Former Pittsburgh Ball Hockey Player Brandon Svoboda Wins Gold Medal with USA at 2025 World Juniors

OTTAWA, ONTARIO – From the Dek of Murrysville, PA to the biggest stage in Junior ice hockey, Brandon Svoboda has seen it all since he first picked up a hockey stick at 4 years old.

Svoboda, a native of Greater Pittsburgh, grew up like many others in the Pittsburgh area playing the game of Dek Hockey, a local pastime that continues to grow in popularity across the country. Dek Hockey, or ball hockey, is a variation of hockey played in sneakers on a dry surface and using a plastic orange ball rather than a puck. A majority of ball hockey players never lace up the skates and learn to play ice hockey, although some do go on play at high levels including collegiate and semi-professional. But in rare instances, some players with roots in ball hockey go on to play ice hockey at the highest levels like the World Stage and the NHL. After years of participating in elite youth ice hockey programs around Pittsburgh and beginning his Juniors career, Brandon got his chance to make it big in the hockey world.

Brandon Svoboda was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2023 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks, achieving a childhood dream of getting his shot to play in the big leagues. But the dream didn’t end there, as Svoboda was named to the 2025 US Junior National Team after 2 years and 2 championships in the USHL, and a freshman semester at Boston University this past fall. Svoboda’s USA teammates included former and projected first round NHL draft picks including Ryan Leonard, Zeev Buium, Gabe Perreault, and projected 2025 first overall pick James Hagens, among others.

Team USA was looking to defend its gold medal from the previous year, and the competition was stiff with the likes of Canada, Finland, and Sweden putting forward some of the most elite young talent to come up in recent years. After winning 3 of their 4 preliminary games including only an OT loss to Finland, Team USA powered through the playoff rounds to a rematch with Finland in the Gold Medal Game. Down 3-1 late in the second period, time was running out for USA to make a comeback. With 3 minutes remaining in the period, Svoboda picked up the puck and circled up to the high slot where he let it fly at the net. Thanks to a fortunate bounce off the Finnish defenseman, the puck found the back of the goal to pull USA within one. His teammate Cole Hutson then tied the game up with just 29 seconds left in the second period, leading to a scoreless third frame and sending the game into overtime where Teddy Stiga buried a breakaway opportunity to score the Golden Goal for United States.

When asked about his roots in ball hockey and how it applied to his development in ice hockey, Svoboda talked about the benefits of supplementing his game on the dek. “You can really see the different plays that happen, and translating that into ice hockey made me more aware of where I was on the ice and definitely boosted my vision on the ice.” In addition to awareness and positioning, stick handling with a ball was another benefit that he claimed translated to improved handling with a puck. Svoboda especially praised his former ball hockey coach Bill Almond for being a great role model and playing a big part in his success as a member of the U14 US Dek Hockey Team in 2019.

Former ball hockey teammate and childhood friend Nick Bruno had high praise for Svoboda’s character, saying “He was always the best player on our team growing up but never acted that way. He was the most humble kid. Even thought he could always go right through everyone he’d look for that extra pass backdoor.” Another former teammate in ball hockey, Roman Rennebeck, had similar praise and said “He was always so smart with the ball and saw the rink in ways that very few could at that age…I always knew then he would end up going far and eventually get drafted, he just loves hockey and worked hard for it all.” Both Bruno and Rennebeck were members of the U20 Men’s Team representing USA at the 2023 World Ball Hockey Championships, and will once again be wearing the red, white and blue for the U23 Men’s Team this upcoming summer in Czechia for another shot at a gold medal for themselves. Follow along with the upcoming 2025 Ball Hockey World Junior Championships this summer on our social media channels and on usaballhockey.com!

Congratulations to Brandon Svoboda and Team USA on their gold medal at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championships!