What to know about the world juniors, a Christmastime tradition in Canada

TORONTO– Scott Moore can still imagine the gold-medal video game throughout the 1991 world junior champions in which Canada beat the Soviet Union.

“A guy called John Slaney from Newfoundland scored the winning objective. I can see the play in my head,” Moore stated of the 3-2 triumph for Team Canada. “It was a sold-out Saskatchewan Place arena, and the location simply went nuts.”

At the time, Moore, the veteran Canadian tv executive and previous head of CBC Sports and Rogers Sportsnet, was a manufacturer for Canadian sports network TSN, which had actually started transmitting the competition that winter season.

“The scores were fantastic for that very first competition on the network, so they kept increasing the profile and the promo for the network over the next 20, 30 years now,” Moore stated. “And it’s simply become this unbelievable Canadian custom.”

DIPLOMATIC DISPUTE

Just recently, the competition that takes location over the vacation season has actually been thrust into the centre of a continuous legal and diplomatic conflict after Canada and a number of European countries pressed back on a court judgment buying Russia’s reinstatement into the global occasion.

Previously today, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) purchased Russia’s instant reinstatement to International Ice Hockey Federation champions.

The IIHF has actually disallowed Russia and Belarus from worldwide competitions because February 2022, following Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine and Belarusian assistance for it.

Following the CAS choice, Prime Minister Mark Carney stated on Tuesday that Russian gamers would not be allowed to complete in case, which is set to be hosted in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta.

Hockey federations from Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Latvia have actually revealed that their nationwide groups would decline to deal with Russia in worldwide champions.

The IIHF has actually opposed the reinstatement also, mentioning security, logistical and competitive issues.

A CHRISTMASTIME TRADITION

The yearly hockey competition pits the world’s finest males’s nationwide under-20 hockey groups versus each other and can be a launch pad for future NHL stars.

“The competition has actually traditionally been an excellent coming-out celebration for gamers who either had actually simply been prepared or were draft-eligible,” Moore stated, including some gamers have actually ended up being “family names well before their NHL professions” after playing in case.

Competition alumni consist of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Gavin McKenna.

The 11-day occasion occurs over the Christmas season, generally starting on Boxing Day and culminating with a gold-medal video game in early January.

In the past, video games including Team Canada have actually brought in countless tv audiences, according to information from TSN.

Moore stated he believes Canadians are drawn to the competition due to the fact that, most importantly, it includes hockey.

“Second, it’s hockey including the red Maple Leaf, which constantly gets Canadians going,” he stated. “Yes, it is a hectic time, however it’s not in fact a truly hectic time on the sports calendar.”

CANADA-RUSSIA RIVALRY

Given that the competition started in 1977, Canada has actually won the champion 20 times, more than any other country. Russia is 2nd, making 13 gold medals consisting of from when it completed as the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

In 1991, the competition boiled down to a Canada-Soviet Union last. Moore stated at the time it was a “significant hockey competition.”

“It was most likely more extreme than the Canada-U.S. one is now,” he stated.

Canada and Russia have actually satisfied in the national championship 15 times, and the Canadians own a 9-6 edge.

Attention has actually now moved to Canada’s relationship with Russia off the ice, with the federal government stating it will utilize its migration powers to avoid Russian and Belarusian professional athletes and authorities from going into Canada to complete under their nationwide signs.

Gretzky stated at an occasion on Friday that he backed Canada’s choice to bar Russia from the upcoming champion and applauded Carney for making his position clear.

PROMINENT SEXUAL ASSAULT TRIAL AND FALLOUT

The hockey competition has actually likewise been connected to another substantial off-ice matter recently. A prominent 2025 sexual attack trial kept in London, Ont., included 5 previous members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey group.

A judge acquitted all the gamers, however the trial and its after-effects amassed nationwide attention and caused restored concerns and discussions about approval and a poisonous hockey culture, which has actually been extensively covered by TSN press reporter Rick Westhead.

4 of the 5 gamers acquitted stay suspended from Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs following a suggestion from an independent appeal board.

Hockey Canada, which has actually gotten criticism for costs millions on sexual assault settlements because 1989, consisting of drawing from kids’s registration charges, presented a slate of reforms in 2022, consisting of obligatory training for professional athletes and personnel on sexual violence and approval.

The company held a 2023 top in Calgary to resolve harmful masculinity in the sport, and another in Ottawa in 2024 to evaluate unhealthy results in hockey.

LOOKING AHEAD TO THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENT

This year’s world junior champion is arranged to open on Dec. 26.

10 groups are set up to complete, consisting of Sweden, Canada, Czechia, Switzerland, the United States, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia, Norway and Finland.

Sweden topped Czechia for the gold medal in 2015’s competition, while Canada beat Finland to end up with the bronze medal. The Canadians have not based on top of the podium given that 2023, however the group will have the crowd with them this year as the host country.

— With files from Joshua Clipperton in Toronto.

This report by The Canadian Press was very first released Nov. 6, 2026.