Mike Modano is a retired NHL superstar with a Stanley Cup on his resume, and a statue of him stands guard outside the Dallas Stars home rink. Kris Miller is a Dakota County sheriff’s deputy living with his wife and two young children in the east metro.

When the two of them met up recently, there was no request for proof of insurance or concern about expired license tabs. Instead, there was a handshake, a hug, and shared stories of a time — nearly four decades ago — when the two men were teenagers and traveled into the heart of the Soviet Union to do battle for their country.

The 1988 World Junior Hockey Championship was the first time that Modano was selected for the top American team, but he would go on to represent his country in the Olympics three times and in scores more World Championships and other tournaments.

“It’s even meaningful to get selected, and to be recognized as one of the higher-level American players,” said Modano, now 55 and living in the western suburbs where he is a full-time hockey dad. “You just savor the moments, cherish them, because those opportunities don’t come along too often.”

Miller and Modano were among a few dozen alumni of American teams from the Olympics, World Championships, Goodwill Games and World Juniors who recently gathered at the Minnesota Wild’s downtown St. Paul offices for a reception honoring Minnesotans who have worn the red, white and blue.

Peanut butter players

Miller and Modano were USA teammates in 1987 when they traveled to Moscow for the World Juniors. Modano, from suburban Detroit, was an up-and-coming star forward who would be picked first overall by the Minnesota North Stars in the 1988 NHL Draft. Miller was a rock-solid defenseman from tiny Taconite, Minn., who had been named Minnesota’s Mr. Hockey as a senior at Greenway High School, and by then was getting his feet wet in college hockey as a freshman at Minnesota Duluth.

“It was still communist then, so we had to have KGB with us at all times,” Miller recalled. “We got to see the Kremlin and Lenin’s Tomb. Wearing our Team USA gear, people would come up and ask us for blue jeans, and the KGB got them away from us pretty quick. The hockey was fast. I think Canada ended up winning it.”

Indeed, Canada beat the Americans 5-4 and the host Soviets 3-2 to claim gold when the medals were awarded in early January 1988. Team USA had a rough go in the tournament, finishing 1-6-0, but what Miller recalls is the food.

“The food was not good. We were told to pack our own peanut butter, so we ate a lot of peanut butter and bread,” Miller said, smiling at the memory. He played professionally for the minor league Minnesota Moose in the 1990s and for several seasons in Europe before hanging up his skates.

“I remember we were having chicken soup, and they brought out a bowl with some broth and a whole piece of chicken in the broth,” Miller said. “We all looked at each other up and down the table, like, ‘What is this?’ So, we all brought out our peanut butter and had it with rolls.”

‘Global moment’

The athletes from all over the hockey-playing world who will descend on Minnesota in the coming weeks will experience something completely different St. Paul and Minneapolis host the 2026 World Juniors Dec. 26-Jan. 5.

In the 1980s and 1990s, one could barely find World Juniors scores buried in the back pages of the newspaper. The modern tournament is a world-wide media event drawing dozens of journalists reporting in several languages. Officials from the International Ice Hockey Federation and USA Hockey are working with the team from Minnesota Sports and Events to ensure that players, coaches and fans have a memorable visit to the Twin Cities, which last hosted this tournament in 1982.

On Monday, the IIHF announced that eight Minnesotans — three connected to the Gophers — were among the 28 players composing the preliminary U.S. roster.

The primary venues — Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul and 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis — are ready, as are the host hotels and the Greater Minnesota communities and arenas that will host the pre-tournament training camps and exhibition games which start Dec. 16 in Mankato.

At the alumni event in St. Paul, MSEO CEO Wendy Blackshaw noted that normal hotel occupancy in St. Paul between Christmas and New Years is around 20 percent, and said that this year the rooms will be filled visitors from around the nation and world.

“We’re on the cusp of a global moment for Minnesota,” she said. “And that’s why we do these things. … We are bringing in tens of thousands of fans, players and people who are going to be lining the streets of St. Paul and Minneapolis. They’re going to spend money, they’re going to eat in our restaurants, they’re going to sleep in our hotels.”

Seats available

If there is any area of concern three weeks out from the tournament’s opening games on Dec. 26, it might be ticket sales. Organizers are still hawking them, and promotions have been aimed at getting more fans in arena seats. There was some initial sticker shock when ticket packages costing as much as $3,400 went on sale, but since then there have been many more single-game and group options.

As of Wednesday morning, one resale website had Grand Casino Arena tickets, 11 rows up from the ice, for the opening day game between Sweden and Slovakia selling for $35. The “get in the door” price for USA vs. Germany later that day was $82.

In past years, when the World Juniors have been hosted by border states such New York, Michigan and North Dakota, scores of Canadian fans have made the trek south. In 2025, the current political climate and an unfavorable exchange rate has limited that number, which is another concern.

In addition to Ticketmaster, SeatGeek and other outlets, World Juniors tickets can be purchased at the official mnsportsandevents.org website, which also features a full schedule of games and off-ice events.

WORLD JUNIORS

2026 IIHF junior world championships, Dec. 26–Jan. 5, St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Grand Casino Arena, Group A: United States, Germany, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland.

3M Arena at Mariucci, Group B: Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland and Latvia.

Quarterfinals, semifinals and the championship will be at Grand Casino Arena.

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