It’s that time of year where, for two weeks, the hockey world’s attention kind of wanders away from the NHL and turns toward the future. The 2023 IIHF Men’s World Junior Championships gets underway on Monday in Halifax and Moncton, Canada.
The best players in the the world (THE WORLD!) aged 20 and under are together playing for national glory, and for some players, the culmination of 15 years or so of their hockey life. If you win gold, hockey fans in your country will buy you a beer for the rest of your life even if you’re slinging insurance in two years.