Finnish goalie Petteri Rimpinen set a record for most minutes played at one World Juniors.
photo: Andre Ringuette/IIHF
Now that the 2025 World Junior Championship is over and the players have gone back to their various clubs around the world, let’s look back at the record-setters and history-makers from Ottawa.
We have to start with American goaltender Trey Augustine, who tied three pretty special U20 records. He played in his third U20, which is perhaps the least of his accomplishments in the sense that although this ties the record, it has been accomplished some 18 times previously.
But there is more heady stuff to consider. Only five times previously has a goalie won two gold medals in World Junior play (Marc Denis (CAN), Jamie Storr (CAN), Yevgeni Belosheikin (URS), Andrei Medvedev (RUS), Alexander Tyzhnykh (URS).
And, the 19-year-old Augustine leaves junior hockey behind having won three medals, something done only three times previously (Kari Lehtonen (FIN), Yevgeni Belosheikin (URS), Andrei Vasilevski (RUS).
Three cheers as well for Sweden. They won their 200th World Junior game this year, only the second country after Canada (233) to reach this milestone.
Two Slovaks also tied a record that is virtually impossible to surpass. Both Dalibor Dvorsky and Maxim Strbak played in their fourth World Juniors, a feat achieved only 12 times previously.
Czechia’s Eduard Sale also made his way into the record books in two categories, and one category supported the other! Playing in his third straight U20, he won his third medal, tying him with 28 others for most medals.
But here’s the kicker. He won bronze with Czechia in Ottawa thanks to another record. Czechia and Sweden played for bronze and went to a shootout that went 28 shots, an all-time record in top-level IIHF competition. Sale set a record by taking five shots in that shootout, and he scored the two most important goals. He scored in the 13th round of the shootout to keep Czechia alive, and then on the next shot he scored the medal-winner.
Finnish goalie Petteri Rimpinen quietly made his way into the record books, and his is also a mark that will be a great challenge to beat. He played every minute of every game for the Finns, and that came out to 436:45 of playing time. This tops the previous mark of 435:13 set by Czech Tomas Suchanek just two years ago.
And do you recall that crazy comeback by the Kazakhs, scoring two short-handed goals in the final minutes of the third period against the Slovaks to tie the game? Well, that tied a record for most shorties in a period by one team.
And speaking of crazy third periods, there was the Switzerland-Sweden game which the Swedes won easily, until they didn’t. That game tied two records. In control for the first 40 minutes, the Swedes were outscored 4-1 in the third. All five goals were scored on the power play, tying another record for most power-play goals by both teams in a period, achieved only twice previously.
More incredibly, that same game tied another record for most power-play goals by both teams in a game at eight (SUI 4-SWE 4).
Lastly, two Americans also joined a pretty special group. Gabe Perreault and Zeev Buium won gold at the U18 in 2023 and gold at the 2024 World Juniors. With another gold in 2025, they join an exclusive list of players to win three combined junior gold (U18 and U20). This was last achieved by Canadian Connor Bedard and had been done previously by only five Americans—goalie Jack Campbell, and skaters Seth Jones, Jacob Trouba, Jason Zucker, and Rocco Grimaldi.
We have to start with American goaltender Trey Augustine, who tied three pretty special U20 records. He played in his third U20, which is perhaps the least of his accomplishments in the sense that although this ties the record, it has been accomplished some 18 times previously.
But there is more heady stuff to consider. Only five times previously has a goalie won two gold medals in World Junior play (Marc Denis (CAN), Jamie Storr (CAN), Yevgeni Belosheikin (URS), Andrei Medvedev (RUS), Alexander Tyzhnykh (URS).
And, the 19-year-old Augustine leaves junior hockey behind having won three medals, something done only three times previously (Kari Lehtonen (FIN), Yevgeni Belosheikin (URS), Andrei Vasilevski (RUS).
Three cheers as well for Sweden. They won their 200th World Junior game this year, only the second country after Canada (233) to reach this milestone.
Two Slovaks also tied a record that is virtually impossible to surpass. Both Dalibor Dvorsky and Maxim Strbak played in their fourth World Juniors, a feat achieved only 12 times previously.
Czechia’s Eduard Sale also made his way into the record books in two categories, and one category supported the other! Playing in his third straight U20, he won his third medal, tying him with 28 others for most medals.
But here’s the kicker. He won bronze with Czechia in Ottawa thanks to another record. Czechia and Sweden played for bronze and went to a shootout that went 28 shots, an all-time record in top-level IIHF competition. Sale set a record by taking five shots in that shootout, and he scored the two most important goals. He scored in the 13th round of the shootout to keep Czechia alive, and then on the next shot he scored the medal-winner.
Finnish goalie Petteri Rimpinen quietly made his way into the record books, and his is also a mark that will be a great challenge to beat. He played every minute of every game for the Finns, and that came out to 436:45 of playing time. This tops the previous mark of 435:13 set by Czech Tomas Suchanek just two years ago.
And do you recall that crazy comeback by the Kazakhs, scoring two short-handed goals in the final minutes of the third period against the Slovaks to tie the game? Well, that tied a record for most shorties in a period by one team.
And speaking of crazy third periods, there was the Switzerland-Sweden game which the Swedes won easily, until they didn’t. That game tied two records. In control for the first 40 minutes, the Swedes were outscored 4-1 in the third. All five goals were scored on the power play, tying another record for most power-play goals by both teams in a period, achieved only twice previously.
More incredibly, that same game tied another record for most power-play goals by both teams in a game at eight (SUI 4-SWE 4).
Lastly, two Americans also joined a pretty special group. Gabe Perreault and Zeev Buium won gold at the U18 in 2023 and gold at the 2024 World Juniors. With another gold in 2025, they join an exclusive list of players to win three combined junior gold (U18 and U20). This was last achieved by Canadian Connor Bedard and had been done previously by only five Americans—goalie Jack Campbell, and skaters Seth Jones, Jacob Trouba, Jason Zucker, and Rocco Grimaldi.