Team Sweden is golden.
For the first time since 2012, the Swedes finished first at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.
Taking down Czechia 4-2 in the gold medal game, Sweden saw a 3-0 lead evaporate in the final minutes of play, before sealing the first-place finish with an empty netter with just seconds left at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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Photo by Nick Wosika/USA TodayÂ
Winnipeg Jets defensive prospect Sascha Boumedienne scored the game-winner – a one-timer early in the third period that gave Sweden a 3-0 lead and some breathing room.
Turns out the boys in yellow and blue would need it, with Czechia scoring twice with its goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker, late.
Boumedienne’s goal 3:47 into the third period would stand as the winner. Selected 28th overall by the Jets in the first round of last year’s draft, the offensive blueliner finished the tournament with a goal and two assists.
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“It was pretty crazy,” he said of his goal celebration post-game. “I went so crazy I fell there. I couldn’t keep my balance. That was nuts.”
Also suiting up for Sweden was fellow Jets draft pick, Alfons Freij, to whom Winnipeg chose 37th overall in 2024. The 19-year-old also performed well on Sweden’s back end, picking up seven assists in his six games played.
Boumedienne and Freij lead a talented corps of Jets young prospects not yet quite ready to shift to the North American Pro game. Freij currently plays for Timra IK of the Swedish Hockey League, while Boumedienne suits up for Boston College of the NCAA.
The win was Sweden’s third ever gold medal at the World Juniors and fifth medal in the past nine years.