The NHL Network will air every game of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden.
It includes comprehensive coverage of the United States National Junior Team (2-1-0-0), which will play the final preliminary-round game in Group B against Slovakia (3-0-0-0) at Frolundaborg on Sunday (6 a.m. ET). The quarterfinal round begins Jan. 2.
Longtime NCAA hockey analyst Dave Starman, who will handle the broadcast along with E.J. Hradek, Jon Rosen and Jon Morosi, will give his three keys to victory for the United States before each of its games during the 11-day tournament.
"The World Juniors is like a dance ... you learn as you go," Starman said. "As former U.S. coach Dean Blais told me after winning gold in 2010 in Saskatoon, 'you don't really know what kind of team you have until you finish your last game.'
"Two games were challenging; the game against Switzerland was a glorified scrimmage, so against Norway and Czechia, what did we learn? We saw the U.S. bend, but not break and saw them adapt to a different pace and style game in Game 3 against Czechia than they played against Norway and Switzerland. We saw both goalies (Trey Augustine and Jacob Fowler) establish themselves as winners in this tourney and that's pretty good."
Here are Starman's 3 keys to victory for the United States against Slovakia:
1. Adjusting on the fly
"The shootout win against Czechia on Friday was the best game the United States has played against the best team they've faced. They played it with six defensemen (since Seamus Casey was out with an illness). I've never been a fan of seven defensemen and using four forwards and one defenseman on the top two power-play units (which obviously can change), you have some defensemen not as involved as they are used to being. That's the deal when you play in the World Juniors. You adjust to lesser minutes and a different role. Casey (New Jersey Devils) is a top-pair defenseman at this level and he's needed to win it all. I wonder if seven goes down to more of a six as this moves along. Eric Pohlkamp (San Jose Sharks) is the seventh defenseman, but he was really good against a big, heavy Czechia team. Slovakia is similar so his value could rise."
2. Best defense is good offense
"The U.S. defense corps has been as good as any in the tourney at preventing rush offense. The defensemen have been up, have used their speed and length (the tall ones more specifically) to surf all over the neutral zone and prevent a lot of line grabs with possession. It is also allowing their defense corps to utilize their speed and get first touches on pucks in the defensive zone. With the U.S. looking to exploit most teams coming in with one forward up and two back, it's allowing them to find seams to get the puck to their forwards in stride and get north much faster. This should only get better as the chemistry keeps building on ice."
3. Stay resilient
"The United States bent but didn't break against Czechia and overcame deficits. They were down in the shootout also and there were a lot of moments in the game where they survived momentum swings and good pushes by Czechia and how well they defended. This is that type of game that you can have as a benchmark game, where you prove to yourself and your coaches that you can handle and manage a game that you're not controlling. Slovakia is not as big as the Czechs, but they are fast, skilled and they have a power play that can impact games. Assistant coach Steve Miller runs the penalty kill and, through three games, they have shown consistency, agility, and hostility in killing penalties (100 percent; seven-for-seven). This will be a good watch when the U.S. penalty kill is out there."
