Early Adversity in the World Junior A Challenge Paid Off for the U.S.

Matt Smaby, head coach of the U.S. Junior Select Team, knew that he had a skilled and competitive team for this year’s World Junior A Challenge. However, he couldn’t have guessed how his players would respond to adversity.

In their second game of the preliminary round, the U.S. faced its toughest test of the tournament to that point against Sweden, squandering a two-goal lead to lose 5-3.

“I knew that there would probably be some ups and downs along the way,” Smaby said. “And that was a good thing, to have to go through a little bit of adversity. That was a real benefit to our team, to learn how to fight through and respond when we didn’t get the result we wanted.

“As a coach, it’s impossible to create adversity, but I was just so thankful that we had it when it came, early in the tournament when it wasn’t a tournament-breaker for us.”

Smaby’s team went back to work, ignored the scoreboard and focused on maintaining its style of play.

“Just credit to the guys for buying in and playing the game the right way,” Smaby said. “This was them just doing a great job of putting it all together.”

Team USA fought its way into the championship game with a 2-0-0-1 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record in the preliminary round and a 3-2 win over Canada East in the semifinals.

The final featured a rematch against Sweden. This time, Team USA jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Just like they did in the first matchup, the Swedes battled back and tied the game.

Having already faced this kind of test in the tournament, the U.S. was able to turn the tide with a championship on the line.

“The guys’ ability to fight through adversity and keep going was just so fun and so cool to watch,” Smaby said. “The mood never wavered. The work never wavered in the championship game, and the guys just stuck to it. A lot of credit to Sweden. That is a really, really good team with some high-end players.” 

After Finn McLaughlin (Arlington Heights, Ill.) scored the go-ahead goal in the third period for the U.S., John Stout (Minnetonka, Minn.) and Luke Osburn (Plymouth, Mich.) added empty-net goals to secure a 7-4 victory.

Team USA relied on a balanced attack throughout the tournament, Smaby said. The U.S. featured four of the event’s top six scorers in Lucas Van Vliet (Livonia, Mich.), Ben Kevan (Fairfield, Calif.), Brendan McMorrow (Lakeville, Minn.) and Osburn.

“That’s a really good and healthy thing to have,” Smaby said. “I thought that was a really great thing. Everyone was showing up, and everyone was working hard. Points and goals, those are a by-product of playing the game the right way.”

Kevan, whom Smaby coaches against often in the USHL, stood out with a tournament-record, five power-play goals for the Americans. Kevan finished the tournament with six goals and two assists.  

Smaby lauded Kevan’s hard work and fast play.

“This was some of the best hockey that I’d seen him play,” Smaby said. “He was one of our more impactful guys and really came through in big moments. I was just really proud of the way he played and how much he did for our team.”

Kevan passed along the credit to his teammates, most of whom are normally his opponents during the USHL season.

“The reason that we won as a group was just how quickly we were able to bond, and that started from day one,” Kevan said. “You don’t really have a chance to play with the guys you go against during the season. We played against each other all season, and we have stories from those games, and it’s just fun to connect about it.

“I was allowed to play my game and just play the way I wanted to play because I knew there were guys around me that can help carry the load.”

Kevan plans to use this championship as a foundation for the future.

“Winning in any situation is a really big learning experience,” he said. “Now you know you can do it. Now you can just build off of it.”

This was Team USA’s 10th World Junior A Challenge championship and its first since 2022. The U.S. has reached the podium 16 straight years.

“It was an awesome tournament,” Smaby said. “It was just an awesome experience to sit back and watch them grow over the two weeks we were together.

“Our guys didn’t get sick of playing the right way. I was just so proud of the way they played and represented themselves well, represented their teams well, and represented the country so well.”

Story from Red Line Editorial, Inc.