{"id":481095,"date":"2026-01-02T07:51:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:51:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=481095"},"modified":"2026-01-02T07:51:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T12:51:36","slug":"world-junior-championship-predictions-quarterfinals-usa-vs-finland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/01\/02\/world-junior-championship-predictions-quarterfinals-usa-vs-finland\/","title":{"rendered":"World Junior Championship Predictions: Quarterfinals, USA vs Finland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to\u00a0Last Word On Hockey\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0editions of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships predictions. Throughout the tournament our team will break down key matchups, storylines and stats, then make a prediction on how the game will play out. You can also check out our\u00a0NHL editions<\/a>. For this edition, we\u2019ll take a look at this important quarterfinal game with the host United Stats and Finland.<\/p>\n

World Junior Championship Predictions: USA vs Finland<\/h2>\n

Overall Head-to-Head: USA 20-19 Finland; one tie<\/h3>\n

How to Watch<\/a>: US TV<\/strong>: NHL Network Canada TV:<\/strong> TSN<\/h3>\n

Time:<\/strong> 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/p>\n

Where:<\/strong> Grand Casino Arena (St. Paul, Minn.)<\/p>\n

We have the third quarterfinal game on tap in our World Junior Championship predictions. Both Finland and the United States are coming off losses in their respective group finales. The two countries both had a chance to win the group but came up short. The elimination round has begun and there is no tomorrow for both countries. It’s win or go home.<\/p>\n

Finland is usually a team that gets better as a tournament progresses but had an uncharacteristically bad game on defence in the 7-4 loss to Canada on New Year’s Eve. The Finns are usually one of the best structured teams on the defensive end. However, they got into a track meet against Canada.<\/p>\n

Team USA, who are the two-time defending champions, can put up a ton of goals. However, the Americans have struggled at their own end of the ice in this tournament. The United States had been able to outscore opponents beforehand but ran into a very good Sweden team in a 6-3 setback.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a look at the stats and storylines in this quarterfinal edition of World Junior Championship predictions.<\/p>\n

The USA Story<\/h3>\n

Team USA is in uncharted waters in the past few seasons. The Americans are searching for answers after that Group A finale loss to the Swedes. Brady Knowling was put in the pressure cooker in goal. However, Team USA couldn’t stop the Swedish attack.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> prospect Caleb Heil and Washington Capitals<\/a> prospect Nick Kempf are options that the Americans could turn to. However, head coach Bob Motzko will have to find the solution if they want to progress to the semifinals.<\/p>\n

Boston Bruins<\/a> prospect Will Zellers is the top goalscorer with five goals and seven points. Buffalo Sabres<\/a> prospect Brodie Ziemer has five assists and six points so far this tournament.<\/p>\n

The Finland Story<\/h3>\n

Finland has flipped the script from previous tournaments in the 2026 edition. The Finns usually start of slow and get better as the tournament moves along. However, Finland took care of business in its opener only to lose to one of the tournament favorites in Canada.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Kings<\/a> prospect Petteri Rimpinen has played in all four games and likely gets the call again in between the pipes. Rimpinen has been solid in the other games other than the defeat to the Canadians.<\/p>\n

Draft eligible prospect Jasper Kuhta has had a strong tournament with a goal and five assists. Roope Vesterinen has been great this tournament for the Finns.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/h3>\n

It’s going to be a clash of styles in this game. The Americans want to turn up the pace like the Canadians did in the final game of group play. Finland wants to grind it out and slow the pace down.<\/p>\n

Team USA has plenty of firepower. However, defence and goaltending win championships. Finland is better in both of those areas.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Finland wins 4-3.<\/em><\/p>\n

Main photo by: David Reginek-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions, some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling\u00a0problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to\u00a0Last Word On Hockey\u2019s\u00a0editions of the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships predictions. Throughout the tournament our team will break down key matchups, storylines and stats, then make a prediction on how the game will play out. You can also check out our\u00a0NHL editions. For this edition, we\u2019ll take a look at this important quarterfinal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":459515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5744,4547,304,4548,3462,309,4524],"tags":[5514,8257,5726,1406],"class_list":["post-481095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-juniors","category-hockey","category-international-hockey","category-nhl","category-nhl-prospects","category-nhl-top-prospects","category-nhl-predictions","tag-iihf-world-juniors","tag-petteri-rimpinen","tag-team-finland","tag-usa-hockey"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481095"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":481135,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481095\/revisions\/481135"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}