After three teams were forced to forfeit matches this week following positive COVID-19 cases, the IIHF has canceled the remainder of the World Junior Championship, according to several reports, including Chris Peters of Daily Faceoff, Bob McKenzie of TSN and Emily Kaplan of ESPN. The U.S., Russia and Czechia all forfeited matches, and before the tournament even began, Finland, Austria and Switzerland also experienced positive test results.
This cancellation follows the decision to cancel the six other international tournaments in January but go ahead with the World Juniors as planned. The event was not in a tight bubble like last year, with reports surfacing Wednesday that players and staff even interacted with wedding attendees in the hotel they were staying at.
It is not yet clear when players will depart for their respective clubs or who exactly tested positive for each country. The official statements from the IIHF have not yet been released.
It’s hard to fathom how exactly the tournament was expected to be played at all if a few positive cases derailed it so quickly, but with the WJC being such a significant financial event for the IIHF, it’s easy to see why it would try. The 2023 event is currently scheduled to be held in Novosibirsk, Russia.
For a player like Owen Power of Canada, this was his one shot at playing in the tournament given he will turn 20 before next year’s event begins. Power was not allowed to leave Michigan for last year’s event because of the uncertain role he would play and also missed out on the NCAA Tournament when his program ended up pulling out because of COVID precautions. It’s been a disappointing stretch for the Buffalo Sabres prospect and other top players of his age group, but he’ll now return to Michigan along with players like Kent Johnson, Matty Beniers, Brendan Brisson and Luke Hughes with the NHL just over the next ridge.
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