They say to be the champs, you’ve got to beat the champs. And the Czechs took a huge step forward to top the third edition of our Power Rankings at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. They ended Canada’s reign as two-time defending champions with Jakub Stancl’s late goal for a 3-2 quarter-final win – marking the first time Czechia has ever eliminated Canada in the WJC medal round. The high-flying U.S., right there in second place, advanced with an unsurprising 7-2 victory over Latvia, while Finland, which overtakes Sweden for third place, downed Slovakia 4-3 in an overtime thriller. Who will celebrate with the medals? We’re stoked to find out!

1		CZE	Gothenburg is the new Nagano
2		USA	You do not mess with the special hockey players
3		FIN	Hello, this is your captain scoring
4		SWE	Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Semi-Final Berth)
5		CAN	Constitutional monarchy dethroned
6		SVK	Procrastination works (if you’re Czech)
7		SUI	At least Havelid didn’t blanking blank us
8		LAT	Its wass funs whiles its lasteds
9		GER	Hey Norway, we survived the quarter-finals!
10		NOR	For the semis, can we volunteer as tribute?

Click here to check out the previous editions of the Power Rankings.

The Power Rankings are for the enjoyment of IIHF.com readers, and reflect the progress of teams during the IIHF World Junior Championship. They are distinct from the official standings and IIHF World Ranking.