Rochester named World Juniors Pre-Tournament Series host community
Chaz Lucius #16 of Team United States celebrates his goal with teammates Jack Peart #23, Sam Lipkin #22 and Jackson Blake #9 during the second period against Team Sweden in the bronze medal round of the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship at Scotiaba (Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
ROCHESTER, Minn. (FOX 9) - The City of Rochester announced Monday it’s serving as one of the host communities for the World Juniors Pre-Tournament Series, leading up to the tournament hosted by Minneapolis and St. Paul in late December.
The host community sites
What we know:
Rochester is joining Bemidji and Mankato as host community sites for several exhibition games leading up to the World Junior Championships. They have more than 800 youth currently participating in local programs, junior hockey teams, athletes who have played sports in college, at the Olympics and gone onto professional careers.
What are the World Jr. Championships?
Why you should care:
The World Junior Championships is a tournament showcasing the best men’s hockey players in the world under the age of 20. There are 10 countries represented, including the United States of America.
This year’s tournament goes from Dec. 26, 2025 to Jan. 5, 2026 hosted by both the University of Minnesota at 3M Arena at Mariucci, and Xcel Energy Center, the home of the Minnesota Wild. It marks the seventh time the U.S. has hosted the World Junior Championships.
Motzko coaching Team USA
Local perspective:
Last week, Gophers’ coach Bob Motzko was named the Team USA head coach. He led the Americans to a gold medal in 2017.
He was announced as the head coach at event last week at Xcel Energy Center. Motzko just finished his seventh season as the Gophers men’s hockey coach and has a 161-82-21 record over that time. He led the Gophers to the NCAA Tournament this season, which ended in a first round overtime exit to UMass.
Motzko spent 13 seasons as the head coach at St. Cloud State before taking over for Don Lucia at Minnesota. He has 437 wins as a collegiate head coach.
What’s next
Timeline:
Details for exhibition game schedules, tickets and related events will be announced in the coming months.
Team USA will compete in Group A against Germany, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland in the preliminary round at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul. Group B, which includes Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, and Latvia, will play its preliminary round contests at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis.