The 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship will continue on Saturday in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The United States will play Switzerland in a friendly on Saturday, December 27.
The United States’ games at the 2026 World Junior Hockey Championship will be broadcast on the NHL Network and can be streamed live at DirecTV Stream (Free Trial), fuboTV and other live TV services.
Here’s what you need to know:
What: 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship
WHO: USA vs. Switzerland
When: 6:00 PM ET on Saturday, December 27, 2025
Where: Grand Casino Arena, Saint Paul, Minneapolis
TV: NHL Network
Tickets: From $32.75
Complete US schedule
Friday, December 26: USA 6, Germany 3
Saturday, December 27: USA vs. Switzerland, 6 p.m. ET
Monday, December 29: USA vs. Slovakia, 6 p.m. ET
Wednesday, December 31: USA vs. Sweden, 6 p.m. ET
>> Complete tournament schedule
Here’s a recap of Friday’s game from the Star Tribune, via the Tribune News Service:
Will Zellers was not on the United States roster for the World Junior Hockey Championship in December.
But when the Americans opened the tournament Dec. 26 at the Grand Casino Arena, Zellers was front and center. He scored two goals and had an assist as Team USA defeated Germany 6–3 in front of an announced crowd of 14,276.
Zellers wasn’t on the original roster, but he was on the team’s radar. The Maple Grove native was named the United States Hockey League’s MVP last season after scoring 44 goals for the Green Bay Gamblers and is off to a strong start in his first season in North Dakota.
USA Hockey manager John Vanbiesbrouck, a former NHL goaltender tasked with building the team, called coach Bob Motzka and said the Americans should add Zellers.
“He’s got that stick, that strong power stick, something we need,” Motzko said.
Zellers, 19, had just finished a Fighting Hawks practice in Grand Forks on Dec. 8 when “Beezer called me and said I was added,” Zellers said. “I was glad to hear about it. I had to finish some finals and get ready.”
The U.S. team trained in Duluth in preparation for the tournament, and Zellers said he had “a little chip on my shoulder, but he didn’t feel a lot of pressure.” Motzko said it wasn’t unusual for a player to be added to the roster late, and Zellers’ strong play in camp earned him a spot when the roster was cut from 30 to 25 players.
The son of former Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Zellers, Will played his prep hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary’s in Faribault and was a third-round pick by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. His draft rights were traded to Boston in March in a deal that also sent Minnesota native Casey Mittelstadt to the Bruins and former Wild winger Charlie Coyle to the Avalanche.
Before a sensational season in Green Bay, Zellers flipped his commitment from Boston University to North Dakota, where his father played college football; has 10 goals for the Fighting Hawks this season.
He is now focused on the junior tournament, where Team USA is the two-time defending champion. On Friday, the stands were packed with Zellers’ relatives.
“It was a great start,” Zellers said. “Growing up in Minnesota, going to this arena when it was the X and now the Grand Casino means so much, with the state tournament and everything. The crowd really loved it and it was a lot of fun.”
The Americans continue in Group A with a match against Switzerland on Saturday, December 27.
Motzko said the team’s chemistry has been “excellent” since the start of their camp in Duluth, bolstered by the return of nine players from 2025. One of the nine, Trevor Connolly, is out with a lower-body injury and will miss the tournament.
On Christmas Day, the team attended the Vikings-Lions game at US Bank Stadium, which Zeller said was a “blast” for Vikings fans on the team — except, he joked, “for the lack of passing yards.”
Max Plante, Cole Eiserman, Will Horcoff and defenseman Chase Reid also scored for the USA, which played sloppy hockey at times Friday with unforced errors and poor defensive zone coverage.
“I really liked a lot of things we did and I really didn’t like a few things we did, but that’s what you get with all-star teams,” Motzko said.
Caleb Heil, who was in the Chaska/Chanhassen youth program four seasons ago in the USHL, had 18 saves for Team USA. Lennart Neisse faced 47 shots for Germany.
Brendan McMorrow, playing on a line with Zellers and Anthony Spellacy, was selected as the American player of the game.
“He does all the dirty work there,” Zellers said.
Defenseman Cole Hutson played a game-high 24 minutes, 20 seconds and was a plus-5 as all of the game’s goals came evenly.
Teddy Stiga scored the game-winning goal in overtime at last year’s tournament as the U.S. defeated Finland 4-3 in Ottawa for its second straight gold.
Five minutes into Friday’s game, he took a long stick from Adam Kleber and went at Neisse alone, beating him with a backhand that deflected off the right post. Plante was Johnny on the spot and tucked in the rebound.
Plante and Kleber, sophomores at Minnesota Duluth, were both on last year’s gold medal team.
Zellers scored the second when he dropped a blind pass into the slot that Chase Reid converted at 10:53.
Horcoff made it 3-0 five minutes later when he tapped in the legs of Brodie Ziemer behind the net. Ziemer, the Gophers’ sophomore winger, was named Team USA captain and played on the first line with Horcoff and center James Hagens.
The Germans, shut out 8-0 by Team USA last weekend in an exhibition game in Duluth, got one back before the end of the period when Timo Kose knocked in Carlos Handel’s rebound from the right side. They tied the game at 3-2 at 5:46 of the second when Simon Seidl beat Heil on a feed from Dustin Willhoft.
Zellers knocked in a Hutson rebound midway through the second to make it 4-2, but less than a minute later, Lenny Boos put a 20-footer past Heil to make it a one-goal game again.
The U.S. made a bit of an impact after that and controlled the game until the end of the second period. Zellers beat Neisse 40 feet with five minutes left in the period and Eiserman made it 6-4 at 18:07 on a feed from Boston University teammate Hutson.
The third period was scoreless.
In the opening game at the Grand Casino Arena, Ivar Stenberg broke the deadlock at 2-2 with four minutes remaining to lead Sweden to a 3-2 win over Slovakia.
Stenberg and Anton Frondell, Chicago’s third overall pick in June’s NHL draft, had a goal and an assist for the Swedes.
In the Group B opener at the 3M Arena in Mariucci, Roope Vesterinen scored twice and Jasper Kuhta had three assists as Finland stopped Denmark 6-2.
Wild draft pick Aron Kiviharju had two assists for the winners and was named Finland’s best player. The 19-year-old defenseman was a fourth-round pick in 2024.
Canada survived a scare from the Czech Republic when they won 7-5 in today’s final match at the Mariucci field. Brady Martin and Michael Hage had a goal and an assist for Canada, which scored four times in the final period.
Where to watch the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Tournament live and on demand for free
Non-cable viewers can watch the games live and on demand for free when they sign up for a trial offer from DIRECTV or Fubo.
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