No two teams have played each other more often than the great rivals of North America. But this is a rivalry that has blossomed rather than always been in existence.
In the early days, Canada dominated, winning 13 of the first 14 meetings. But as the U.S. program developed and strengthened, so, too, did the natural rivalry. The first significant U.S. win came in 1992, a 5-3 victory that helped the Americans win a bronze medal, only their second medal in U20 competition to date.
And while New Year’s Eve has been a memorable date for the two teams, Canada holds a distinct 7-1-3 advantage. The teams have played in the gold-medal game four times since the playoff format was adopted in 1996, and there the Americans hold a very important 3-1 edge.
The most recent of the 45 games in this rivalry was a ferocious context on December 30 in which the Russians ended Sweden’s 54-game winning streak in preliminary-round games.
This rivalry has two distinct parts—a one-sided one when Sweden played the Soviet Union, and a far more even one since USSR broke up and became Russia. In the first incarnation, the Soviets beat Sweden, 5-2, in Montreal in an early gold-medal game, but Sweden scored a huge, 3-2 win in 1981 to win its first gold medal.
In all, however, the Swedes won only two of 17 meetings against URS. Since then, they have 15 wins in 28 games, but there is one notable peculiarity. For all their greatness and hockey powers they have met only once in a gold-medal game since the 1996 playoff format. That came in 2012, Sweden winning gold in overtime.
Canada vs. Russia — 42 games
It’s not possible to appreciate hockey without using Canada-Russia as a starting point. The two nations have combined to win 31 of 44 gold medals to date, and needless to say each has been in the other’s way on many a run to the championship victory. Since the 1996 playoff format, for instance, the teams have met in the gold-medal game nine times, by far the greatest rivalry.
Russia won the first three, but then Canada won three in successive years—2005, 2006, 2007. Russia won in 2011, but Canada won in 2015 and again last year. How close are they? In 42 games they each have 20 wins and two ties. Canada has scored 157 goals, Russia 146. It doesn’t get much closer.
The U.S.’s easy 7-0 win over the Czechs on December 29 doesn’t do justice to a rivalry that has evolved over time. As with Canada, the Americans started slowly, losing the first eight meetings in WM20 play to Czechoslovakia. And in recent years, as the Czech program has gone through tough times, the Americans have dominated, winning the last seven meetings (including this year’s).
Incredibly, they have faced each other for a medal only twice, and both were for bronze. In 2005, Petr Varana’s goal gave the Czechs a 3-2 overtime win, and in 2018 the U.S. thumped the Czechs, 9-3. Even in the semi-finals they have played but twice, the U.S. winning in 1997 and the Czechs three years later.
Finland vs. Sweden — 38 games
In truth, five rivalries can boast having played 38 games at the U20 (CAN-FIN, CZE-FIN, CZE-RUS, FIN-RUS) but Finland-Sweden is surely the great Nordic battle that must take precedent. Sweden holds a slight edge with 20 wins and two ties thanks to having won the last four meetings.
But the only time they have played for gold was in 2014, in Malmo, Sweden, and sweet it was for Suomi when Rasmus Ristolainen scored in overtime to give his team a 3-2 golden goal. Oddly, they have never played for bronze and have only two semi-finals dates, a Swedish win in 2012 and a Finland win four years later. Of the last 17 games they’ve played, eleven were decided by one goal, and in all these years only three shutouts have been recorded (two to Sweden).