Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres will have four prospects playing for a chance to win a medal this weekend at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship in Ottawa.
The first semifinal round matchup on Saturday will feature a pair of teammates with the Rochester Americans playing against one another at 3:30 p.m. EST at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Anton Wahlberg and Sweden are hopeful to earn a victory, thus punching their ticket to a second-straight trip to the Gold Medal Game at the World Juniors. Meanwhile, Konsta Helenius and Finland will be looking to get a win and secure their first Gold Medal Game appearance since the 2022 tournament in Edmonton.
Wahlberg has been an offensive force for the Swedes through his first five games of the World Juniors. He is tied for the team lead in goals with four, and is tied for second on the team with seven points. He's also averaged 17:00 of ice time for the Swedes.
The 19-year-old's best game of the tournament, arguably, came in a 4-2 win over Czechia in the final game of the preliminary round to secure Group B. Wahlberg picked up a goal and an assist in the win, while also registering three shots on goal, a +2 rating and Player of the Game honors in 18:06 of ice time.
In another game against Kazakhstan earlier in the tournament, Wahlberg put up a pair of goals and added another assist for four points, while also putting up six shots on goal in 13:26 of ice time in an 8-1 walloping.
Then in the quarterfinal round of the tournament on Thursday, Wahlberg scored again to give Sweden a 2-0 lead against Latvia. The Swedes ended up holding off a late push from the Latvians to secure a spot in the semifinals of the tournament, 3-2.
Wahlberg has done it all offensively for the Swedes in the tournament as a top-six forward. He's been a force in front of the net with his giant 6-foot-3 frame, while also utilizing his shot on a number of occasions to not only score goals, but also create other chances on goal.
Sweden is still looking for its first gold medal at the World Juniors since the 2012 tournament when they beat Russia in Calgary. Since then, the Swedes have won four silver medals, including this past tournament when they hosted the tournament in Göteborg.
As for Helenius, he's had a more quiet World Juniors tournament on the scoresheet, but has played a more pivotal role as Finland's top-line center. He has three assists in five games played, while averaging 18:44 of ice time.
Perhaps Helenius' best game of the tournament this year came in the final game of the preliminary round, where he registered an assist, four shots on goal and a +1 rating in 18:27 of ice time in a 3-0 win over Latvia. This earned him Player of the Game honors for Finland in the win.
On top of serving as Finland's top line center in this tournament, Helenius has played some key minutes on their top power play unit, and has been one of the country's best players game-in and game-out while playing at even strength.
Finland has not won a gold medal at the World Juniors since the 2019 tournament in Vancouver when they beat the United States with the help of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in goal and Henri Jokiharju on the blue line.
Since then, Finland has won a bronze medal in 2021 and a silver medal in 2022.
In the other semifinal matchup of the 2025 World Juniors, it will pin the defending bronze medal winners Czechia against Brodie Ziemer, Adam Kleber and the defending gold medalist in the United States. That game is set for a 7:30 p.m. EST faceoff at the Canadian Tire Centre.
Ziemer has, arguably, been the hardest working forward on the Team USA roster in this World Juniors tournament. The University of Minnesota product has scored three goals and added three assists for six points in five games played, while also putting up a +4 rating in 15:48 of average ice-time.
In the opening game of the tournament, Ziemer contributed with two goals for the Americans in a 10-4 domination of Germany.
Then in a game against Finland a few days later, Ziemer went to the net, as he has done for much of the tournament, to bang home the game-tying goal in the third period. The game eventually went to overtime, where the Finns ended up handing the U.S. its only loss so far this tournament.
Then just before the final game of the preliminary round against Canada, Ziemer was rewarded for his stellar play be earning a promotion up to the second line alongside players like Oliver Moore (Chicago Blackhawks) and Danny Nelson (New York Islanders).
In the most recent win for the U.S. over Switzerland in the quarterfinal round, Ziemer was impressive on the forecheck, and helped the Americans to a 7-2 win with two assists in the victory.
As for Kleber, the young blue liner ended up being a healthy scratch in the Americans' first game of the tournament against Germany.
However, Kleber has been a fixture in the U.S. lineup since then, averaging 13:19 of ice-time in four games played, and picking up an assist in Thursday's quarterfinal win over Switzerland.
Last year saw the U.S. win a second gold medal in four years, earning a win over Sweden in the Gold Medal Game on their soil. The other World Juniors gold medal in that span came in 2021 with a win over Canada in Edmonton.
The U.S. has never won back-to-back gold medals in the history of the tournament.
As for the other Sabres prospects playing in the 2025 World Juniors tournament, Maxim Strbak and the Slovaks failed to advance past the quarterfinal round, losing 5-3 to Finland.
The right-shot defenseman finished third on the team in scoring with six points (1+5) in five games played, while also finishing the tournament through five games with the third-highest time on-ice average at 23:31.
Strbak's highlight moment of the tournament came in the preliminary round against Kazakhstan when he netted the overtime winner for Slovakia.
Finally, defenseman Norwin Panocha helped Germany survive relegation in the top division of the World Juniors tournament over Kazakhstan.
In five games played for the Germans, Panocha was a key piece on their blue line with an assist and an average of 21:29 of time on-ice.
Related
Germany earned the right to play in the 2026 World Junior Tournament in Minnesota with a 4-3 win over Kazakhstan on Thursday.
As for Kazakhstan, they have been relegated to Division I of the tournament, while Denmark earned promotion back to the top division of the World Juniors. It'll be their first appearance in the top division since they were relegated in the 2019 tournament.
As for host nation Canada, their hopes of earning a medal were crushed in the quarterfinal round for a second-straight year after losing to Czechia, 4-3, on Thursday.