5 reasons why you should watch the 2018 World Juniors hockey tournament

It’s the day after Christmas, and you’re a hockey fan trying to shake off a hangover while sitting at work. The NHL isn’t here to entertain you because it’s still on holiday break. The rest of the world is slowly moving back into the routine after weeks of hearing about what Mariah Carey wanted for Christmas.

What’s a fan to do at this time of the year? Thankfully the best young hockey players in the world have you covered.

The 2018 World Junior Championships, an annual international tournament for players age 19 and younger, begins Tuesday in Buffalo. It’s everything that makes hockey awesome, from the intense competition of representing your country to the youthful exuberance of trying to accomplish something special with your teammates.

For a lot of these players, the World Juniors represents their biggest stage yet, an opportunity to show fans, scouts, executives, and the media of how far their games have developed. Many of them were top picks in the 2017 NHL draft, or will be top picks next year. Some of them will go on to become superstars, and we’ll look back at these games as part of their origin stories.

But that’s not the only reason to tune into some of the most thrilling sports action you can find all year. The World Juniors is always a blast, and the next couple weeks should be no different. Here are five key reasons why you’ll want to tune in.

Whether we’re talking prospects who have already been drafted or players likely to be selected at the top of the 2018 NHL draft, this year’s tournament is going to be loaded with talent. Team USA alone has 10 first-round picks, plus several other players who will likely be top-15 picks next year.

Big names from the 2017 draft include Finland defenseman Miro Heiskanen, USA center Casey Mittelstadt, Canada center Robert Thomas, Sweden defensemen Timothy Liljegren, and Finland winger Eeli Tolvanen. It’s possible the top five picks in the 2018 draft could be represented with Rasmus Dahlin, Andrei Svechnikov, Quinn Hughes, Brady Tkachuk, and Filip Zadina all on hand.

That’s a whole lot of potential NHL stars in one tournament. It should be a fun glimpse into the future.

The Americans have won four gold medals at the World Juniors dating back to 2004, but they’ve never won two in a row. The tournament was historically dominated by Canada and the Soviet Union, so it wasn’t until the past decade that the U.S. really asserted itself as a men’s junior hockey powerhouse.

Now Team USA has a chance to become the first back-to-back World Juniors champions since Canada won five straight from 2005-09. And with home-ice advantage in Buffalo and a stacked team loaded with NHL first-round picks, especially at forward, the Americans have a very good shot at making history.

The NHL has been doing outdoor games for a decade, but that won’t make the Friday afternoon matchup between the USA and Canada any less special. The two longtime rivals will face off at New Era Field, home of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, at 3 p.m. ET in the first-ever World Juniors outdoor game.

The ice has already been laid down, and snowy weather in the area means we could be treated to a winter wonderland in addition to a hockey game.

Imagine the intensity of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, except everyone is a teenager and none of them have become millionaires yet. You could use a ton of cliches here about “representing your country” and “playing for the love of the game,” but seriously, you’ll never see NHL players react with the highs and lows that are part of the fabric of the WJC.

The celebration after a gold medal victory is pure, unbridled joy. The heartbreak on the other side of the ice in those moments, seeing young players choke up in disappointment, can be crushing.

But that’s part of what makes the World Juniors so special every year. To these players, the stakes are as high as they can be. And when they approach it like that, you can rest assured the hockey will be thrilling.

Move over, 2018 Olympics. Between the NHL’s lack of involvement and the doping scandal surrounding the Russian national team, men’s hockey in Pyeongchang simply won’t be the same. Sure, we’re all looking forward to a potential USA-Canada rematch on the women’s side, and maybe a ragtag group of American men can win their first gold since the Miracle on Ice, but that’s not quite the same as watching a bunch of NHL-backed juggernauts face off.

So there’s a very good chance that we’ll look back fondly on the 2018 World Juniors as the best international hockey tournament of the year. More than anything, that might be the best reason to tune in.