The 2017 championship resonates because of how it was won, with Troy Terry scoring the only goal in a five-round shootout against Canada in the gold-medal game at Bell Centre in Montreal.
“It was 20,000 black and red (Canada) jerseys, and just a few parents in red, white and blue.” Motzko said. “We silenced them. That’s the best.”
The chance for a three-peat this year most certainly will be the focus, but so will winning on home ice. The U.S. has won the tournament seven times, but never in the United States.
Motzko hopes Minnesota’s well-known passion for hockey can provide some extra motivation during the tournament.
“Our city can do it, our state can do it,” he said. “Our guys are going to fight. They’re going to put their best foot forward. If we can get that juice in the building, we’ve got to do our part to make sure we’re in that medal round.
“And we want to draw our fans into the fight as much as we want to draw our players into the fight.”
Motzko and Minnesota’s hockey allegiance will be more than familiar with the arenas hosting the tournament.
The U.S. will play in Group A in the preliminary round, along with Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland, with games at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Group B, consisting of Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland and Latvia, will play at 3M Arena at Mariucci on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
The semifinals and the gold- and bronze-medal games will be played at Grand Casino Arena.
And, sure, winning the World Juniors in Canada is fun. But winning it at home?
“Well that would be everything, right?” Motzko said. “In the 50th year? Yeah, that would be great in so many ways.”