Canada opens 2025 WJC vs. Finland; face U.S. on NYE
Published
Hockey Canada and the International Ice Hockey Federation have released the schedule for the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship, which is set to take place Dec. 26, 2024-Jan. 5, 2025, in Ottawa.
In the preliminary round, Canada, the United States, Finland, Latvia and Germany will compete in Group A at Canadian Tire Centre. Sweden, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland and Kazakhstan will form Group B and play at TD Place.
The opening day of the tournament will feature Sweden playing Slovakia at 12 p.m. ET, the United States facing Germany at 2:30 p.m. ET, Czechia battling Switzerland at 5 p.m. ET and Canada taking on Finland at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Following games against Latvia on Dec. 27 and Germany on Dec. 29, Canada will play the United States on Dec. 31, marking the first time that the two teams have faced each other on New Year’s Eve since the 2017 IIHF World Junior Championship.
The relegation game and quarterfinals will take place on Jan. 2, before the tournament shifts exclusively to Canadian Tire Centre for the semifinals on Jan. 4 and medal games on Jan. 5.
All 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship games will be broadcast on TSN.
The list of communities that will host pre-tournament games, along with the pre-tournament schedule, will be announced in October.