ST. PAUL, Minn. — Love Harenstam has watched more World Junior games than he can count.
His father, Chris, a longtime broadcaster for Swedish station SVT, has worked 20 of the tournaments. And Love said he’d often stay up all night in his Stockholm home watching them.
“I was just trying to think about what a dream it would be to play in the World Juniors,” he said.
And here Love Harenstam was Monday night at Grand Casino Arena, backstopping the Swedes to their first gold medal since 2012 in a 4-2 victory over Czechia. This one wasn’t without drama, as a resilient Czechia scored twice with the extra attacker in the last two minutes to pull within one, but an Ivar Stenberg empty-netter with eight seconds left sealed it.
Harenstam, a sixth-round pick by the Blues, was named the top goalie of the tournament and was mobbed by the rest of his stick and glove-throwing teammates in a massive megapile.
“I’d do that unlimited times again — (it) was such a good feeling,” said Harenstam, who stopped 27 of 29 shots. “When everyone came at me, I couldn’t breathe, but I’d do it again. Incredible.
“Today showed we were the better team.”
Finally. The Swedes, so often a silver medalist in this tournament, won for the third time in 15 championship game appearances. And, for most of the game, they were dominant. Clinical. Czechia had trouble handling a relentless Sweden forecheck and tight coverage all over.
“They’re super fast, they’re super smart,” Czechia’s Vaclav Nestrasil said. “It’s the defense, but it’s the whole team. They have a great roster. And they showed it today. They were the better team in the first two periods and that made the difference in the game.”
And then Czechia, who showed fight all tournament, made this one really interesting for a moment. They scored twice in the final two minutes with the extra attacker, pulling to within one with 23.3 seconds left.
“In the last five minutes, we kind of shocked everybody,” Nestrasil said.
Except the Swedes.
“We all knew we were going to end up on top,” Sweden’s Sascha Boumedienne said. “We just had that feeling. We stuck together, and we did it.”
Sweden, who went undefeated in the tournament, controlled a lot of play against a well-rounded Czechia team that had just beaten Canada for the third straight World Juniors in Sunday’s semifinal. Sweden held a 29-11 shot advantage after two periods and a two-goal lead that seemed like much more thanks to the play all tournament by Harenstam, who stopped seven of eight shootout attempts in a thrilling win over Finland in the semis.
“I think Sweden played better from the beginning,” Czech coach Patrik Augusta said. “We relaxed going in. It took a lot of energy out of us, the game against Canada. Not even physically, but mentally too, and emotions. It was a big game for us, and we were looking for a little spark, and it wasn’t coming until the last minute or last couple of minutes of the game. And I wish it came a little earlier maybe, maybe change something. But Sweden played well, and they deserve it.”
Swedish captain Jack Berglund had a terrific all-around game, setting up the first two goals. It was Berglund’s drive to the net while short-handed with five minutes left in the first that got them on the board. Berglund couldn’t convert on his initial attempt, but stuck with the loose puck behind the net and found an open Casper Juustovaara in front for a tap-in.
Casper Juustovaara gets Sweden on the board first in the gold medal game! 🇸🇪
📺: #WorldJuniors on NHL Network pic.twitter.com/OK5gogvPJL
— NHL Media (@NHLMedia) January 6, 2026
Special teams were a factor in the final as Czechia went 0-for-3 and Sweden cashed in on a power play midway through the second period. Berglund, in the bumper spot, was able to redirect a loose puck to Victor Eklund, who finished to make it 2-0.
The Swedes seemed overwhelming at times with their relentless forecheck, their size and toughness. They had beaten the Americans last week in group play and then outlasted rival Finland in an eight-round shootout in Sunday’s semifinal. Anton Frondell, one of the Blackhawks’ many touted prospects, had scored the winner in the shootout on Sunday and was a force again Monday. The top line with Viggo Bjorck and Stenberg was buzzing.
The gold meant so much, especially for those involved in those heartbreaking losses of years past, including a defeat to the gold-medal-winning Americans two years ago.
“If you (don’t) win, you will hear it all the time, ‘You can’t win,’” Sweden coach Magnus Hävelid said. “So the county has to win, and we have one year now, we have the gold. It’s always (hanging) around, they try to tell you, you can’t do it. That’s what it means — I can go back to my junior coaches, development coaches. We do a lot of good job in Sweden. Now they can believe in it.”
Adam Jiricek scored Czechia’s first goal with around two minutes left in the third with the extra attacker, and Matej Kubiesa had a one-timer with 23.3 seconds left. All of a sudden, a tournament filled with dramatic finishes appeared headed for another one. But Stenberg’s empty-netter put it away, ending Czechia’s attempt at their first gold medal since 2001. With the silver, however, the country has a medal in four straight World Juniors.
“It means Czech (hockey) is growing,” said Nestrasil, a Blackhawks prospect. “Even though we didn’t have the gold medal, we still made the country proud, and it showed we’re in here and we’re going to battle for medals every single year.”
Typically, Harenstam’s father, Chris, would be on site to help broadcast the final, but he doesn’t do his son’s games. He was back in Stockholm, doing commentary from afar on the other tournament games.
“He’s working hard to become a player on this level,” Chris wrote to The Athletic on Monday. “It’s up to him how far he can go. I’m glad for him.”
Love said his dad was probably “jumping up and down” at home. He credited his parents, family and coaches for helping him get here.
“This moment,” he said, “was for them.”
2026 World Juniors tournament honors
Earlier in the day, Canada — buoyed by a four-point game by Gavin McKenna — beat Finland 6-3 in the bronze medal game.
IIHF Directorate Awards
Best goalie: Love Harenstam, Sweden
Best defender: Adam Jiricek, Czechia
Best forward: Anton Frondell, Sweden
Media All-Star Team & MVP
Goalie: Love Harenstam, Sweden
Defender: Zayne Parekh, Canada
Defender: Tomas Galvas, Czechia
Forward: Michael Hage, Canada
Forward: Anton Frondell, Sweden
Forward: Vojtech Cihar, Czechia
MVP: Vojtech Cihar, Czechia