from Lucas Aykroyd of IIHF.com,

Every U20 player here in Helsinki over the holidays dreams of parlaying a successful tournament into a glittering, long-lasting pro and international career. Yet those dreams will only come true for a select handful.

Both wins and losses loom larger for teenagers, and cheers and tears escape them more readily. Canada’s Jordan Eberle may never score a bigger or more exhilarating goal than his tying marker versus Russia in the 2009 semi-final in Ottawa with 5.4 seconds left. The victims on that play, Russian goalie Vadim Zhelobnyuk and defenceman Dmitri Kulikov, will never forget where they were either.

Remember what happened to Canadian netminder Marc-Andre Fleury, whose own goal off teammate Braydon Coburn gave the Americans the joy of their first-ever WJC title in 2004 in Helsinki.
And while the Finns whooped it up after Rasmus Ristolainen’s overtime goal downed archrival Sweden 3-2 in the 2014 final in Malmo, you couldn’t help feeling for 19-year-old Swedish captain Filip Forsberg, classy but anguished as he spoke to reporters afterwards.

Unlike the Olympics, the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship, or the NHL, opportunities to win at the World Juniors are limited. No player has participated in more than four tourneys, and only Canada’s Jason Botterill has earned three gold medals (1994-96).

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from the CP at CBC,

It won't take long for Canada's junior hockey team to find out how it stacks up against the other heavy hitters at the 2016 world championship.

Canada kicks off the defence of its world junior title with a matchup versus the archrival United States on Saturday. The Americans are one of the favourites of the tournament and will measure just how well Canada's roster has come together in the short time since training camp started at the beginning of the month.

A stiff challenge this early in the tournament is something new for the Canadians. Over the past four seasons, Canada and the U.S. have played on New Year's Eve or Dec. 30, with the Canadians easing into the tournament with an opener against an opponent not considered a favourite (Slovakia last year, Germany the previous two).

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Below, the WJC schedule on the NHL Network.