How Team USA's U20 team picked its goal celebration song

Every year at the IIHF world junior championships, the best under-20 players represent their countries in battling for hockey gold. But they have another mission as well: picking the perfect song for goal celebrations.

It has become one of the most charming traditions at the annual tournament in recent years, to the point where speculation about the signature goal song has become news in Canada. The reaction to the reveal of the 2025 World Juniors' goal song, "Live is Life" by Opus, was mixed, as many fans were underwhelmed by the choice after years of bangers like "Let Me Clear My Throat" by DJ Kool and "Song 2" by Blur.

Team USA is trying to win back-to-back championships, but they might have already claimed victory for the most memorable goal song of the 2025 tournament: "Free Bird," the 1973 rock anthem by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The Americans showed an affinity for classic rock last tournament when they had "The Boys Are Back in Town" by Thin Lizzy as their goal song. So how did they decide to play some Skynyrd, man, at this year's tournament? Team USA told ESPN that University of Denver defenseman Zeev Buium suggested the option.

"I don't know, we were kind of on the bus, hanging out, trying to figure out a song. We were all throwing out songs and we all kind of clicked on it," said Buium, who was selected 12th overall by the Minnesota Wild in the 2024 NHL Draft.

Buium said goalie Jacob Fowler from the 2024 world junior team was a big fan of the song.

"So we thought it was a good tune to go with," Buium said.

Once the players settled on "Free Bird," the next decision was what part of the 9-minute song should be used after goals. The section of the song used for goal celebrations kicks in at the 4:45 mark, right after "Lord, help me, I can't change" as the guitars start rocking.

"The first five or six minutes of that song are super mellow and not much going on. So we knew that was the part of the song we were going with," Buium said. "When I'm just hanging out with the guys, I'll just throw it on. It's a long song. Everyone sits around waiting for that part."

The song was played 10 times in Team USA's 10-4 opening game win over Germany on Thursday and earned stellar reviews from fans and the players themselves.

What a play 👀 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/cQv4XX1T68

"It's one of the best ones in the tournament, for sure," said defenseman Cole Hutson. "It's just catchy. It's something you can sing along to after you score."

The U.S. hopes to hear the song much more as the tournament continues, with the championship game taking place on Jan. 5, 2025. If they leave there tomorrow, you probably won't remember them. So they'll be traveling on now, 'cause there's too many games they've yet to play ...