OTTAWA — Teddy Stiga is the overtime hero for the United States at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa, leading them to a 4-3 OT victory over Finland on Sunday evening at the Canadian Tire Centre. Team USA has repeated as champions for the first time in their history at the tournament.
USA’s Cole Hutson and Ryan Leonard each had two-point games while goalie Trey Augustine made 20 saves on 23 shots. Finland’s Emil Hemming scored two assists in the win while goalie Petteri Rimpinen made 36 saves on 40 shots.
Finland’s Jesse Kiiskinen opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period, his sixth goal of the tournament. Minutes later, James Hagens tied the game after Finland failed to clear the zone. Hagens whacked away at a loose puck in front of Rimpinen before putting it in the net. But Finland regained the lead shortly after thanks to a shot from forward Tuomas Uronen. Finland extended the lead to 3-1 thanks to a goal from Emil Pieniniemi, who celebrated by mimicking revealing his chest a la Clark Kent turning into Superman.
The Americans then scored twice before the period’s end. Brandon Svoboda put his team within one after firing a puck off a Finnish defender before it beat Rimpinen. And with seconds to play in the period, Hutson cut to the middle of the ice and wired a shot past Rimpinen. The young defender then copied Pieniniemi’s celebration.
Neither team scored in the third, necessitating overtime. At 11:56 of OT, Stiga received a pass from defenseman Zeev Buium and then beat Rimpinen while all alone, leading to his teammates clearing the benches and celebrating on the ice.
Earlier in the day, Czechia needed a 14-round shootout — the longest in IIHF tournament history — to defeat Sweden 3-2 to win their second consecutive bronze medal at the World Juniors. Eduard Sale scored twice on five attempts in the shootout, including the game-winning goal, to upend the Swedes.
2025 World Juniors tournament honors
Media Team All-Stars
| Player | Position | Country |
|---|---|---|
|
G |
Finland |
|
|
D |
United States |
|
|
D |
Sweden |
|
|
F |
United States |
|
|
F |
Czechia |
|
|
F |
United States |
Goalie of the tournament: Petteri Rimpinen (Finland)
Defenseman of the tournament: Axel Sandin Pellikka (Sweden)
Forward of the tournament: Ryan Leonard (USA)
MVP: Leonard
(Photo of Cole Hutson celebrating his goal with Ryan Leonard, Brandon Svoboda, Zeev Buium and Gabe Perreault: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
