USA gets wild win against Sweden for world junior hockey bronze medal
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia – Chaz Lucius completed a hat trick in overtime and the United States beat Sweden 8-7 on Thursday to claim the bronze medal at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Lucius ended the 3-on-3 overtime when he flipped a backhander over goaltender Carl Lindbom. Cutter Gauthier had two goals and Logan Cooley, Ryan Ufko and Hughes also scored for the Americans, who were coming off a 6-2 loss to Canada in the semifinals Wednesday night.
“It’s not the game we want to be in,” said Lucius, a Winnipeg Jets prospect with the Manitoba Moose. “But overall, it’s a really memorable experience.”
Filip Bystedt equalized for Sweden with 21 seconds left in regulation with his second goal of the game. Oskar Pettersson, Leo Carlsson, Milton Oscarson, Liam Ohgren and Noah Ostlund also scored. On Wednesday, the Czech Republic rallied to beat Sweden 2-1 in overtime.
Kaidan Mbereko won the goal for the USA, stopping 14 of 16 shots in the third period and overtime. Trey Augustine gave up five goals on 20 shots in the first 40 minutes. Lindbom made 28 saves.
OS update
The head of the International Ice Hockey Federation said Thursday that he would like to have a decision on NHL participation in the 2026 Olympics by the spring of 2024.
IIHF President Luc Tardif told reporters at the World Junior Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that it would give the parties involved two years to prepare for the Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy. NHL assistant commissioner Bill Daly told The Associated Press via email that it’s “probably a reasonable timeline” to make that call.
“I’m optimistic, but everybody has to make an effort to be there,” Tardif told The Canadian Press and others at the event. “You have to have the same rules as the other athletes. We are not a travel agency. We are organizing a competition.”
The league and its players’ association have agreed to participate in 2026 after skipping the last two Olympics, if they can reach an agreement with the IIHF and the International Olympic Committee. The NHL did not participate in Pyeongchang 2018 after the IOC would not pay travel and insurance-related costs as it did on five previous occasions from 1998-2014.
“If we discussed directly with the players – the players want to go – we would find a way,” Tardif said. “But it’s more complicated than that.”
NHL players were set to go in 2022 before pandemic-related schedule disruptions caused them to pull out. They have not competed in the Olympics since 2014 in Sochi.
The NHL and NHLPA had planned to host a World Cup of Hockey in February 2024, but that was derailed by Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, and they announced in November that another attempt would be made to host the event in 2025.
Tardif said the IIHF is not a fan of the World Cup taking place in February because of the potential impact on European leagues and how close it would be to the organization’s men’s world championship held in May — which is during the NHL playoffs.
“It’s a big problem for us,” Tardif said. “We prefer August, September, October.”
The last World Cup in hockey was held in September 2016 in Toronto. The NHL from owners down wants to avoid that timing, preferring February, when players are already in game shape and the North American sports schedule is complete, with the NFL season over.