USA are U20 world cham­pions

Everything was set for Canada to defend the title on home soil – but the USA put paid to that plan! With a 2:0 win over the hosts in the final in Edmonton, the United States claim their fifth U20 world title.

Alex Turcotte opens the scoring after 13:25 minutes. Trevor Zegras sets the course decisively with the 2:0 (21nd minute). There would be no further goals, also because USA netminder Spencer Knight stops all 34 shots on his goal. At the other end, Devon Levi faces just 21 shots, but that is enough for the USA.

Zegras, appearing at his second World Juniors, finishes with seven goals and eleven assists and is named the most valuable player. He also matches Jordan Schroeder’s US record, although Schroeder collected his 20 assists and 27 points across three tournaments. All three final heroes were selected in the first round of the 2019 NHL Draft: Turcotte fifth overall by the Los Angeles Kings, Zegras ninth overall by the Anaheim Ducks and Knight 13th overall by the Florida Panthers. Levi is named best goaltender, Finland’s Topi Niemela best defenceman and Germany’s Tim Stützle best forward.

Bronze goes to Finland, who defeat Russia 4:1 in the game for third place. It is the first bronze medal for "Suomi" since 2006; since then, the Finns had either won gold (2014, 2016, 2019) or gone away empty-handed. Finland were narrowly beaten 3:4 by the USA in the semi-finals, while Russia had no chance in their 0:5 loss to Canada.

2021 IIHF U20 World Championship Top Division

25 December 2020 – 5 January 2021
Venue
Edmonton/Canada

Participants
Group A: Canada, Finland, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany
Group B: Russia, Sweden, USA, Czech Republic, Austria

Schedule (Edmonton local time, MEZ +8 hours)
25.12.2020, 12:00: Switzerland – Slovakia (0:0,0:0,0:1)
25.12.2020, 16:00: Germany – Finland 3:5 (0:2,2:3,1:0)
25.12.2020, 19:30: Russia – USA 5:3 (1:1,3:0,1:2)

26.12.2020, 12:00: Sweden – Czech Republic 7:1 (1:1,3:0,3:0)
26.12.2020, 16:00: Germany – Canada 2:16 (1:4,0:7,1:5)
26.12.2020, 19:30: USA – Austria 11:0 (1:0,6:0,4:0)
Goals: Helleson (16th), Zegras (25th, 32nd), Farinacci (26th), Brisson (29th/PP, 44th), Boldy (35th, 39th/PP, 46th), Berard (43rd), Colangelo (50th)
Penalty minutes: 4 bzw. 4 plus a game misconduct penalty (Wimmer)

27.12.2020, 12:00: Finland – Switzerland 4:1 (1:1,1:0,2:0)
27.12.2020, 16:00: Slovakia - Canada 1:3 (0:1,0:0,1:2)
27.12.2020, 19:30: Czech Republic - Russia 2:0 (0:0,1:0,1:0)

28.12.2020, 16:00: Austria - Sweden 0:4 (0:1,0:2,0:1)
Goals: Gunler (18/PP, 31), Niederbach (25/PP), Raymond (53)
Penalty minutes: 8 and 0, respectively
28.12.2020, 19:30: Slovakia - Germany 3:4 after overtime (1:1,2:2,0:0)

29.12.2020, 12:00: USA - Czech Republic 7:0 (0:0,3:0,4:0)
29.12.2020, 16:00: Canada - Switzerland 10:0 (1:0,4:0,5:0)
29.12.2020, 19:30: Austria - Russia 1:7 (0:4,1:0,0:3)
Goals: Peeters (28) and Amirov (5/penalty shot), Podkolzin (7, 14), Khusnutdinov (17), Kynazev (42/PP), Afanasiev (58), Gritsyuk (59)
Penalty minutes: 4 and 4, respectively, plus a disciplinary penalty (Safonov)

30.12.2020, 12:00: Finland - Slovakia 6:0 (1:0,2:0,3:0)
30.12.2020, 16:00: Switzerland - Germany 4:5 (0:3,0:1,4:1)
30.12.2020, 19:30: Russia - Sweden 4:3 after overtime (2:1,0:1,1:1)

31.12.2020, 12:00: Czech Republic – Austria 7:0 (0:0,4:0,3:0)
Goals: Kubicek (27), Lang (33, 39), Prikryl (40), Novak (42), Jiricek (57), Mysak (60)
Penalty minutes: 2 and 0, respectively
31.12.2020, 16:00: Canada - Finland 4:1 (1:0,2:0,1:1)
31.12.2020, 19:30: Sweden - USA 0:4 (0:2,0:2,0:0)

02.01.2021, 10:00: Russia - Germany 2:1 (1:0,1:0,0:1)
02.01.2021, 13:30: Finland - Sweden 3:2 (0:2,1:0,2:0)
02.01.2021, 17:00: Canada - Czech Republic 3:0 (2:0,0:0,1:0)
02.01.2021, 20:30: USA - Slovakia 5:2 (1:0,2:1,2:1)

04.01.2021, 16:00: Canada - Russia 5:0 (3:0,1:0,1:0)
04.01.2021, 19:30: USA v Finland 4:3 (1:1,2:0,1:2)

05.01.2021, game for 3rd place, 15:30: Finland - Russia 4:1 (0:1,1:0,3:0)
05.01.2021, final, 19:30: Canada v USA 0:2 (0:1,0:1,0:0)

Format
As all other U20 World Championship tournaments for the 2020/21 season have been cancelled, there will be no promotion or relegation this year. Consequently, there will also be no relegation games for the fifth-placed teams in the groups in Edmonton. All participants will also compete in the IIHF Top Division of the U20 in Canada in the 2021/22 season.

More information at...