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Can Sweden finally break its World Junior Championship drought in 2024 with a home-field advantage?
The 2024 World Junior Championships will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden, from Dec. 26, 2023, to Jan. 5, 2024. Historically, this is the seventh time that Sweden has hosted the event, with the last time occurring in 2014, when the home country lost to Finland in the Gold Medal game.
Surprisingly, Sweden has been an active participant in the World Junior Championships since its inception in 1974 but has only claimed the Gold Medal on two occasions, in 1981 and 2012.
Considering Sweden is one of the top hockey countries in the world, it is shocking to see a team known to dominate in the round-robin, including a record 54-game win streak from 2006 to 2020, only having five Silver Medals and three Bronze Medals this century.
Now that they are hosting the event again for the first time in a decade, can Sweden overcome the pitfalls that cost them so many games in the medal round and finally capture something that has eluded them for so long: a U20 World Junior Championship Gold Medal?
Team Sweden boasts a lineup of 19 NHL-drafted prospects
When the World Junior Championships kick off, most experts pencil in Team Canada and Team USA as the favorites to win the Gold Medal. Realistically, these two countries spend a lot of money and resources on their junior programs, giving them an edge over the other countries.
Even though Sweden has a junior-level program, J20 Nationell, it doesn't compare, for example, to the United States National Development Team Program, which trains and plays together for an entire hockey season.
Given that the World Junior Championships is a week-and-a-half-long tournament, team chemistry is vital for any level of success. Before naming their lineup, Canada runs a handful of camps inviting the best players nationwide to showcase their skills and create chemistry with past and future teammates.
Interestingly, outside the U20 World Junior Championships, Sweden has found success at the U18 tournaments, winning the Gold Medal in two of the previous four tournaments and claiming the Silver Medal at the 2023 event. Furthermore, they have earned a medal in six of the past seven tournaments, finishing in the top three every year except 2017.
Why doesn't Sweden experience the same level of success at the U20 World Junior Championships?
Ultimately, Canada and the United States don't tend to send their best players to participate in the U18 tournament, mainly due to other commitments, like playoffs in North America, since the tournament is held in April, giving other countries like Sweden a chance to shine at the event.
However, the U20 tournament takes place during the holiday season, allowing some NHL teams to loan their rookies, like Boston Bruins' Matt Poitras, back to the event to gain experience and build their confidence.
Heading into the 2024 tournament, Sweden has 19 NHL-drafted prospects in their lineup, including nine first-round picks. But they won't have former second-overall pick Leo Carlsson in the lineup because he's currently playing with the Anaheim Ducks.
Still, the Nordic country is bringing back seven players from last year's team that finished fourth in an 8-7 loss to the United States in the Bronze Medal game.
Although several key players from last year's squad are gone, it's time for a handful of this year's skaters, like Liam Öhgren, Filip Bystedt, and Elias Pettersson, who are playing in their final tournament, to step up and help their home country win the Gold Medal.
Interestingly, Finland was the last Nordic country to win the Gold Medal at the World Junior Championships on home soil in 2016, duplicating the feat they previously achieved in 1998. Even though Sweden will feel the additional pressure to win a medal while playing host, they are slowly drifting away from the reputation the past generation built as kings of the robin-round.
Now that Tre Kronor has lost some preliminary games recently and no longer finish undefeated in the group stage, the pressure is off to be perfect at the tournament every year. Ultimately, those wins didn't mean anything in the end, so the focus should be on advancing to the elimination stage and beating opponents there.
As Sweden fans pack Scandinavium, the arena where Sweden will play their preliminary round contests, they hope for a great run through round-robin play. Still, they will be more excited to watch their boys advance to the Gold Medal game at the same venue on Jan. 5, 2024.
Considering that Sweden doesn't host the World Junior Championships that often, this year's team has a chance to achieve something so many other teams missed out which is capturing a Gold Medal on home soil, proving they are more than a robin-round success story.
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