By Sumayya
TORONTO — Scott Moore can still visualize the gold-medal match during the 1991 world junior championships where Canada beat the Soviet Union.
“A guy named John Slaney from Newfoundland scored the winning goal. I can see the play in my head,” Moore expressed regarding the 3-2 win for Team Canada. “It was a sold-out Saskatchewan Place arena, and the place just went crazy.”
At that time, Moore, the veteran Canadian television manager and past boss of CBC Sports and Rogers Sportsnet, worked as a producer for the Canadian sports television network TSN, which had started showing the tournament that winter.
“The ratings were great for that first tournament on the network, so they kept increasing the profile and the promotion for the network over the next 20, 30 years now,” Moore stated. “And it’s just become this incredible Canadian tradition.”
Diplomatic Dispute
However, recently, the tournament that takes place over the holiday season has been pushed right into the middle of an ongoing legal and political argument. This happened after Canada and several European nations pushed back against a court decision ordering Russia’s return to the international event.
Earlier this week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ordered Russia’s immediate return to International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) championships.
The IIHF has blocked Russia and Belarus from international tournaments since February 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Belarusian help for it.
Following the CAS choice, Prime Minister Mark Carney stated on Tuesday that Russian players would not be allowed to compete in the event, which is set to be hosted in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.
Hockey groups from Finland, Sweden, Czechia, and Latvia have shared that their national teams would refuse to play against Russia in international championships.
The IIHF has opposed the return as well, pointing out safety, shipping, and competitive worries.
A Christmastime Tradition
The annual hockey tournament matches up the world’s top men’s national under-20 hockey teams against each other and can act as a starting spot for future NHL stars.
“The tournament has historically been a great coming-out party for players who either had just been drafted or were draft-eligible,” Moore stated, adding that some players have turned into household names well before their NHL careers start after playing in the event.
Tournament past players include Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, and Gavin McKenna. The 11-day event takes place over the Christmas season, normally kicking off on Boxing Day and finishing with a gold-medal match in early January.
In the past, games featuring Team Canada have pulled in millions of television viewers, according to data from TSN.
Moore stated he believes Canadians are drawn to the tournament because, first and foremost, it features hockey.
“Second, it’s hockey involving the red Maple Leaf, which always gets Canadians going,” he shared. “Yes, it is a busy time, but it’s not actually a really busy time on the sports calendar.”
Canada-Russia Rivalry
Since the tournament kicked off in 1977, Canada has won the championship 20 times, which is more than any other nation. Russia sits in second place, earning 13 gold medals, including from when it played as the Soviet Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
In 1991, the tournament came down to a Canada-Soviet Union final match. Moore explained that at the time, it stood as a major hockey rivalry.
“It was probably more intense than the Canada-U.S. one is now,” he noted. Canada and Russia have met in the championship match 15 times, and the Canadians hold a 9-6 advantage.
Attention has now turned to Canada’s relationship with Russia off the ice, with the national government stating it will use its immigration powers to stop Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from entering Canada to compete under their national symbols.
Gretzky stated at an event on Friday that he supported Canada’s choice to bar Russia from the upcoming championship and praised Carney for making his position clear.
High-Profile Sexual Assault Trial and Fallout
The hockey tournament has also been connected to another important off-ice issue in recent years. A high-profile 2025 sexual assault court trial held in London, Ontario, involved five past members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team.
A judge found all the players not guilty, but the trial and its results gathered national attention and led to fresh questions and talks regarding consent and a harmful hockey culture, which has been widely covered by TSN reporter Rick Westhead. Four of the five players who were cleared stay blocked from Hockey Canada-approved programs following a recommendation from an independent appeals board.
Hockey Canada, which has faced blame for spending millions of dollars on sexual abuse legal settlements since 1989—including taking money from children’s registration fees—brought in a list of fixes in 2022, including mandatory training for players and workers regarding sexual violence and consent.
The organization held a 2023 meeting in Calgary to handle toxic masculinity inside the sport, and another meeting in Ottawa in 2024 to look closely at unhealthy results in hockey.
Looking Ahead to This Year’s Tournament
This year’s world junior championship is planned to open on December 26.
Ten teams are set to compete, including Sweden, Canada, Czechia, Switzerland, the United States, Germany, Latvia, Slovakia, Norway, and Finland.
Sweden beat Czechia for the gold medal in last year’s tournament, while Canada beat Finland to finish with the bronze medal. The Canadians have not stood on top of the winning platform since 2023, but the team will hold the home crowd with them this year as the host nation.
