Sweden vs USA quarterfinal round action at the 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship at Comerica Center on May 3, 2021 in Frisco, TX USA.
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Chris Tanouye
Texas is set to play host to the World Under-18 Championship for the second time ever. This year’s tournament runs April 23-May 3 in Frisco and Allen. Group A is comprised of defending-champion Canada, Finland, Latvia, Norway and Slovakia, whole Group B is made up of Czechia, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and host United States.
There will be many stories and players to watch at the event, which is the annual showcase of NHL Draft-eligible stars. Here are five story lines to get you started as you prepare to watch one of the premiere IIHF events of the season.
United States’ hosting history
The 2025 event in Frisco and Allen, Texas will mark the fourth time the tournament has been held in America. Team USA has managed just one gold medal in the past three events it has hosted, that coming in 2009 in Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. Jack Campbell earned the shutout in a 5-0 final win over Russia and the gold medal was the United States’ third in five years and also started an incredible run of four consecutive gold medals (2009-12) and six golds in seven years between 2009 and 2015.
The last time …
Frisco, Texas co-hosted the 2021 World Men’s Under-18 Championship with Plano, another city in the Lone Star State. Canada won gold at that event with a thrilling 5-3 victory over Russia. The game was tied 2-2 in the second period before Brennan Othmann and Logan Stankoven scored in the middle frame to lead Canada to the win. The event was an international coming-of-age sort for Canada’s Connor Bedard, who had a goal and an assist in the final game and, at 15 years of age, became the youngest gold medalist in U18 history.
Most medals by country
The World Men’s U18 event has been held annually since 1999, save for 2020 when the tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The United States leads the tournament with 11 championships followed by Canada with five championships, Finland with four, Russia with three, and Sweden with two. Team USA also has six silver medals and three bronze. That’s 20 medals in 25 events for the Red, White and Blue, the most of any country. Sweden comes second with 14 all-time medals but only two of those are gold (the Swedes have six silver and six bronze as well).
The local kid
Team USA will feature defenceman Blake Fiddler, who represented his country at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup U18 event, where the Americans finished fourth. Blake’s hometown is Frisco, Texas. The son of Vern Fiddler holds dual citizenship with Canada and the United States as Vern is from Edmonton (interestingly, Blake is a member of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings). The elder Fiddler had a strong NHL career that boasted 877 games with four teams. That included two separate stints with Nashville, where Blake was born. The younger Fiddler has represented both Canada (2023 World Under-17 Challenge) and the United States (2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, 2023 U17 Five Nations) in international play. Blake played youth hockey with the Dallas Stars Elite program.
Seeing double
Team Germany will take to the ice with a pair of twins. Rihards and Gustvas Griva were born on June 8, 2007 in Riga, Latvia (Rihards came into the world about two minutes ahead of his younger brother). The two forwards may line up together and would be used to doing so. They put up similar numbers this past season with Jungadler Mannheim U20, with Rihards scoring 36 goals and posting 83 points in 39 games, and Gustavs close behind at 24-55—79 in 40 games. Both played in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2023 and 2024, with the brothers posting identical stat lines of two goals and two assists in last August’s event to lead their team. Germany also boasts Timo and Fabio Kose, born on Jan. 3, 2007. Timo is a forward and Fabio plays defence; both spent the 2024-25 season with Eisbären Regensburg in DEL2.
There will be many stories and players to watch at the event, which is the annual showcase of NHL Draft-eligible stars. Here are five story lines to get you started as you prepare to watch one of the premiere IIHF events of the season.
United States’ hosting history
The 2025 event in Frisco and Allen, Texas will mark the fourth time the tournament has been held in America. Team USA has managed just one gold medal in the past three events it has hosted, that coming in 2009 in Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. Jack Campbell earned the shutout in a 5-0 final win over Russia and the gold medal was the United States’ third in five years and also started an incredible run of four consecutive gold medals (2009-12) and six golds in seven years between 2009 and 2015.
The last time …
Frisco, Texas co-hosted the 2021 World Men’s Under-18 Championship with Plano, another city in the Lone Star State. Canada won gold at that event with a thrilling 5-3 victory over Russia. The game was tied 2-2 in the second period before Brennan Othmann and Logan Stankoven scored in the middle frame to lead Canada to the win. The event was an international coming-of-age sort for Canada’s Connor Bedard, who had a goal and an assist in the final game and, at 15 years of age, became the youngest gold medalist in U18 history.
Most medals by country
The World Men’s U18 event has been held annually since 1999, save for 2020 when the tournament was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The United States leads the tournament with 11 championships followed by Canada with five championships, Finland with four, Russia with three, and Sweden with two. Team USA also has six silver medals and three bronze. That’s 20 medals in 25 events for the Red, White and Blue, the most of any country. Sweden comes second with 14 all-time medals but only two of those are gold (the Swedes have six silver and six bronze as well).
The local kid
Team USA will feature defenceman Blake Fiddler, who represented his country at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup U18 event, where the Americans finished fourth. Blake’s hometown is Frisco, Texas. The son of Vern Fiddler holds dual citizenship with Canada and the United States as Vern is from Edmonton (interestingly, Blake is a member of the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings). The elder Fiddler had a strong NHL career that boasted 877 games with four teams. That included two separate stints with Nashville, where Blake was born. The younger Fiddler has represented both Canada (2023 World Under-17 Challenge) and the United States (2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, 2023 U17 Five Nations) in international play. Blake played youth hockey with the Dallas Stars Elite program.
Seeing double
Team Germany will take to the ice with a pair of twins. Rihards and Gustvas Griva were born on June 8, 2007 in Riga, Latvia (Rihards came into the world about two minutes ahead of his younger brother). The two forwards may line up together and would be used to doing so. They put up similar numbers this past season with Jungadler Mannheim U20, with Rihards scoring 36 goals and posting 83 points in 39 games, and Gustavs close behind at 24-55—79 in 40 games. Both played in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2023 and 2024, with the brothers posting identical stat lines of two goals and two assists in last August’s event to lead their team. Germany also boasts Timo and Fabio Kose, born on Jan. 3, 2007. Timo is a forward and Fabio plays defence; both spent the 2024-25 season with Eisbären Regensburg in DEL2.