Vancouver Canucks prospect Tom Willander just came agonizingly close to a medal at the 2025 World Junior Championship.
After going undefeated in the preliminary round, Willander's Swedish squad was a goal away from going to the gold medal game, only to lose to Finland in overtime after an awful penalty call on Willander.
Facing Czechia in the bronze medal game, Sweden again couldn't find a way to win in regulation and the game went through a full ten-minute overtime period at 3-on-3 to go to the shootout. Incredibly, the shootout went a whopping 14 rounds and 28 attempts before a winner could be declared — the longest shootout in World Junior history.
It was a goaltending showdown in the shootout, as Sweden's Marcus Gidlof and Czechia's Michael Hrabal went save for save, allowing just five goals combined on the 28 attempts. After both team's second shooters scored, the goaltenders turned aside the next 20 attempts, with Gidlof getting a little bit of help from a couple of goalposts.
Sweden's Otto Stenberg finally broke the deadlock in the 13th round with a five-hole goal, only for Czechia captain Eduard Sale to slide in a five-hole goal of his own in response. It was Sale's fourth attempt of the shootout, as tournament rules allow shooters to repeat after the fifth round.
Stenberg went again in the 15th round and beat Hrabal, only to hit the post, leading Hrabal to literally drop to his knees and kiss his post in response.
That post gave Czechia the chance to win the game and the bronze medal and Sale stepped up for his fifth attempt of the shootout. He beat Gidlof with a deke to the backhand to send Sweden home empty-handed.
It was a tough end to the tournament for Willander, who once again led Sweden in ice time, playing 28:06 in the bronze-medal game. He averaged a team-high 24:21 per game in ice time in the tournament and tallied 5 points in 7 games, while finishing second on his team in shots on goal with 27.
Willander's 24:21 per game was third in average ice time behind Latvia's Peteris Bulans and USA's Zeev Buium. He ate up minutes in every situation and spent minimal time in the defensive zone with his excellent puck retrievals and quick puck movement up the ice.
While Willander didn't get a point in the bronze medal game, he was on the ice for both of Sweden's goals in regulation. He was pivotal in the puck movement prior to Sweden's power play goal in the first period that tied the game 1-1 but was one pass removed from picking up a point.
It was a similar story on Sweden's second goal to tie the game 2-2 in the second period. Willander started the transition up ice with a pass in the defensive zone, even if he didn't end up with an assist.
Willander was also on the ice for a goal against but that was the result of a truly brutal turnover by teammate Linus Eriksson in the defensive zone. The forward put the puck right on the stick of Miroslav Holinka, who set up Sale behind the defence.
While steady defence was Willander's primary role in the bronze-medal game, he came inches away from getting the game-winner with five minutes remaining in the third period. Shaking free of the forechecking Matej Mastalirsky with a quick spin, Willander dashed up the ice and slalomed through Czechs in the neutral zone before slipping a pass to Viktor Eklund.
Eklund couldn't get much on his shot on the scoring chance but Willander continued on to the net and saw the rebound slide just past his stick and through his legs.
At 19, this was Willander's last chance to play in the World Juniors. He won a silver medal last year with Sweden. He'll now returnto finish his second NCAA season at Boston University, where he has 9 points in 16 games while averaging 23:12 per game in ice time.
It is unclear whether Willander will return to Boston University for his junior season or if he will turn pro and sign with the Canucks. If the latter, it's possible that he could make his NHL debut at the end of this season.
