Chicago, USA is known as a sports city and played host to one of the greatest names in professional sports at the peak of his career, Michael Jordan. This time it was the moment for Floorball and a whole new generation of young players from across North America to descend on the Windy City and make their mark on the floorball world at the Men’s U19 World Floorball Championships 2027 qualifiers for the Americas region between the USA and Canada. No better venue than the Blackhawks Ice Center as the world class training and community facility built by the NHL team Chicago Blackhawks played host to the bitter rivals in North America for this World Floorball Championship qualifications.
Canada on paper were the favourites having bested the US at the previous Men’s U19 WFC qualifications for the 2025 event but came into the qualies with only 15 outfield players and 1 goalie, a smaller than average squad compared to the full 20 for the US with reserves waiting in the wings. However it was clear that the lesser number of players didn’t translate to lesser skill as the Canadians were the stronger team throughout all 3 matches and left Chicago with a perfect 3 wins from 3 as the US Men’s U19 team will have to go back to the drawing board for next years’ qualifications for the event in 2028 due to the recent calendar change in the IFF international calendar.
Game 1 was a sign of things to come as the first period was a nervy, tight matchup between the two rivals with nothing to split them after 20 minutes at 1 goal each. The 2nd period was where Canada took more of a foothold in the game going up by 2 before hitting another level in the third period and ocasting to a victory with a dominant final 20 minutes. The same was similar in Game 2 where again the Americans held strong alongside the Canadians but only for period 1 where they were then blown out of the water in periods 2 and 3 for a 11-2 loss confirming Canada’s qualification for the U19 WFC 2027 in Latvia. Despite Game 3 being a dead rubber it was the closest matchup of the extended weekend between the two sides with a untimely own-goal against the Americans a real difference maker in the third period allowing 2 empty net goals and a 10-7 victory for Canada. Overall Canada were able to consistently keep a high level of play throughout all three periods of each match which the Americans couldn’t quite keep up with.
Photos from Adam Troy