There were many players who stepped up in the 2026 World Junior Championship, and it seemed like every team had at least one player who stood out above the rest. Even though Team USA lost in the quarterfinals and weren’t able to defend their gold medal, they had a number of players who had solid performances.
Of course, Cole Hutson coming back from taking a puck to the neck was an incredible feat, and both Brodie Ziemer and James Hagens contributed six and seven points, respectively. However, the biggest welcome surprise was the performance of Will Zellers, who was one of the last players added to the roster before the tournament started. In this article, we’ll look at a few ways Zellers impacted Team USA, starting with his scoring.
Zeller’s Stick Work Strong
While Team USA came out with the 6-3 win over Germany in their first game of the tournament, they had to work for it. They jumped out to an early lead, but Germany fought back, and thanks to Zellers, USA did get the win. He not only got the game-winning goal, but he also scored back-to-back goals that helped them secure the win.
For those who didn’t know his name prior to the tournament, they definitely knew it after game one. Then in game two, he was the hero once again as he scored the game-winner over Switzerland as well. As if that wasn’t enough, he scored his third straight game-winner in their 6-5 win over Slovakia and was their hero again. Although they didn’t win their fourth game, he scored in that game as well.
“The bottom line was he was always in the mix, and there was some we left off that still could’ve been at camp, but we just finally said with the stick he had, and he really started to heat up on the power play, he’s got a great stick, and Biezer made the call…said I think we need that, and I said absolutely, let’s do it, and from day one we’ve seen that stick, and then tonight you got to see it again, so great call. I said we trust the process and a lot of times… the coaching staff, because John Vanbiesbrouck and his staff, we sit back and just take it in. That’s one thing I’ve learned, trust the process, and you get the group you want, and you listen to everybody, that was a great call that they made,” said head coach Bob Motzko after their first game of the tournament about Zeller’s performance.
Zeller’s Led the Way
Zellers was not one of the returning players to this year’s Team USA, but he quickly became one of the leaders, at least in the offensive department. He fit in well on the team and found chemistry with Brodie Ziemer and James Hagens. He had several different linemates who assisted on his goals, but the connection he had with captain Ziemer was obvious.
In his postgame interviews, he spoke like a leader as well. He was extremely mature and very grateful for the opportunity to show what he can do. However, he also reminded everyone that while these players are tremendous athletes for their age, they are just kids at heart and still growing into adults, as he talked about the team watching movies together and always being together.
Although the tournament didn’t end the way they wanted, he had to be interviewed for the final time after they lost. He was nothing but cordial, and although he said they let their fans down, he was still nothing but grateful for everything. While losing is never fun, losing with graciousness and respect for the other team, like USA had, was great to see.
Zeller’s Left Mark
Although they didn’t win the tournament, Zellers clearly left an impact as he scored in four of the team’s five games and led USA in scoring. He finished the tournament tied for 12th with eight points, but he tied for second in goals with five. Not many expected him to make the impact he did, but once he started scoring, he was hard to stop.
He also kept himself disciplined in terms of penalties with just one the whole tournament and worked to contribute on the power play as one of his five goals was on the man advantage. He could’ve had even more goals as he wasn’t afraid to shoot the puck with 17 shots on goal through five games.
Related: World Juniors Are All About Development & Experience
This was his first and only time playing in this tournament, as he’ll turn 20 in April and will no longer be eligible, but it’s safe to say that for his first and only time, he stepped up huge to help USA even though they did lose early. It would’ve been interesting to see how much more he could’ve done if they’d kept going.
He’ll spend the rest of the season with his college team, the University of North Dakota (UND), and he was back with UND the day after USA lost. He already has 10 goals and seven assists for 17 points in 20 games played. It’ll be interesting to see how many points he can finish the season with and if UND can go all the way with his help.
