Canada vs. United States
How to watch
Puck drop: 8:00 PM EST
In Canada: TSN, CTV (English,) RDS (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Live stream: TSN+, RDS Direct
Canada-USA is one of the greatest rivalries in the hockey world, and the World Juniors are once again the stage for a marquee battle between the nations on New Year’s Eve. Tonight’s game wraps up preliminary-round play, and will determine the winner of Group A.
The teams aren’t quite on as equal footing as supporters would like this year. Both teams aren’t as strong as they’ve been in the past, but Canada is dealing with a lack of offensive touch — much of it at the hands of the selection group that left top stars off the roster. The game will feature a run-and-gun American team versus a hard-working Team Canada that struggles to capitalize on its effort. You have to think the Americans are favoured in this game just because of the dynamic play of defenceman Cole Hutson alone, but there’s a reason why they actually play the games.
Team Canada projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #26 Cole Beaudoin |
#21 Calum Ritchie |
#27 Easton Cowan |
| #9 Gavin McKenna |
#14 Berkly Catton |
#13 Luca Pinelli |
| #10 Bradly Nadeau |
#11 Brayden Yager |
#23 Tanner Howe |
| #28 Mathieu Cataford |
#12 Jett Luchanko |
#20 Ethan Gauthier |
| #16 Carson Rehkopf |
|
|
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #6 Tanner Molendyk |
#2 Andrew Gibson |
| #3 Sam Dickinson |
#5 Oliver Bonk |
| #7 Sawyer Mynio |
#4 Caden Price |
|
#8 Beau Akey |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #30 Carter George/td>
| #1 Jack Ivankovi
|
Scratched: Porter Martone (F), Carson Bjarnason (G)
Injured: Matthew Schaefer (D)
Team USA projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #34 Gabe Perreault |
#12 James Hagens |
#9 Ryan Leonard |
| #11 Oliver Moore |
#17 Danny Nelson |
#74 Brodie Ziemer |
| #19 Trevor Connelly |
#10 Carey Terrance |
#2 Teddy Stiga |
| #23 Austin Burnevik |
#8 Brandon Svoboda |
#22 Max Plante |
| #91 Cole Eiserman |
|
|
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #5 Drew Fortescue |
#28 Zeev Buium |
| #24 Cole Hutson |
#6 Adam Kleber |
| #4 Colin Ralph |
#3 Logan Hensler |
| #14 Aram Minnetian |
|
| Starter |
Backup |
| #1 Trey Augustine |
#30 Hampton Slukynsky |
