Members of the University of Denver hockey team once again played a key role on the ice for the United States to help the Americans win back-to-back IIHF World Junior Championships for the first time in the country's history.
 
Team USA won its seventh World Juniors gold—all of which have come in the last 21 years—after defeating Finland in the under-20 championship final on Sunday, Jan. 5, at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Team USA won each of its seven contests in 2024 and was nearly perfect once again this year, as the only blemish on its resume was an overtime loss to the Finns in group play.
 
Denver Richard and Kitzia Goodman Hockey Head Coach David Carle guided the Americans' bench for the second-straight tournament after helping Team USA to the gold medal in the 2024 in Gothenburg, Sweden. He was joined by the same coaching and support staff that helped the U.S. last winter.
 
DU director of hockey operations Travis Culhane was back as the U.S. video coach and Nick Meldrum worked his third World Juniors as the equipment manager. In addition to last year in Sweden, Meldrum also led equipment operations for Team USA at the 2019 World Juniors in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.
 
Pioneers sophomore defenseman Zeev Buium suited up on the ice at his second World Junior Championship and was an alternate captain on this year's U.S. team. The 19-year-old was on the top defensive pairing all tournament long and quarterbacked the No. 1 power-play unit.
 
The San Diego, California, native finished the seven-game tournament with two goals and four assists while averaging 25:13 of ice time per game—the second-most among all players and just three seconds behind overall leader Peteris Bulans of Latvia (25:16).
 
There were several other coaches with Denver and NCHC ties on Team USA. Two of Carle's assistants were University of Minnesota associate head coach Steve Miller, who spent 20 years as a Pioneer assistant coach, and USA Hockey's David Lassonde, also a former DU assistant from 2011-2014. Fellow NCHC head coach Brett Larson of St. Cloud State and Augustana head coach Garrett Raboin were also assistant coaches on Carle's bench.
 
The United States was in Group A with host Canada, Finland, Germany and Latvia and played all of their games during the Dec. 26-Jan. 5 tournament at Canadian Tire Centre, home of the NHL Ottawa Senators. The U.S. defeated Canada 4-1 on New Year's Eve and finished this year's even by outscoring the opposition by a 37-16 margin.
 
ZEEV BUIUM STATISTICS

GAMES	GOALS	ASSISTS	POINTS	SHOTS	PIM	+/-	Avg. TOI
7	2	4	6	11	2	+10	25:13

 
UNITED STATES SCHEDULE (4-0-1-0)

Date	Matchup	Location	Time (MT)/Result
Thu., Dec. 26	USA vs. Germany	Ottawa, Ontario  Canadian Tire Centre	W, 10-4
Sat., Dec. 28	Latvia vs. USA	Ottawa, Ontario  Canadian Tire Centre	W, 5-1
Sun., Dec. 29	USA vs. Finland	Ottawa, Ontario  Canadian Tire Centre	L, 4-3 OT
Tue., Dec. 31	Canada vs. USA	Ottawa, Ontario  Canadian Tire Centre	W, 4-1
Thu., Jan. 2	USA vs. Switzerland   Quarterfinals	Ottawa, Ontario  Canadian Tire Centre	W, 7-2
Sat., Jan. 4	USA vs. Czechia  Semifinals	Ottawa, Ontario  Canadian Tire Centre	W, 4-1
Sun., Jan. 5	USA vs. Finland  Gold Medal Game	Ottawa, Ontario  Canadian Tire Centre	W, 4-3 OT

 
THURSDAY, DEC. 26
United States (10) vs. Germany (4)
Team USA began its World Junior Championship defense with a 10-4 victory against Germany on Thursday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario.
 
The Americans broke open the game in the second period with four straight goals after the Germans cut their deficit to 3-2 midway through the stanza. The U.S. scored four times each in both the second and third periods and outshot Team Germany 56-22 overall.
 
Cole Hutson led USA with five assists, while James Hagens had two goals and two assists and Gabe Perreault had a goal and three assists for a four-point game as well. Brodie Ziemer also tallied twice as seven different Americans scored and 13 registered at least a point.
 
Denver's Zeev Buium finished with one shot and a plus-3 rating while playing a game-high 24:12. He was on the top defensive pairing with Drew Fortescue.

SATURDAY, DEC. 28
United States (5) vs. Latvia (1)
Zeev Buium scored his first goal of the tournament as the United States defeated Latvia 5-1 in the second preliminary-round game on Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre.
 
USA scored just 1:58 into the outing and led 4-0 after 40 minutes of play versus Latvia, which upset host Canada on Friday. Buium gave the Americans a 3-0 advantage after burying a wrist shot from the right side of the crease at 11:13 of the middle period. The DU D-man once again led all players in the game in ice time by skating 23:53.
 
