MINNEAPOLIS — USA Hockey’s selection process for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship is underway this week in Minneapolis, one of the two host cities for the Under-20 tournament along with St. Paul.
Hermantown native Max Plante is among the candidates to wear the red, white and blue this winter, and the Minnesota Duluth rising sophomore wing is itching to represent his country in his home state in December and January at
what for now is still known as Xcel Energy Center.
It’s a building he’s had some success in, as he reminded the News Tribune on Sunday.
Hermantown forward Max Plante (26) passes in front of Warroad forward Daimon Gardner (13) during the third period of the 2022 Class A Minnesota boys Class A state hockey championship at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Jason Wachter / File / The Rink Live
“I hope I can stay healthy, hope I can have a good start to the year, just have a chance to play at the ‘X’ like I did when I won the state tournament,” said Plante, a member of the Hawks’
most recent state championship team, from 2022.
Yeah, I’m undefeated there. It would be super special. Kind of the last hurrah for our age group in the U.S., and we get to do it on the home soil, and to try and do the three-peat.”
As strong as “Minnesota Class A state champion” reads on a hockey player’s resume, the line that likely carries more weight with U.S. National Junior Team head coach Bob Motzko and general manager John Vanbiesbrouck is the gold medal Plante helped the United States win a year ago at the 2025 World Juniors.
Plante is one of nine returnees from 2025 — including Bulldogs rising sophomore defenseman Adam Kleber — back with Team USA this week at the University of Minnesota’s Ridder Arena for
USA Hockey’s World Junior Summer Showcase,
which features squads from the U.S. and Canada, as well as teams from Finland and Sweden.
Exhibition games run through Saturday at Ridder Arena.
“The big thing with the returning players, the nine of them, is what they are going off the ice, is probably far more important than on the ice,” Motzko said. “We know what they can do. They raise the temperature when they’re around the group.”
Plante is only practicing this week with Team USA and not playing in any games. The 2024 second-round NHL draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings didn’t skate earlier in July at the franchise’s pro development camp, either. Plante said he should be good to go next week, but for now, his body needed rest.
Motzko said Plante has been begging to play this week, but like a few other returnees sitting out (Cole Eiserman, Cole Hutson), USA Hockey is being “smart,” Motzko said.
“It’s kind of hard not playing, but it’s the right thing to do,” Plante said. “It’s really cool to see the guys again, guys that I’ve been with for four years now, since NTDP. It’s really cool to be with everybody again and just to compete in practice. I haven’t been able to go full on, but just to be around them, hang out at the hotel, just see how life’s going — there’s no place I’d rather be.”
Hermantown native Max Plante, shown during his time with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program, played two seasons for the NTDP in Plymouth, Michigan, before coming to Minnesota Duluth.
Contributed / Rena Laverty / USA Hockey’s NTDP
Plante played two seasons at the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in Plymouth, Michigan, prior to returning home to play for the Bulldogs last season. After playing in Michigan and holding events in Buffalo, Plante said it’s special to have his former teammates on the University of Minnesota campus this week. He’s looking forward to possibly having Team USA
in Duluth for pre-tournament games in December.
“There’s rumors, yup,” he said, smiling.
Plante’s most recent medals have all come playing abroad. Last year’s victory in the World Juniors came in Ottawa. Plante won a silver medal in Finland at the 2024 IIHF Under 18 World Championship.
Minnesota Duluth forward Max Plante (10) skates with the puck against St. Cloud State on Friday, Jan. 10 at Amsoil Arena in Duluth.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group
That 6-4 loss to Canada in the gold-medal game on May 5, 2024, is what fuels players hoping to make the 2026 U.S. National Junior Team, Plante said. Yes, the U.S. has won back-to-back gold medals at the World Juniors, and there are returnees from last year, like Plante and Kleber.
But as Plante points out, most of the players here in Minneapolis this week don’t have a gold medal from the World Juniors, just that silver from the U18 Worlds. And even those with a gold medal already are eager to get revenge against many of the same Canadians who beat them in 2024.
“Our group is pretty hungry,” Plante said. “It’s a group that wants to win.”
Former Hermantown hockey player Max Plante holds the gold medal he won with Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Championships during a high school game on Thursday, Jan. 9 at Hermantown Arena.
Clint Austin / File / Duluth Media Group