It's that time of year: World Juniors! The IIHF under-20 World Juniors Championship takes place from today, December 26, through January 5. After last year's tournament that saw five St. Louis Blues prospects compete, only two have made their national teams this year. Those two are Love Harenstam, one of three goaltenders on Team Sweden, and defenseman Adam Jiricek, who's competing for Team Czechia.
Harenstam was drafted in the sixth round, 179th overall, at the 2025 NHL Draft, making him the only Blues prospect from last summer's picks to make a national team. Jiricek was taken 16th overall at the 2024 draft, and has spent this season tearing it up for the Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL with 10 goals and 29 points in 25 games played.
For Americans, the games can be streamed on NHL Network; for Canadians, the games are available on TSN. Here's a quick rundown of the round robin schedule, highlighting when Jiricek and Harenstam are playing.
Friday, December 26
Team Sweden vs. Team Slovakia, 1 p.m.
Team Czechia vs. Team Canada, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 27
Team Denmark vs. Team Czechia, 8:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 28
Team Sweden vs. Team Switzerland, 2 p.m.
Monday, December 29
Team Germany vs. Team Sweden, 1 p.m.
Team Finland vs. Team Czechia, 3:30 p.m.
Wedensday, December 31
Team Czechia vs. Team Latvia, 3:30 p.m.
Team United States vs. Team Sweden, 6 p.m.
The quarterfinals will start in the new year on Friday, January 2; the semifinals will take place on Sunday, January 4, and the Gold Medal and Bronze Medal games will occur on Monday, January 5.
It should be an exciting tournament with quite a few storylines outside the Blues' prospects who're participating. The Americans are looking to three-peat and Canada is hoping to bounce back after consecutive, heartbreaking losses in the quarterfinals the last two years. Both are the favorites to win the whole thing, but Sweden and Finland have proven plucky opponents who know how to contend with the star-laden North American teams--and don't count out Czechia, either, who have an excellent blue line group.