World Juniors: A 12-day gift over the Christmas season

Published Jan 05, 2025  •  3 minute read

Team Canada forward Bradly Nadeau (left) also has skills as a ping-pong player. Photo by Minas Panagiotakis /Getty Images

It didn’t have the same joyous result for Canadians, but in many ways, this year’s world junior hockey championship was as successful and exciting as the 2009 Christmas-time tournament the home team won in Ottawa.

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The 12-day tournament was fun to follow, but somehow didn’t seem long enough.

Here’s a tidbit we didn’t get a chance to expand on, as well as a couple of interesting items that came out of Sunday’s IIHF-hosted closing news conference:

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What did Canada’s players do during their downtime in Ottawa?

First off, don’t say they should have been practicing, because even if they did, nobody can be expected to work every waking hour of their day — except maybe sportswriters.

But even when they relaxed, the players kept their competitive fires burning.

“We’ve been pretty chill, mostly spending time at the hotel,” Jett Luchanko, a Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick, said the day after Canada shut out the Finns 4-0 in their opener. “There’s lots to do. We got some cornhole games going, and putting stuff and you can play cards too. So it’s pretty chill. We kind of did most of our stuff before, and we’re just kind of getting ready for the tournament.

Luchanko mentioned the players engaged in some intense ping-pong matches.

Bradly Nadeau was the best of the bunch.

“He beat me, but it was close,” said Luchanko.  “I want a rematch.”

What makes him so good?

“I don’t know. I can tell he’s got some experience,” said Luchanko. “He’s got a good, good forehand, some smash.”

Tanner Molendyk was asked if he had gone head-to-head with Nadeau.

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“No,” said Molendyk. “I’m too scared.”

When might Russian and Belarus players back at the World Juniors?

“We want them back as soon as possible because it will mean the war (with Ukraine) will be over,” said IIHF president Luc Tardif. “We have to leave the door open. I think it will be interesting to see what’s going to happen in the next two months. We’re going to have to make a decision beginning of February (for 2026) because all the teams, participants and organizers have to know exactly who will play in in ’26. Is it a good time to bring them back? That’s the question we’re going to have to answer.”

How was the World Juniors received in Ottawa?

“Over the last 12 days, we will see over 400,000 people that have come through the turnstiles, either in one of our two venues or through the fan fest down at the Aberdeen Pavilion over the course of the event, and we’re thrilled with that number,” said Dean McIntosh, the director of marketing services for Hockey Canada “It’s certainly not a record, but every time I think we set a new standard for the World Juniors as it relates to the fan and the fan experience. We’re incredibly proud of that, but I think beyond that is how it impacts the community.”

McIntosh added that along with the fans that poured into TD Place and Canadian Tire Centre, 450 young Indigenous players and youth kids had the opportunity to participate in the World Juniors through the event.

“We have also donated over 15,000 meals that have been recycled from the venues, that have been given to people in the cold and shelters throughout Ottawa,” said McIntosh. “Again, part of our initiative to ensure that we don’t just work with the community and the players in that experience, but we go beyond that right into the community.”

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