that will be in town when this year’s World Juniors comes to Saint Paul and Minneapolis from Dec. 26, 2025 – Jan. 5, 2026. 

Kaprizov is only one of many NHL stars with World Juniors experience. In the 2005 gold-medal game in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Sidney Crosby helped Canada defeat a Russian team led by Alexander Ovechkin. 

World Juniors alums filled up the rosters at February’s 4 Nations Face-Off. Of the 23 players on the U.S. roster, all but four had played in a World Junior Championship. And when the U.S. named its first six players to the 2026 Olympic roster in June, all six had World Juniors experience too: Jack Eichel, Quinn Hughes, Auston Matthews, Charlie McAvoy plus Brady and Matthew Tkachuk. 

This will be Motzko’s third time coaching the U.S. at World Juniors. After winning gold in 2017, he led the U.S. to a bronze in 2018 while playing in Buffalo, New York.

While he has fond memories of coaching on home ice in 2018, the crowd in Montreal during the 2017 gold-medal game left a lasting impact. 

“It was 20,000 black and red jerseys, and just a few parents of red, white and blue.” Motzko said. “We silenced them — that’s the best.” 

The other nine nations traveling into Minnesota will be looking to do the same thing to the U.S. crowds during this year’s tournament. Not only will the Americans be playing on home ice, but they have the target of being the two-time defending champions. 

Motzko knows his home state can deliver raucous environments for sporting events, even beyond hockey. He recalled watching the Minnesota Twins win the 1987 and 1991 World Series and how loud the Metrodome was, even though he just watched the games on TV. 

He got to experience one of those deafening crowds firsthand in 2002 when he was on the bench as an assistant coach for the University of Minnesota for Grant Potulny’s overtime game-winner in the NCAA championship game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

That venue, soon to be renamed Grand Casino Arena, will host each of the U.S. games at this year’s World Juniors.

“Our city can do it, our state can do it,” Motzko said. “We want to draw our fans into the fight as much as we want to draw our players into the fight.”

Few people have seen as much hockey in Minnesota as Lou Nanne.

The former Golden Gopher played for the Minnesota North Stars for 11 years before becoming the team’s general manager for another 11 years. Nanne also worked as a TV broadcaster for the Minnesota High School Boys Hockey State Tournament for 60 years.

He’s eager to see the world’s top prospects return to the Twin Cities for the first time since 1982.  

“You know how important state high school hockey is here, and kids look up to that,” Nanne said. “This is a much bigger level for kids to aspire to, and they should get the opportunity to see what it’s like, to see and feel that energy.” 

John Vanbiesbrouck played in net for that U.S. team in 1982. Now the general manager of the U.S. National Junior Team, Vanbiesbrouck noted the dramatic improvement in the American talent pool since his playing days. 

“I remember us being really challenged because of the talent all the other teams had,” he said on Thursday morning. “We didn’t have the depth at that time.”

The country’s hockey talent has been on full display recently, as the U.S. became the first country to win the world championships at the junior, senior men’s, senior women’s and sled level all in a single year. 

Vanbiesbrouck provided a simple explanation for Team USA’s success.

“Getting the best players is why you win,” he said. “The reason I put emphasis on that is we have them — we have the best players.” 

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc