Often the World Junior Championships’ bridesmaid and rarely the bride, Sweden broke through Monday at the Grand Casino Arena, capturing its third gold medal and first in 14 years with a 4-2 victory over Czechia.
Sweden, which featured a dozen players who will be eligible for a return at the next WJC, entered Monday’s contest at 1-10 in gold medal games since 1992 and has the most silver medals (12) of any country since the event’s 1977 inception.
Sweden Ivar Stenberg (15) hits Czechia forward Samuel Drancak (29) in the face with his stick during the first period of an IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship gold medal game, Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, in St. Paul, Minn. (AP Photo/Matt Krohn)
“We had a lot of energy and spark from shift to shift,” said Swedish coach Magnus Havelid, whose country won the world U18 championship in 2022 and provides roughly 70 NHL players annually. “For us it’s about teamwork, and you have to believe it, not just talk about it.
“Other countries have more stars and more players, but we need role acceptance and we work on that early.”
The Swedes led, 3-0, with three minutes remaining before Czechia scored twice in two minutes with goaltender Michal Orsulak pulled for an extra attacker. Ivar Stenberg, projected as high as the second-round pick in the 2026 NHL draft, scored the final goal of the first all-European final since 2016 into an empty net.
“The last goal was amazing,” Stenberg said. “We had been nervous, but I saw all the guys so happy, so I was so glad. We’ve been here like four weeks and we’ve worked for this every moment. We were going for it and did everything to get the gold.”
Samuel Drank, Victor Eklund and Casper Juustovaara also scored for the undefeated victors while Adam Jiricek and Matej Kubiesa struck for Czechia. Jakub Fibigr had two assists for the runners-up, who medaled for a fourth consecutive year. Sweden’s Love Harenstam made 27 saves while Orsulak stopped 31 shots.
“He’s so focused and got good help from the defensemen,” Havelid said of Harenstam. “He goes game by game and keeps his focus on the next shift, on the next touch. He was amazing the whole tournament.”
Sweden scored the first period’s lone goal. Shorthanded and also down a player who’d had his stick slashed in half, the Tre Kronor nonetheless produced a charge through the offensive zone by Jack Berglund, who split a pair of defenders between the circles and got off a shot.
The rebound kicked left, and Berglund swung it behind the net and fed it back out at the right post, whence Drancak scored.
The Swedes doubled their lead midway through the second period. Stenberg’s shot from center point struck defender Fibigr and dropped to his feet. Berglund swatted it toward the left post and an unguarded Eklund scored easily. At period’s end, the Swedes held a 29-11 shot advantage.
“We were a bit overhyped against (Canada), and that probably bit us a bit at the beginning of this game,” said Czech forward Vaclav Nestrasil. “But we showed in the last five minutes that we can compete.”
Czechia pulled within 3-2 on a pair of one-time slap shots from the left circle by Jiricek and Kubiesa. The Bohemian Lions had a number of other chances, but the Swedes closed ranks around Harenstam and made it difficult to get more shots through to the net.
“So many mixed emotions,” said Swedish defenseman Sascha Boumedienne. “This is what you’ve been dreaming of since you were a kid. We’ve known each other since we were young kids, so doing it for our country and for each other is really special.”
A notable difference in the countries’ development strategies can be noted in the fact that Czechia has 17 players who compete for Canadian junior teams, while Sweden — where youngsters prefer to compete in their nation’s highly regarded top league — has none.
“I felt like at some parts of the game we played against adults, not even like system-wise, but their physiques,” said Czechia coach Patrik Augusta, a 1992 NHL first-round draft pick who played only four games in that league. “They’re strong, great skaters and you can tell that a lot of their players are playing in the men’s league in Sweden.
“We have great hockey players for a small country. I know sometimes back home it’s saying that they’re leaving too early, but I think we should be proud that they’re leaving even if they’re 15 or 16 years old.”
Said Czech forward Vaclav Nestrasil: “Even though we didn’t win the gold medal, we showed we’re going to be in here, battling for it every single year. Guys in our locker room are going to be back fighting because they know the feeling of losing, and nobody wants to feel that twice.”
Czech forward Vojtech Cihar was named the tournament’s most valuable player after leading the event in scoring with four goals and eight assists.
Canada 6, Finland 3
The Canadians, favored for the gold medal before the tournament began, eased some of their frustration at losing in the semifinals with a bronze-medal triumph.
Canada beat Finland for the second time in the tournament, as the teams were both in Group B for pool play. The Canadians have won 36 WJC medals, six of them bronze.
Canada’s Sam O’Reilly had two goals, Michael Hage produced four assists and Gavin McKenna had a goal and three assists. Carter George made 32 saves.
Zayne Parekh had a goal and an assist to break the Canadian record for WJC points by a defenseman with 13 on six goals and seven assists. Alex Pietrangelo had 12 in 2010.
Finland, which trailed, 3-2, after a period, received single goals from Julius Mitten, Heikki Ruohonen and Arttu Valila. Petteri Rimpinen stopped 28 shots.
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