World Junior Championship: Top five upsets in tournament history
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If you’ve been following the 2023 World Junior Championship, you know all about some of the crazy upsets early on.
On Day 1, Switzerland beat Finland – the defending silver medalists – 4-3 in overtime, and simply outplayed them. Later that night, Czechia beat a Canadian team that looked discombobulated from the get-go. And then on Wednesday, Slovakia doubled up the Americans in a 6-3 victory to shake up an already wild Group B.
So, it got us thinking: this tournament has been filled with upsets, but which ones stand out among the rest? Here’s a look at five of the most incredible upsets in World Junior Championship history:
Poland beats American team loaded with future Hall of Famers (1988)
It’s simply unimaginable that an American team containing Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick, John LeClair and Mathieu Schneider lost to Poland, of all teams. The 1988 tournament was a rough one for USA, who finished sixth place with a 1-6-0 record. But for Poland, who finished last with an identical record but a minus-41 goal differential, it was easily the greatest win of their top-level international career. Poland’s roster had no future NHLers, but its 4-3 win was built upon hard work and determination to not leave without something worth cheering about. Poland played in the top division again in 1990 and 1997 but has been a mid-pack team in the Division IB WJC – the third-best tournament – for nearly the past decade.
Kazakhstan doubles up on Canada (1998)
After winning five championships in a row from 1993 to 1997, could Canada make it a six-peat? It had Vincent Lecavalier, Alex Tanguay, Eric Brewer, Mathieu Garon and Roberto Luongo, among others, but it wasn’t enough and Canada went 2-2 in the round-robin. Canada lost to Russia in a tight game in Finland and was sent to the seventh-place game. Kazakhstan, meanwhile, ended up losing 14-1 to the hosts, which wasn’t a shock after major upsets to Kazakhstan, USA and Switzerland. So while this Canadian team struggled, nobody could have ever expected Kazakhstan to double up the score. The Kazakhs had a 4-0 lead, led by a hat-trick for Andrei Troshchinsky and a trio of assists to future NHLer Nikolai Antropov. Canada got its revenge 10 years later with a 15-0 win, so there’s that.
Belarus shocks USA (2005)
The Americans weren’t yet the tournament powerhouse they’re typically viewed as today, winning gold for the first time in 2004. Expectations were high in 2005, and they’d ultimately play for a medal. But after seeing Belarus crushed by Switzerland, Russia and Czechia, nobody expected the Americans to fall 5-3 in front of their home fanbase. A shorthanded goal by Alexei Efyamenka, followed by a second goal by Vaszim Karaha made it 2-0 before Phil Kessel finally got USA on the board. It didn’t end up being enough and Belarus skated away with a shocking 5-3 victory, which wasn’t enough to save them from the relegation round. Belarus ended up going to Division I, but they’ll never forget what it was like beating one of the tournament powerhouses. A total of 19 Americans on that team played at least one NHL game, with three – Ryan Suter (1,315), Phil Kessel (1,240) and Alex Goligoski (1,011) breaking past the 1,000-game mark. For reference, Belarus had two go to the NHL – Andrei and Sergei Kostitsyn.
Conz leads Switzerland to win over Russia (2010)
Switzerland went from playing Division IA in 2009 to within one win of bronze in 2010, largely due to goaltender Benjamin Conz’s 300-plus saves over the seven-game run. He was especially incredible against Russia in the quarterfinal highlighted by his 50-save performance against Vladimir Tarasenko, Evgeni Kuznetsov, Nikita Filatov and company. Russia lost just once in the round-robin, but the combined effort of Conz and Nino Niederreiter, who scored two goals, shocked the hockey world. An 11-4 loss at the hands of Sweden in the bronze medal game put a damper on the final result, but the Russia win will go down as one of the top accomplishments in Swiss hockey history.
Slovakia says no to Sweden (2015)
Slovakia’s effort didn’t result in gold, but it truly felt like that for the Slovakian fanbase. Slovakia finished third in Group A with two wins and, after years of failing to make the quarterfinal in previous tournaments, the Slovaks made it through. The Slovakian success was largely due to the goaltending heroics of Denis Godla, who stopped a tournament-high 224 shots and gave it everything he had against the top teams in the tournament. That helped the Slovaks snatch bronze away from a Swedish team that failed to lose a game in the round-robin during the peak of the team’s success. The Slovaks had a 2-0 lead early before the Swedes scored a pair to tie it up. The game was tense throughout, and Slovakia eventually took advantage of a major penalty to make it 3-2 early in the third. It scored an extra goal to seal the deal with a minute left, earning bronze and inspiring a nation. It hasn’t won another since, but that result will go down as one of the team’s most memorable wins.