The gold and bronze medal games for the 2025-26 IIHF World Junior Championship will take place Monday in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Team Sweden, led by Philadelphia Flyers 2024 second-round pick Jack Berglund, is set to face Czechia for the gold medal.
Four Flyers prospects are scheduled to compete in the bronze medal match: captain Porter Martone and Jett Luchanko represent Team Canada, while Heikki Ruohonen and Max Westergard play for Team Finland.
In Sunday’s semifinals, Sweden defeated Finland in a shootout, 4-3 (2-1). Berglund contributed an assist on an Ivar Stenberg goal and scored one of Sweden’s two shootout goals. He logged 18:34 of ice time during regulation and overtime.
Ruohonen, who serves as an alternate captain for Finland, helped create a tying goal in the third period by deflecting a puck on net that was then finished by Joona Saarelainen. Ruohonen won 14 out of 20 faceoffs—many against Berglund—and played a total of 20:51.
Westergard registered two shots on goal in nearly 15 minutes of ice time. Unlike Berglund and Ruohonen, Westergard will be eligible for the next World Juniors tournament.
In the other semifinal game Sunday, Canada lost to Czechia by a score of 6-4. Despite scoring first, Canada made several errors that kept them trailing throughout much of the contest. The Czechs held leads at various points before Martone tied it at 4-4 late in the third period. However, Tomas Poletine quickly restored Czechia’s lead with less than two minutes left, followed by an empty-net power-play goal.
Luchanko recorded his first point of the tournament with an assist on Tij Iginla’s power-play goal during the first period. For most of the event he played wing instead of his usual center position but saw some power play action. In this semifinal game Luchanko skated just under twelve minutes and finished minus-three at even strength; he took a minor penalty but did not record any shots on goal. Martone played over sixteen minutes and scored on his only shot attempt.
Six Flyers prospects participated in this year’s tournament:
Martone (Canada): six games played (GP), five goals (G), three assists (A), eight points (PTS), six penalty minutes (PIM), plus-three rating (+3).
Berglund (Sweden): six GP, three G, five A, eight PTS, four PIM, plus-nine (+9).
Ruohonen (Finland): six GP, two G, five A, seven PTS, two PIM,+5.
Westergard (Finland): six GP, one G, three A, four PTS, four PIM,+5.
Luchanko (Canada): six GP, zero G, one A, one PT,four PIM,-5.
Vansaghi (USA): three GP,no points or penalties,-4.
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team competing in the National Hockey League since joining during its expansion in 1967. They play their home games at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and have achieved notable milestones including Stanley Cup victories. The organization maintains its roster through its official website where fans can find information about games and community initiatives.
