GOTHENBURG, Sweden – Sophomore Lane Hutson of the Boston University men’s ice hockey team helped lead the United States to a gold medal at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship, with Team USA earning a 6-2 win over host Sweden on Friday in the gold-medal game.
Hutson, named to the tournament all-star team and selected as one of his country’s top three players, was fantastic for the Americans. After winning bronze in 2023, Hutson recorded six assists and was a plus-8. He also led Team USA by playing an average of 23:58 per game, which was nearly 3:00 more than the next closest American. Hutson totaled over 167 minutes of TOI in the tournament, nearly 20 minutes more than his next closest teammate.
BU was the only school to boast a gold and a silver medalist, as freshman Tom Willander claimed silver with Sweden in his first World Junior Championship. Willander was impressive all tournament, leading Sweden as a plus-9 in addition to scoring one goal and two assists. His one goal was the game-winner in a 2-0 victory over Canada that clinched the top spot in Sweden’s group.
Freshman Macklin Celebrini also had a strong tournament for Canada. The 17-year-old was his country’s best player, leading Canada with four goals and four assists for eight points. That included one goal and four assists in a 10-2 victory over Latvia. BU was one of only two schools in the NCAA to have a player on three countries at this year’s tournament.
Terriers have now combined to win 34 medals at the World Junior Championship. This was the first time since 2016 that Terriers claimed both gold and silver at the tournament.