Team USA outshot Latvia 41-26 and was led offensively by Danny Nelson, who tallied twice. James Hagens and Cole Eiserman each contributed two assists, while Western Michigan goalie Hampton Slukynsky made 25 saves in his World Juniors debut.
 
SUNDAY, DEC. 29
Finland (4) vs. United States (3): Overtime
The United States tied the game in the third period but lost 4-3 as Finland's Tuomas Urono scored the game-winner 1:46 into overtime on Sunday afternoon at Canadian Tire Centre.
 
Finland struck first midway through the first period, but goals by Carey Terrance and Cole Hutson gave the U.S. a 2-1 advantage early in the second frame. The Finns responded with a pair of tallies themselves to lead 3-2 after the second stanza, but Brodie Ziemer knotted the score once again for Team USA at 3:26 of the third period.
 
The Americans controlled the puck throughout OT, but Urono capitalized on Finland's first shot in the stanza during a 2-on-1 rush. The Finns finished with a 44-33 edge in total shots on goal.
 
Zeev Buium played a personal tournament-high 28:33 of game time, including more than half of the third period (10:04) and 1:06-of-1:46 of overtime. He presently leads all players at this year's World Juniors averaging 25:32 of ice time.
 
TUESDAY, DEC. 31
United States (4) vs. Canada (1)
Team USA celebrated the New Year by securing the top seed in Group A with a 4-1 victory in front of a sold-out crowd at Canadian Tire Centre against host Canada on Tuesday night.
 
Cole Hutson and Cole Eiserman each had a goal and an assist for the Americans, who scored three straight goals in the third period after Canada tied the game at 1-1 early in the frame. USA goaltender Trey Augustine made 38 saves as the Canadians finished with a 39-27 edge in shots on goal.
 
Zeev Buium led all U.S. players in ice time for the fourth-straight contest, skating 22:57. He also picked up his second point of the tournament with an assist on Eiserman's tally that made it 3-1 with 6:39 left in the third period.
 
USA (3-0-1-0) will face Switzerland in the quarterfinals. The Swiss finished fourth in Group B with a 1-0-0-3 record.
 
THURSDAY, JAN. 2
United States (7) vs. Switzerland (2) - Quarterfinals
The Americans advanced to the World Junior Championship Semifinals and will at least play for a medal this weekend after defeating Switzerland 7-2 on Thursday in the quarterfinals at Canadian Tire Centre.
 
Zeev Buium had a goal and an assist in 20:28 of ice time, as he opened the scoring in the second period to give USA a 5-1 lead. The United States netted the game's first three goals, led 4-1 after the first period and was up 7-1 at the end of 40 minutes of play.
 
Ryan Leonard and James Hagen each had two goals, while Gabe Perreault led all players in scoring with three assists. WMU goaltender Hampton Slukynsky stopped 17-of-19 shots in net for the U.S.
 
The United States will face Czechia in Saturday's semifinals after the Czechs upset host Canada 4-3.

SATURDAY, JAN. 4
United States (4) vs. Czechia (1) - Semifinals
The United States of America secured its spot in the Gold Medal Game with a 4-1 victory against Czechia in the semifinals on Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
 
Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault each had a goal and an assist for Team USA, and Adam Minnetian produced a pair of helpers. Goaltender Trey Augustine stopped 26 shots and DU's Zeev Buium played a tournament-high 28:34 of ice time.
 
Tied at 1-1 after the first period, Cole Eiserman gave the U.S. the lead midway through the second stanza and the Americans added two more in the third to advance to their second-straight World Junior Championship Final.
 
The United States will face Finland for the gold medal on Sunday night at Canadian Tire Centre, while Czechia will play Sweden for the bronze. Finland defeated Sweden 4-3 in overtime in its semifinal matchup on Saturday.

SUNDAY, JAN. 5
United States (4) vs. Finland (3): Overtime – Gold Medal Game
The United States secured its second consecutive World Junior Championship gold medal with a 4-3 victory against Finland on Sunday night at Canadian Tire Center.
 
In a rematch of the preliminary-round game that the Finns won in OT, the Americans were on the winning side of the extra stanza this time as Teddy Stiga tallied the championship-clinching marker at 8:04 of the additional period.
 
Zeev Buium recorded assists on both the game-tying and game-winning goals, with him sending a floating pass through the neutral zone to Stiga to setup a breakaway and an eventual American celebration on the ice. In addition to his two helpers, Buium finished the final with six shots on goal while playing 27:58.
 
Finland led 2-1 after the first period and 3-1 early in the second frame, before Brandon Svoboda and Cole Hutson each tallied in the final three minutes before the intermission to knot the game at 3-3.
 
Team USA outshot Finland 40-24 overall in the outing, which included by a 32-11 margin after the opening period. Trey Augustine made 21 saves in the U.S. net and is the Americans' all-time winningest goaltender at the event.