'Winning is the expectation' for U.S. at World Juniors

A lot has changed since the 1982 IIHF World Junior Championship, the first time Minnesota hosted the tournament.

It was sixth edition of the event, and the first time games were played in the United States. The U.S. went 2-5 and finished sixth among eight teams.

"I remember us being really challenged because of the talent all the other teams had," said John Vanbiesbrouck, who was an 18-year-old goalie for the U.S. in 1982.

Today, Vanbiesbrouck is USA Hockey assistant executive director of hockey operations and the general manager of the U.S. team that will go for a third consecutive gold medal when the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship is held Dec. 26-Jan. 5, 2026 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.

"We didn't have the depth at that time," he said. "Now that's all changed. The expectation is not even just a medal, it's gold."

Depth no longer is a challenge for USA Hockey at any level.

The U.S. became the first country to win world championships at the junior, senior men's, senior women's and sled level all in a calendar year.

The U.S. win at the 2025 World Juniors was its second straight, the first time its won consecutive championships. And its title at the 2025 IIHF World Championship was its first in 92 years.

"Winning is the expectation," U.S. World Junior coach Bob Motzko said. "That's it."

Motzko, the coach at the University of Minnesota, is coaching the U.S. at the World Juniors for the third time. He led the U.S. to the gold medal in 2017 and a bronze medal in 2018.

The 2017 championship resonates because of how it was won, with Troy Terry scoring the only goal in a five-round shootout against Canada in the gold-medal game at Bell Centre in Montreal.

"It was 20,000 black and red (Canada) jerseys, and just a few parents in red, white and blue." Motzko said. "We silenced them. That's the best."

The chance for a three-peat this year most certainly will be the focus, but so will winning on home ice. The U.S. has won the tournament seven times, but never in the United States.

Motzko hopes Minnesota's well-known passion for hockey can provide some extra motivation during the tournament.

"Our city can do it, our state can do it," he said. "Our guys are going to fight. They're going to put their best foot forward. If we can get that juice in the building, we've got to do our part to make sure we're in that medal round.

"And we want to draw our fans into the fight as much as we want to draw our players into the fight."

Motzko and Minnesota's hockey allegiance will be more than familiar with the arenas hosting the tournament.

The U.S. will play in Group A in the preliminary round, along with Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland, with games at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Group B, consisting of Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland and Latvia, will play at 3M Arena at Mariucci on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

The semifinals and the gold- and bronze-medal games will be played at Grand Casino Arena.

And, sure, winning the World Juniors in Canada is fun. But winning it at home?

"Well that would be everything, right?" Motzko said. "In the 50th year? Yeah, that would be great in so many ways."