Pair of Winnipeg Jets prospects play key roles in ending Sweden’s 14-year World Junior Gold medal drought

Monday night was one Alfons Freij and Sascha Boumedienne will never forget. For the first time since 2012, Sweden secured gold with a 4–2 win over Czechia at the World Junior Championship. Sweden entered the tournament as a highly touted contender, but many were hesitant to fully believe due to the nation’s reputation for falling short in big moments. Since their last gold medal in Calgary in 2012, Sweden had collected four silver medals, two bronze medals, and five fourth-place finishes.

Group Stage
Sweden opened the group stage against Slovakia, and Freij, a 2024 second-round pick, impressed from the opening whistle. Serving as the defensive quarterback on the Swedish power play, Freij found Anton Frondell in the left circle, who wired a one-timer past the Slovakian netminder to score Sweden’s first goal of the tournament. Boumedienne, a 2025 first-round pick, played key minutes in the tight 3–2 victory, logging over 19 minutes of ice time. Freij finished just under 19 minutes, ranking second and third, respectively, in defensive time on ice for Sweden.

Boumedienne had a tougher outing in the following game against Switzerland, finishing the night minus-two. Despite that, he was once again relied upon for nearly 19 minutes of ice time, as was his Jets prospect teammate Freij, who logged the second-highest minutes among Swedish defenders, trailing only Leo Sahlin Wallenius. Freij’s offensive instincts continued to shine when his fake shot on an early third-period power play froze a Swiss defender, allowing him to feather a pass to Viggo Bjorck for the tying goal. Sweden went on to defeat Switzerland 4–2, with Freij finishing the game plus-two.

Sweden continued to roll in a dominant win over Germany. The game was notable for both Jets prospects finishing first and second in total ice time among all Swedish skaters. Freij maintained his strong pace, recording two assists—one on Frondell’s opening goal less than two minutes in, and another on Sweden’s sixth goal, again scored by Frondell. Boumedienne also found his way onto the scoresheet with two primary assists in the third period. Sweden cruised to an 8–1 victory over the overmatched German squad.

Sweden faced its first true test on New Year’s Eve against the back-to-back defending champion United States. Freij recorded the primary assist on the opening goal by Casper Juustovaara, supporting the play in the offensive zone before quickly dishing the puck to the right circle. Juustovaara’s shot deflected off an American defender’s skate and into the net. Freij played limited minutes by his standards, totaling just 15:30, while Boumedienne made his presence felt with 22 minutes of ice time, four shots on goal, and a plus-two rating. A strong second-period offensive surge sealed a 6–3 victory, allowing Sweden to finish the group stage undefeated.

Playoffs
As the top seed in Group A, Sweden matched up against Latvia, who finished fourth in their pool but had pushed Canada to overtime earlier in the tournament. Sweden wasted no time, scoring just 10 seconds into the game. Freij recorded two assists, posted a plus-three rating, and logged just over 20 minutes of ice time. His most notable play came on Boumedienne’s first goal of the tournament. During a Swedish offensive push, Freij retreated up the wall with the puck and fired a hard pass back to the point, where Boumedienne blasted it into the net to give Sweden a 3–1 lead. Boumedienne delivered a standout performance, leading the team with 23:49 of ice time. Latvia battled hard, but Sweden prevailed 6–3 to advance to the semifinals.

The semifinal matchup between Sweden and Finland was a battle of bitter rivals. Many of their previous meetings had been decided by a single goal, and Finland had eliminated Sweden in overtime the previous year to reach the gold medal game. Sweden came out hungry for revenge, scoring just 36 seconds into the contest. The remainder of the game was a back-and-forth struggle that required overtime to decide.

The three-on-three overtime was grueling. Boumedienne made a crucial backcheck to stop a potential net drive with under three minutes remaining. When Sweden faced possible disaster with a penalty in overtime, Boumedienne showed remarkable poise, staying on the ice for the entire penalty kill, successfully killing it off and forcing a shootout. Boumedienne finished the game with over 28 minutes of ice time and a plus-one rating, while Freij logged 15 minutes and finished minus-one. Sweden ultimately triumphed 4–3 in the extended shootout, earning a gold medal showdown with Czechia.

Golden Destiny
Sweden dictated the pace of the gold medal game against Czechia, keeping them on their heels for the first 40 minutes. Boumedienne took an ill-advised delay-of-game penalty early in the first period, but it turned into a momentum boost for Sweden, who scored a shorthanded goal just one minute later.

Boumedienne’s biggest moment was still to come. With Czechia pressing midway through the third period while trailing 2–0, Ivar Stenberg showcased his impressive skating ability, cycling and wheeling the puck around the offensive zone before teeing it up for Boumedienne, who wired the puck into the back of the net to make it 3–0.

“I went so crazy I fell there. I couldn’t keep my balance. That was nuts,” Boumedienne said with a wide-eyed grin as he recounted his stumbling celebration. The duo had quite the funny exchange during the post-game media scrum.

Czechia mounted a late comeback with two goals in the third, but Stenberg sealed the victory with an empty-net goal. Boumedienne’s tally stood as the gold medal–winning goal. Boumedienne logged 22 minutes of ice time in the final, while Freij played 13 minutes, though that didn’t stop him from singing his heart out as the Swedish anthem echoed through the Grand Casino Arena.

The two Jets prospects now join Santeri Virtanen, Rutger McGroarty, Jack Roslovic, Erik Foley, Sami Niku, Josh Morrissey, Nic Petan, and Jacob Trouba as Jets prospects who have won gold. Boumedienne finished the tournament with four points in seven games, while Freij posted seven points in seven contests.

Both prospects left their mark in different ways. Freij was a consistent presence on the scoresheet, thriving on the power play and finding seams with his passing. Boumedienne was a big-moment performer who shined brightest under pressure, especially during the championship round. Neither performance can be understated, as both were instrumental in Sweden reclaiming its place atop the world junior hockey mountain.

Now, both players return to their regular clubs. Boumedienne to Boston University in the NCAA and Freij to Timrå IK of the SHL. Jets fans can feel confident in their development and perhaps begin to envision both prospects wearing Jets navy blue in the near future.