Oh, baby.The 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship has ble sed us all with the ultimate gold-medal game.

After Monday'ssemifinals sawfour of the "Big Five" powerhouses battle it out for a spot in the championship game, it's now set with a no-holds-barred, old fashioned North American showdown as Canada and the United States going toe-to-toe at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alta.

This meeting was almost inevitable; Hockey Canada and USA Hockey were on a collision course after each team won its respective groups. But who will go home happy? These kids have been through a lot to reach this point quarantines, daily COVID-19testing, boring meals, Zoom meetings and now they'll be looking to leave bubble hockey with the ultimate prize: World Juniors gold.

It comes down to just 60 minutes of ice time (unle s, like past meetings,overtime or a shootout is needed). Which team will hear their anthem played and who will leave Alberta golden? Sporting News breaks it all down for you and predicts which country will take the Micah Parsons T Shirts top prize.

World Juniors 2021 gold-medal game:Canada vs. USAHow they got here

Canada steamrolled the competition, going a perfect 4-0 andoutscoring opponents 33-4 in the preliminary round. In the medal rounds, the teameasily dispatched opponents by postingback-to-back shutouts of Amari Cooper Jerseys the Czech Republic and Ru sia.

Canada's road to the gold-medal game

Date Opponent Result Dec. 26GermanyDec. 27SlovakiaDec. 29SwitzerlandDec. 31FinlandJan. 2QF vs. Czech RepublicJan. 4SF vs. Ru sia

The Americans lost their tournament opener to Ru sia, put it behind themand thentopped Group B with three straight wins. They had abit of a scare in the quarterfinals and semis. In the first playoff game against a tough Slovakian team, they pushed through with a much-closer-than-the-score 5-2 win. On Monday night, the Americans were up 3-1 in the third before Finland tied it and Arthur Kaliyev scored the game-winner with 76 seconds left.

USA's road to the gold-medal game

Date Opponent Result Dec. 25Dec. 26AustriaDec. 29Czech RepublicDec. 31SwedenJan. 2QF vs. SlovakiaJan. 4SF vs. Finland

It's gold or bust':

Gold-medal history

There's a long-storied history between the U.S. and Canada. But in the gold-medal game, Tuesday marks just the fifth meeting between the teams. The United States has won three of the four previous meetings,with one win coming in overtime and another in a shootout.

1997

Canada won its fifth straight gold medal with a2-0 win over the U.S., backstopped by netminder Marc Denis.The game marked the first time USA Hockey was playing in the championship in the tournament's history (since 1977) and the last time Canadawongold until 2005.

Future NHLer Mike York earned the top scorer title with Dak Prescott T Shirts 10 points, and there was one guy from the game who's still playing in the NHL Canada's Joe Thornton.

2004

In dramatic fashion, the United States won its first gold medal at World Juniors as the team came back from a 3-1 deficit heading into the third period to win 4-3. That fourth goal becameinfamous in World Juniorshistory as Canada goalie Marc-Andre Fleury went to clear the puck from his crease and hithis own defenseman knocking the puck into the net.

Until that point, in the 30-year history of USA Hockey participating in the IIHF World Junior Championship, the program had only won two bronze medals (1986, 1992) and one silver (1997).

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2010

Six years after these two Trevon Diggs T Shirts countries met in the gold-medal game they were back at it. This one marked the first time the U.S. was back in the gold-medal game since 2004, while Canada was coming off five consecutive golds.

The Americans were up 5-3 after Derek Stepan scored 6:23 into the third period, but then Jordan Eberle scored two goals in the final three minutes to tie things up. In the overtime se sion, it was the Americans' John Carlson netting the game-winner.

2017

The last gold-medal meeting between these two countries was four years ago. This one went to a shootout, where Troy Terry beat Carter Hart for the lone goal. American netminder Tyler Parsons then stopped Nicolas Roy to seal the win.

"I remember both times I was watching with my dad and we were pretty pumped up," Alex Turcotte said Monday night when asked whether he watched 2010 and 2017. "Those are legendary moments in this tournament for USA hockey and it was awesome to watch and to be able to play in the Canada-USA gold-medal game in this tournament.It's a dream come trueand we're gonna make the most of it."

Some stats to know Dylan Cozens and Trevor Zegras are Dallas Cowboys Women Jersey tied for the tournament's scoring lead with 16 points each.Cozens sits atop the goals leaderboard with eight while Zegras has a tournament-best 10 a sists.Every skater on Canada's roster has scored at least a point while all but two of the Americans have hit the scoresheet.Power-efficiency: Canada 33.3 percent (6-for-18);USA 42.86 percent (9-for-21)Penalty killing: Canada 76.47percent (13-for-17);USA 76.92percent (10-for-13)Team save percentage: Canada .968; USA .927Team penalties: Canada 59; USA 40Bragging rights

While these teams are littered with NHL draft picks 19 of Canada's 24 players were drafted in the first round alone and future bragging rights are on the line, there are also a few guys on the teams who are college or CHL pals right now.

Wisconsin Dylan Holloway (CAN), Cole Caufield (USA)Boston College Alex Newhook (CAN), Spencer Knight (USA), Matthew Boldy (USA), Drew Helleson (USA)Northeastern Devon Levi (CAN), Sam Colangelo (USA)London (OHL) Connor McMichael (CAN), Hunter Skinner (USA)

In fact, Boldy and Newhook are roommates at school.

"I call him one of my best friends. He's my roommate at school, the second year in a row," Boldy told reporters on Dec. 27. "Obviously played with him a lot last year and we're really close. He's an awesome kid, an awesome hockey player."

NHL breakdownsNHL team Canada USA DucksJamie DrysdaleSam Colangelo, Jackson LaCombe, Henry Thurn, Trevor ZegrasCoyotesJohn FarinacciSabresDylan Cozens, Jack QuinnRyan JohnsonFlamesJakob Pelletier, Ezekiel Elliott Jerseys Connor ZaryDustin WolfHurricanesRyan SuzukiBlackhawksLandon SlaggertAvalancheJustin Barron, Bowen Byram, Alex NewhookDrew HellesonStarsThomas HarleyOilersDylan HollowayPanthersDevon LeviSpencer KnightKingsQuinton Byfield, Jordan SpenceBrock Faber, Arthur Kaliyev, Alex TurcotteWildMatthew BoldyCanadiensKaiden Guhl