Team USA’s rivalry with Canada begins even before the World Junior Championship. Greenway experienced it two times before winning gold at the World Juniors, both as part of the U.S. National Under-17 Team at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team at the International Ice Hockey Federation Under-18 Men’s World Championship.

The U.S. and Canada’s participation in these tournaments helps build up anticipation to fuel international championships like the World Juniors.

“A lot of the players for other countries, especially Canada, we’ve played against when we were younger in youth tournaments,” said U.S. Under-18 Men's National Team defenseman Bode Wilde (Birmingham, Mich./USAH NTDP). “In terms of the rivalry there, we’ve been competing against a lot of these kids since a young age. It’s more than just pride for your country sometimes, there’s just a lot of history between you and them and it makes it that much more interesting.”

“It’s special to be a part of,” added U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team head coach Seth Appert (Cottage Grove, Minn./USAH NTDP). “Anytime you have the opportunity to put our country’s jersey on, it’s always special. And when it happens to be against your rival in Canada, and it’s in an IIHF world championship event, it heightens that even more.”

As two premier countries known for feeding players into top hockey leagues across the world, the U.S. and Canada have a natural abundance for high-intensity competition during these international tournaments. The opportunity allows for younger players to not only travel to new places, but hone in on skills that will help them in future high-level leagues.

As the IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship approaches, Team USA will have the chance for its players to face this type of environment as they travel to Russia. And with an upcoming rivalry game with Canada tomorrow, the team is looking forward to gaining experiences such as the one that Greenway had years ago.

“This is in a bigger spotlight than we’ve ever been in, in our careers,” said Trevor Janicke (Maple Grove, Minn./USAH NTDP). “It’s like a stepping stone to the World Juniors where it’s an even bigger spotlight… Throwing on the USA sweater to play against the Canadians is an unreal feeling and it’s something you have to take advantage of every time you do it.”