<p>OTTAWA –&nbsp;For the first time all tournament long, all 10 teams will be in action at the 2025 World Junior Championship.</p>



<p>But after today, only four will remain.</p>



<p>The quarterfinals are set to get underway at 12:00 PM ET, with the action being split between the TD Place in Ottawa and the Canadian Tire Centre in Kanata. The winner of each game will play in the semifinal on Saturday, with the losers heading home early.</p>



<p>There will also be the one-game relegation bout between Germany and Kazakhstan at 11:00 AM ET at CTC. Since moving to the single-game format, it’s become a must-watch game because there’s no room for failure. Don’t be surprised if the best game of the day is the one involving two teams fighting for a chance to play in Minnesota next year.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="136"></div>



<p>Here’s a look at the top storylines after a day of rest yesterday for New Year’s Day:</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">1. Can Canada actually turn things around?</h2>



<p>There’s been panic surrounding the Canadian team since the loss to Latvia, and that didn’t change even with the victory over Germany. The game against the United States was plagued with discipline issues and the continued struggle to generate offense.</p>



<p>Now, they find themselves going up against a Czech team that went 3-1-0 in the round-robin. Czechia won the quarterfinal matchup between these two teams a year ago, while Canada won the pre-tournament bout last month. Czechia was in the easier group, but they showed their ability to generate quality chances all the way until the eventual loss to Sweden on New Year’s Eve.</p>



<p>If Canada is going to avoid an early exit on home ice, the scoring needs to finally start clicking. Maybe the Jan. 1 off-day was the mental break they needed. Porter Martone will be in the lineup, and we should see a bit of a shakeup ahead of puck drop. However, after the difficult loss to the United States, where nothing seemed to go right, Canada has its back against the wall.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="193"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">2. Could an upset shake things up?</h2>



<p>The two teams to keep a close eye on are Latvia and Slovakia. The Latvians gave the Group A giants some fits along the way and their defensive play style will force Sweden to get more creative than you’d usually expect. The Swedes are still the clear favorites in that game, but that’s exactly what Canada thought, too. </p>



<p>Slovakia, meanwhile, will play the Finns in the first of two games at the Canadian Tire Centre. Many players from the Slovak team were part of the U-18 World Championship squad that stunned the Finns in the quarterfinal in 2023. </p>



<p>These two teams also met up in the quarterfinal a year ago, with Finland needing overtime to advance to the medal round. Slovakia will need to clean up their act, though. Juraj Pekarcik and Dalibor Dvorsky combined for eight points in the game against Kazakhstan, but Slovakia nearly blew it against a Kazakh team that’s headed to the relegation round. Finland won the pre-tournament meeting between the twp teams back on Dec. 20, so we’ll see what happens when it’s winner-takes-all later today.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="183"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">3. Can the Americans flex their muscles?</h2>



<p>The Americans got a much-needed against Canada to secure the top spot in Group A, bouncing back after a difficult 4-3 loss to the Finns. They weathered the Canadian storm early, with Canada controlling the shot count throughout the 60 minutes. The American power play was on point, scoring three of their four goals on the man advantage. </p>



<p>They didn’t capitalize at 5-on-5, though, and have actually been outshot in their last two games. The key for the Americans will be staying out of the box and capitalizing on every inch Switzerland gives them. On paper, this is a one-sided bout. But for the Americans, they can’t afford to take them easy – they need their big guns firing on all cylinders.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Thursday’s Schedule</h2>



<p><strong>Kazakhstan vs. Germany: </strong>11:00 AM ET (Canadian Tire Centre)<br><strong>Sweden vs. Latvia: </strong>12:00 PM ET (TD Place)<br><strong>USA vs. Switzerland:</strong> 2:30 PM ET (Canadian Tire Centre)<br><strong>Finland vs. Slovakia: </strong>5:00 PM ET (TD Place)<br><strong>Canada vs. Czechia:</strong> 7:30 PM ET (Canadian Tire Centre)</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="3" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="162"></div>



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