ESPOO, Finland – We’re down to the final four teams remaining at the 2024 IIIHF Men’s World Under-18 Championship. The winners of Saturday’s games will be moving on to play for the gold medal with the losers playing for bronze on Sunday.

This tournament hasn’t been particularly close. Both the U.S. and Canada have cruised through the U18s unblemished and have looked to be the clear best teams on a collision course for the tournament finale, but nothing is guaranteed in single elimination.

Slovakia upset rivals Czechia in a stunning quarterfinal, while Sweden played their best game to date against rival Finland to upset the tournament hosts. Those results certainly prove anything can happen.

The U.S., as the top overall seeded team thanks to its goal differential, while Canada takes on Sweden. Both the U.S. and Canada will essentially be playing rematches of their tournament-opening games.

Team USA stormed out to a 9-0 win over Slovakia to start the tournament, while Canada closed out Day 1 with a convincing 6-3 win over the Swedes.

To get you ready for the action on Saturday, here is my preview for both games.

IIHF Men’s World Under-18 Championship Semfiinal Schedule

Saturday, May 4 – Espoo Metro Arena

• USA vs. Slovaka, 2 p.m. local/7 a.m. ET
• Canada vs. Sweden, 6 p.m. local/11 a.m. ET

How Can I Watch The 2024 IIHF World Men’s Under-18 Championship Semifinals?

NHL Network will be broadcasting both games in the United States, while TSN will air both games in Canada. The games will also stream on the TSN+ app in Canada.

USA vs. Slovakia Preview and Prediction

This game looks like a lopsided mismatch on paper. The U.S. has already earned a 9-0 win over Slovakia, which only got into the medal round because of a win over Norway saving them from a last-place finish to play for relegation. The Slovaks won that game 11-1, which actually allowed them to escape a game against Canada in the quarterfinals thanks to goal differential in a three-way tie with Latvia and Norway for third place in the group.

USA, meanwhile, has outscored opponents 37-7 over its first five games in the tournament. Their toughest game came against Switzerland, which managed to hold Team USA to  just four goals, but couldn’t find the net themselves in a quarterfinal that was tighter than expected.

Slovakia is also a very young team with 10 players on their roster eligible to return to this tournament next season. USA has just one player that will be eligible to return next season.

The one difference for Slovakia is that they will have their top defenseman in the age group for this game as Louka Radivojevic will be available in this game. The son of former Branko Radivojevic played for Slovakia at the World Juniors this year despite being a U17 player. While he will certainly help, it’s hard to imagine it will make as big a difference against a U.S. roster that has six of the top eight scorers in this tournament including James Hagens who is on pace to break the single-tournament scoring record.

What To Watch For In USA-Slovakia Semifinal

There are some records that have a chance to be broken in this game, especially if USA gets hot and stays hot. James Hagens is just two points away from tying and three away from beating the single-tournament points record currently held by Nikita Kucherov’s. Hagens’s next point will also tie him with Jack Hughes and Will Smith for the U.S. single-tournament scoring record.

James Hagens stays hot at #U18Worlds! Here is his third point of USA’s 4-0 win over Switzerland in the semis. He’s three points away from breaking Nikita Kucherov’s single-tournament scoring record with two games to play. 😧 pic.twitter.com/Uhi4J1Jmv1

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) May 2, 2024

Additionally, Cole Eiserman is just two goals away from tying and three from moving past Cole Caufield to become the NTDP’s all-time leading goal scorer. He had a hat trick in the opening game against Slovakia, and after two games without a goal will certainly be shooting for the stars in the semifinal.

Game Prediction

USA 7, Slovakia 2

Canada vs. Sweden Preview and Prediction

In both teams’ first game of the tournament, Canada scored four goals in the first period to establish the cushion they would need to defeat Sweden 6-3. Gavin McKenna, the 16-year-old WHL sensation that many believe will be the No. 1 draft pick in 2026, scored the first two goals of his remarkable tournament in that opening stanza.

Sweden had been stumbling their way through the tournament ever since, losing to Czechia in a shootout and needing overtime to get past Switzerland. A 7-1 win over Kazakhstan was their only comfortable game to date.

The Swedes, however, played their best game in the quarterfinal, playing stout defensively to get a 2-1 win over Finland in front of a near-sellout crowd of screaming Finns. That was the kind of game they’re going to have to find a way to play against Canada.

The Canadians, meanwhile, earned a 4-0 win that Latvia made them work for in the quarterfinal. Both McKenna and Porter Martone have been largely unstoppable in the tournament as each looks poised to surpass the previous high-water mark for Canadians corers in this tournament.

On top of that, Carter George has been solid in net with a .933 save percentage through four starts.

Canada’s speed seems to be a major separating factor between these two teams and there’s also a much more physical element to Canada’s game. They have the depth on their side as well. Canada’s strength also lies in its incredibly mobile blue line led by Charlie Elick, Henry Mews and Frankie Marelli.

It’s hard to see a scenario where Canada doesn’t roll through this game, but Sweden can be tougher to play against when they’re committed defensively and goalie Love Harenstam is on his game. 

What To Watch For In Canada-Sweden Semifinal

Gavin McKenna just needs one point to become Canada’s highest single-tournament scorer at this event, surpassing Tyson Jost and Macklin Celebrini. He currently is even with those two with 15 points through five games. It seems inevitable with how he’s played that Canada will have a new single-tournament scoring champion at this event. What makes this more special, of course, is that McKenna is still two years from his draft eligibility.

Gavin McKenna (2026 #NHLDraft) matches Canada’s single-tournament scoring record at #U18Worlds with his 15th point on this Maxim Masse goal!

🇨🇦🚨🇨🇦
pic.twitter.com/VAe9gjPL7P

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) May 2, 2024

Porter Martone is right there with McKenna, as he has 14 points in the tournament and will likely see his own name climb the leaderboard for Canada. The 2025 NHL Draft-eligible has been Canada’s captain and has played on a line with McKenna as the two have dominated.

Game Prediction

Canada 5, Sweden 3

When is the Gold Medal Game For the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Under-18 Championship?

The gold-medal game for the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Under-18 Championship will be played on Sunday, May 5 at 6 p.m. local time, 11 a.m. ET.

The game will be carried live on NHL Network in the U.S. and on TSN in Canada.

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