Jubilant on-ice celebrations only a few feet away from the disappointed and dejected. The thrill of succe s and the agony of underachievement. Cinderella stories, overtimes heroics, last-minute suspense and unheralded teenagers going from hero to zero and back to hero all against the backdrop of national pride.

Thesehave become the shared experiences for the millions of viewers worldwide whotake in the IIHF World Junior Championship that starts every Dec. 26. shouldn't be any different as support for junior-age hockey transitions from casual and tame to obse sive and fervent. Not only will the cream of NHL prospect pools be participating but the field is more wide open than in years past.

With the 2020 edition just around the corner, Sporting News gives you five good reasons to pay attention to this years games.

Top Storylines for 2020 IIHF World Junior Championship1 Ryan Braun Jersey . Group B

On the surface, it looks like the IIHF purposely stacked Group B with nothing but powerhouses; but remember, the groupings are derived from the previous years standingsand last yearthe Canadians and Czechs were bumped to sixth and seventh, respectively, after Switzerlands upset of Sweden in the quarterfinals. Therefore,the usually lower-seeded Swi s squad has moved to Group A whichadds an extra superpower to Group B. Additionally, by sheer coincidence, the Germans the lowest-ranked team in this years tournament will ice a lineup featuringthree potentially high 2020 draft picks and two former first rounders: Moritz Seider and Dominik Bokk.

World Juniors 2020: Time, TV channel, livestream, where, when, schedule

To put it bluntly, every matchup in Group B will be a bitter struggle for supremacy, and there is a significant chance that in the end, a traditional WJC power will be forced to the relegation round. Itwill also be interesting to see how the expected high 2020 draft picks, and run-and-gun attacks, fare against the tournaments three premier goalies Ru sias Yaroslav Askarov, Team USA'sSpencer Knight and Lukas Dostal of the host Corey Knebel Jersey Czech Republic.

Group AGroup BFinlandUnited StatesSwitzerlandRu siaSwedenCanadaSlovakiaCzech RepublicKazakhstanGermany2. 2020 draft prospects aplenty

A good way to judge the strength of a draft cla s is to see how many prospects in their first year of eligibility are invited by their respective nations to participate in a tournament where they could be up to two years younger than the majority of participants. This year, you should expect to see 15 to 25 first-year eligibles suiting up for action at the world juniors.

Team USA has opted to exclude anylate-2001 or 2002-born players while Canada is bringing four: Alexis Lafreniere, Quinton Byfield, Dawson Mercerand Jamie Drysdale. That represents the most draft-year prospects to don the Maple Leafat the world juniors since 2008 when Steven Stamkos, Drew Doughty, Luke Schenn and Zach Boychuk helped bring home a Cecil Cooper Jersey gold medal before being drafted in the first round inJune.

prospects for June, and Drysdale should be the top defenseman to be called, but there are several other draft hopefuls withstar potential who are expected to play key roles for their respective nations. Sweden has a pair of outstanding prospects in wingers Alexander Holtz and Lucas Raymond, and explosive German forward Tim Stutzle is so dynamic, some feel he might actually leapfrog both of them into the top three on draft night.

Ru sia is banking its medal hopes on 17-year-old netminder Askarov, who steered them to gold at the Ivan Hlinka tournament and could be the first goalie drafted in the top fivesince Carey Price in 2005. Another potential first-round caliber participant is excitable Czech forward Jan Mysak.

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3. Is this Ru sias year?

Ru sia has always been considered a hockey superpower but the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 effectively ended its dominance at Eric Sogard Jersey the world juniors. Since winning eight gold medals and three silvers between 1977 and 1991, the Ru sians have won only five golds, with the last coming in 2011. To their credit, the Ru sians usually come away with a significant consolation prize, capturingsilver or bronze in seven of the last eight tourneys.

This Ru sian team, made up of players born between the years 2000 and 2002, has been succe sful in international competition; something that was evident in their suffocating style against all three Canadian major junior leagues without Askarovin each of the last two U20 Super Series.Winning gold at the world juniors is never easy, but Ru sias strength in net, along with a physical and mobile defense and two lethal scoring lines, should make them slight favorites to win Group B and ultimately the tournament.

4.The Germans are Coming

The Germans earned the right to participate in this years tournament by winning the Division 1A World Championship a year ago; however, thereward is being placed in one of the toughest groups in recent history.

Germany will arrive in the Czech Republic with one of the best rosters they'veever a sembled for a junior tournament. Theyll lean on Stutzle to carry the offense, along with Bokk and wingers J.J. Peterka and Lukas Jhoulys Chacin Jersey Reichel. Bokk, selected 25th overall by the St. Louis Blues and now a Carolina Hurricanes prospect, is more of a goal scorer while Peterka and Reichel have been productive as teenage dual threatsin Germanys elite league. The German will also be solid defensively led by Seider, the Detroit Red Wings 2019 sixth-overall pick.

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5. Canadas Power Play

It always seems like a national day of mourning in Canada when the country fails to medal, which has been the case in four of the last seven tournaments. While having some of its best under-20 players locked in as NHL regulars seems like a popular excuse, the truth is the failure of the power play especially last year has had a profound impact Travis Shaw Jersey on Canadas ability to medal with consistency. But the CHL is loaded with skilled players capable of delivering, so the NHL excuse can only go so far.

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A quick glance at the roster for this years tournament, however, makes it clear that Hockey Canada has identified power-play ineffectivene s as a serious concern. Five of the seven defensemen Ty Smith, Calen Addison, Bowen Byram, Drysdale and Jacob Bernard-Docker are offensive-minded quarterbacks with playmaking capabili