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The 2023 World Junior Championship is well underway, and Team USA is making everyone back at home proud as they continue to dominate.
Chris Tanouye/IIHF
After crushing Germany 11-1 on Tuesday, Team USA advances to the semi-final, where they will go up against their most hated rival, Canada. USA vs. Canada will be a clash of the giants, as two Canadian players and three American's hold the top five spots as the best players in the tournament thus far. Unsurprisingly, Canada's Connor Bedard and Logan Stankoven hold the number one and four ranked spots with 21 points and 9 points respectively, with the USA's Logan Cooley, Jimmy Snuggered, and Cutter Gauthier holding the two, three and five spots with 11 points, 10 points and 8 points.
All eyes will be on Bedard and Cooley on Wednesday. Bedard will be the uncontested first overall pick in the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft, while Cooley was selected third overall by the Arizona Coyotes in 2022, out of the University of Minnesota.
On the other side, we have the Czech Republic and Sweden going up against each other, the winner of which will face either the USA or Canada in the championship game. Both the Czech Republic and Sweden look dangerous this year, with the Czech's being ranked number one in scoring efficiency, fourth in power play, second in penalty killing, second in goal tending, and sixth in penalties. The USA is second in scoring efficiency, but are fourth in penalty killing and goal tending.
The USA's fourth ranked penalty kill will be going up against Canada's number one ranked power play... so staying out of the penalty box will be key for Team USA if they want to eliminate Canada.