Simon Dalton presents his prediction for the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Czechia U-20
The United States beat Switzerland 11:3 in the previous round. This result has impressed the bookmakers, so in this match, the USA are the favourites. It’s a questionable decision. First, the Czech Republic have quickly recovered after losing the first match and beat Norway (8:1). Second, in the last head-to-head game a year and a half ago Czechia eliminated the USA in the quarter-finals.
USA U-20
The USA have won the first two games of the tournament, beating Norway and Switzerland with the aggregate score of 15:4. No real struggle was expected in those games, though. It was just training for one of the stars of the US national team Jimmy Snuggerud, who has scored 4 goals.
Czechia U-20 – USA U-20 prediction
Jiří Kulich and Matyáš Šapovaliv were the heroes of the quarter-final game against the USA mentioned above. They still keep on playing for Czechia. Kulich, drafted by Buffalo, made a hat-trick in the game versus Norway. Another young talent Eduard Šalé scored three goals, too. Czechia are ready to struggle with the USA.
The bet I’d like to suggest has been successful in 3 out of the last 4 World Junior Championship head-to-head games.
