During the final two days of the tournament, six of Utah’s prospects will compete for a medal at the 2026 World Junior Championship. Below is a recap of the semifinals round!
Sweden 4, Finland 3 SO
FIN: Väisänen
After a tight, back and forth battle, Sweden beat Finland in a shootout to advance to the gold medal game. Finland will play for bronze on Monday. Anton Frondell’s goal in the shootout was the game winner for Sweden.
Linus Eriksson, Ivar Stenberg, Eddie Genborg, Jack Berglund (SO), and Frondell (SO) scored for Sweden while Atte Joki, Jasper Kuhta, Joona Saarelainen, and Matias Vanhanen (SO) scored for Finland.
Utah prospect Veeti Väisänen played 14:16 and had one shot on goal. Väisänen and Finland will face Canada in the bronze medal game on Monday. Game time is 2:30 p.m. MT.
Czechia 6, Canada 4
CAN: Beaudoin, Desnoyers, Iginla; CZE: Hoch, Pšenička
Two goals in the final two minutes of regulation led Czechia to a semifinal win, and punched their ticket to the gold medal game. Canada will compete for bronze after falling in the semifinals.
Vojtech Cihar scored twice for Czechia while Maxmilian Curran, Adam Titlbach, Adam Benak, and Tomas Poletin each had one goal. Tij Iginla, Zayne Parekh, Cole Reschny, and Porter Martone scored for Canada in the loss.
For Czechia, Max Pšenička had an assist, one shot, was +2, and played 17:41. Stepan Hoch had one shot and played 11:11. For Canada, Tij Iginla scored the game’s opening goal, recorded three shots, and played 15:29. Caleb Desnoyers played 14:32 while Cole Beaudoin played 19:20.
Czechia will face Sweden in the gold medal game, Monday. Game time is 6:30 p.m. MT. Canada will face Finland in the bronze medal game, Monday afternoon, at 2:30 p.m. MT.
Pšenička and Hoch are guaranteed a medal while Utah’s four other prospects have an opportunity to fight for bronze. The Mammoth will have, at minimum, three medals from the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.
