GOTHENBURG, Sweden – The U.S. National Junior Team, guided by Denver head coach David Carle, won the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship Friday, defeating host Sweden, 6-2, in the gold-medal game, with several National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) connections on the team. In addition to Carle, St. Cloud State head coach Brett Larson, Denver freshman defenseman Zeev Buium, DU director of hockey operations Travis Culhane and Denver equipment manager Nick Meldrum all earned gold medals as part of Team USA.
 
This is the sixth gold medal ever for the U.S. National Junior Team at the World Junior Championship, and first since 2021. It also comes on the 20th anniversary of Team USA’s first ever World Juniors gold (2004).
 
Buium (San Diego, Calif.) logged heavy minutes on the U.S. blue line, averaging 18:06 time on ice per game, which was third on the team. He scored three goals in seven games during the 2024 World Junior Championship, including Team USA’s fourth goal in Friday’s championship game to help seal the gold. The draft-eligible 18-year-old also added two assists in the tournament for five points, while Buium’s +11 plus/minus led all players at the World Junior Championship. As a freshman at Denver, Buium leads all NCHC defensemen with five goals, 20 assists and 25 points in 18 games.
 
Carle, now in his sixth season as head coach of the Denver Pioneers, was behind the U.S. National Junior Team bench for the first time. The Anchorage, Alaska native has led DU to the 2022 NCAA National Championship and back-to-back Penrose Cups as NCHC regular-season champions. David’s brother, Matt Carle, played on the 2004 U.S. team that was the first to win World Juniors gold.
 
Larson, who served as an assistant coach for the 2024 U.S. National Junior Team, is in his sixth season as head coach at St. Cloud State. He was the 2018-19 NCHC Herb Brooks Coach of the Year and led the Huskies to the 2021 NCAA National Championship Game. Larson also served as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2022 Winter Olympics and 2020 World Junior Championship.
 
Culhane, who is the director of operations under Carle at Denver, served in a similar role as the video coach for Team USA. Meldrum is in his 15th year as the hockey equipment manager for the Pioneers. Along with this year, he also served as equipment manager for Team USA at the 2019 World Junior Championship.
 
“The guys played excellent today,” Carle said. “It’s a joy for them. They focused on getting to this game and playing their best for the last game of the tournament and I thought they did that. It’s a great honor to be a part of a winning team.”
 
The U.S. finished the tournament with a 6-1-0-0 record and Team USA earned its 15th tournament medal all-time at the World Junior Championship.
 
Carle and Larson join former St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko (in 2017) and former North Dakota and Omaha head coach Dean Blais (in 2010, while at Omaha) as NCHC head coaches to win a gold medal with the U.S. at the World Junior Championship. Current Colorado College head coach Kris Mayotte won golds as an assistant coach for Team USA in 2017 and 2021, prior to taking over at CC.
 
Buium becomes the ninth NCHC player to win a World Junior Championship gold medal, and eighth with Team USA:
2024 – Zeev Buium, D, Denver (USA)
2021 – Bobby Brink, F, Denver (USA)
2021 – Tyler Kleven, D, North Dakota (USA)
2021 – Jake Sanderson, D, North Dakota (USA)
2020 – Jacob Bernard-Docker, D, North Dakota (Canada)
2017 – Jack Ahcan, D, St. Cloud State (USA)
2017 – Joey Anderson, F, Minnesota Duluth (USA)
2017 - Jack Roslovic, F, Miami (USA)
2017 – Troy Terry, F, Denver (USA)