The Youth Olympic Games kick off in Gangwon Province, South Korea on Jan. 20 and the IIHF will keep you up to date on the girls and boys hockey competitions.

Why should you care about the Youth Olympic Games? Well, here are a few great reasons to tune in!

The format

Not to take anything away from the traditional Pool A and B, preliminary round and medal round format that we see with most tournaments, but the Youth Olympic Games offers something unique.

There are essentially four tournaments in one, with men’s and women’s 3-on-3 events from Jan. 20-25, followed by men’s and women’s six-team traditional tournaments (Jan. 27-31).

In each 3-on-3 tournament, the eight teams are in single groups and two matches will be played at the same time in each end-zone of the rink, with matches being played cross-ice. Players will play three periods of 16 minutes, with two-minute intervals. These teams play a round-robin tournament followed by semi-finals and medal games. 

As for the traditional tournaments, the women’s event will include France, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. The men’s tournament has Canada, Czechia, Finland, South Korea, Slovakia and the United States.

The players

You may not be familiar with the athletes at this year’s tournament but we can guarantee that you will one day soon. Let’s have a quick look at the past and some of the alumni that have started their international careers at the Youth Olympic Games.

Fanni Garát-Gasparics

 

The forward is a member of Hungary’s national women’s team and currently plays for Ottawa in the newly-formed Professional Women’s Hockey League. In January 2012, though, Garát-Gasparics was 17 years old and represented her country at the first Youth Olympic Winter Games, finishing in second place and getting a silver medal in the individual skills challenge. Later that year, she played for Hungary at the IIHF Women’s U18 World Championship Division I. In 2019, she was named Best Forward at the 2019 IIHF Women’s World Championship Division I.

Cutter Gauthier

 

Hockey fans got a great glimpse into what the future holds for Gauthier, recently named top forward by the Directorate at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship. Gauthier shared the tournament lead in points with 12 (two goals, 10 assists) and helped the United States win gold. Four years ago, Gauthier helped the Americans win silver at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games, edging out Canada 2-1 in the semifinal before losing 4-0 to Russia in the gold medal game.

Adam Fantilli

 

The third-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft is enjoying a fine rookie season in Columbus, with 11 goals and 25 points in 43 games for the Blue Jackets. He helped Canada win gold at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship and IIHF World Championship, and was a member of Canada’s team at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games, helping his country win bronze.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi

 
 

The Carolina Hurricanes forward and Pori native was a member of Finland’s squad at the 2016 Youth Games where the team finished fourth. Kotkaniemi would go on to represent his country at the 2018 Ivan Hlinka Memorial and is one of Finland’s top young professional players. One of Kotkaniemi’s teammates in Carolina, Andrei Svechnikov, also competed at the 2016 Youth Games, helping Russia win bronze.

Teams To Watch

Japan isn’t considered a heavyweight on the international ice hockey stage yet, but in 2020 the women’s team served notice that they should be taken seriously at the Youth Olympic Games.

Rio Noro scored the eventual game-winning goal as Japan defeated Sweden 4-1 in the women’s gold medal final as the team became the country’s first to win a gold medal in an Olympic ice hockey competition.
Who will offer an upset in 2024? Stay tuned at IIHF.com for daily recaps and coverage of the 2024 Youth Olympic Games hockey competitions.