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4 Minnesotans on U.S. World Junior Team

By Minnesota Hockey, 12/23/20, 10:15AM CST

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The 2021 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship officially begins on Christmas Day (Dec. 25) at Rogers Arena in Edmonton. Team USA, which features four Minnesota natives, will open the tournament December 25 with their first preliminary round matchup against Russia at 9:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. CT.

The World Juniors tournament, which will be the first major international hockey event since the pandemic started, will host preliminary round games on December 25-31 and the championship round on January 2-5. Team USA will play in Group B which also includes Austria, Czech Republic, Sweden and Russia. Group A consists of Canada, Finland, Germany, Slovakia and Switzerland. The top four teams from each group will be seeded into the quarterfinals, which begin January 2.

Team USA’s 25-player roster features eight players who competed in the 2020 World Juniors. The five returning forwards, including Minnetonka native Bobby Brink, accounted for over half of the team’s offense last year, and the two returning goalies started every game in last year’s tournament, setting the stage for what should be a strong showing for the U.S.

A total of four Minnesotans will wear the red, white and blue during the World Juniors. Brink will be joined by defensemen Brock Faber (Maple Grove), Drew Helleson (Farmington) and Jackson LaCombe (Eden Prairie), making it three out of four World Juniors (2018-2021) that the U.S. team features at least three Minnesotans on the team’s blue line.

Fans will have more opportunities than ever this year to follow those Minnesota natives and Team USA at the World Juniors as NHL Network will carry all 28 games of the championship live, and throughout the tournament, NHL Network’s NHL Tonight will include comprehensive previews, highlights, analysis and interviews.

In addition to the television coverage, fans can enjoy exclusive behind-the-scenes coverage of Team USA here and on USA Hockey’s social media channels.

The full Team USA schedule is below and a complete team roster is available here

DATE OPPONENT (Round) LOCATION TIME (CT) BROADCAST
Tues., Dec 22 Finland (Exhibition) Rogers Place W, 3-2 NHL Network
Fri., Dec. 25 Russia (Preliminary) Rogers Place 8:30 PM NHL Network
Sat., Dec. 26 Austria (Preliminary) Rogers Place 8:30 PM NHL Network
Tues., Dec. 29 Czech Republic (Preliminary) Rogers Place 1:00 PM NHL Network
Thurs., Dec. 31 Sweden (Preliminary) Rogers Place 8:30 PM NHL Network
Sat., Jan. 2 Quarterfinals Rogers Place 11:00 AM NHL Network
2:30 PM
6:00 PM
9:30 PM
Mon., Jan. 4 Semifinals Rogers Place 5:00 PM NHL Network
8:30 PM
Tues., Jan. 5 Bronze Medal Game Rogers Place 4:30 PM NHL Network
Gold Medal Game Rogers Place 8:30 PM NHL Network

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