Sweden succeeded in the most prestigious of the U20 events in the November break at the Four Nations Tournament in Prerov. After defeating host Czech Republic 5-3, the Swedes also beat Finland, 4-2, and Russia, 4-1. The Czechs claimed second place thanks to victories against third-ranked Russia and winless Finland.

The game against the Czechs was the toughest battle as it remained open until the third period to the joy of the 2,070 fans at the rink. The Czechs managed to tie a 2-0 lead but in the third period Niklas Hansson, Mikael Johansson and William Nylander scored three unanswered goals within a span of 105 seconds to clinch the win. “Juniorkronorna” had less trouble in the other games earning a 3-0 lead against Finland before Suomi came close to a comeback attempt in the last period. Against Russia the Swedes even had a 4-0 lead with a pair of goals from Victor Olofsson and Alex Holmstrom after the second period.

Slovakia won another tournament involving teams at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship. In Fussen the Slovaks blanked Norway 6-0 before beating host Germany 4-3 in a shootout and finishing off with a 3-2 victory over Switzerland. Germany finished the event in second place before Switzerland and winless Norway. Swiss first-round draft pick Kevin Fiala was the dominating player with seven points (2+5) while Germany’s Andreas Eder was the top goal scorer with five markers.

Denmark, which was promoted to the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship, had the chance to play the last tournament before going to Canada on home ice but the round-robin competition in Vojens wasn’t a success for the team. The Danes suffered defeats against Latvia (4-2) and Belarus (3-1) before getting their only win against Austria (2-0) to move up to third place on the last day. Latvia won the tournament ahead of Belarus thanks to a 4-2 victory in the head-to-head game on Day 3.