The 2016 world junior championship begins its medal round Saturday.

Canada meets Finland at 11 a.m. ET in the third quarter-final of the day.

Before settling in for the action, read up on some things — eight, to be exact — the under-20 tournament has taught us since it opened on Boxing Day:

VIRTANEN IS FAR FROM A SLAM DUNK

Jake Virtanen was supposed to be a difference maker for Canada, a point producer unafraid to muck it up. The Vancouver Canucks forward has mucked it up, sure, and has accumulated 10 shots, but he is without a goal or an assist through four games. He took a silly penalty in the early stages of Canada's game Thursday, which led to a Swedish goal 17 seconds later. Considering this is his second kick at the world junior can, it's fair to label Virtanen as a major disappointment. For comparison, the other NHLer competing at the U-20s, David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins, has looked sharp, contributing a goal and three assists in three games for the Czech Republic.

RON HEXTALL IS A SMART MAN

While this year's edition of the world junior likely will be best remembered for its wealth of undrafted studs (four of the top five scorers aren't eligible to be drafted until this summer), ignoring the Philadelphia Flyers' presence in Helsinki would be an injustice. Ron Hextall, Flyers GM since May 2014, has been watching seven players in the club's pipeline go head-to-head. Of the seven NHL teams boasting five or more world junior players, Philadelphia's group — Canadian workhorse Travis Konecny, Russia's anchor on the back end, Ivan Provorov, and two-goal Swede Oskar Lindblom are all in the Flyers system — has made probably the biggest splash.

THEY CARE ABOUT THE WJC, TOO

There's a misconception out there that Canada is the only country who gives a damn about the world junior. The last time the tournament was held in Europe (2014 in Malmo, Sweden) the continent's attendance record was eclipsed. And now, Finland appears primed to one-up its Scandinavian neighbours. After 16 round-robin games, 104,875 fans had been through the turnstiles of Helsinki Ice Hall and Hartwall Arena for an average of 6,544 per contest. Malmo averaged 4,653 a game for a final tally of 144,268. Canada hosting included, the best-attended event came in 2009 when nearly half a million (453,282) watched live hockey in Ottawa over a 10-day stretch.

THE TRE KRONOR CAME PREPARED

Sweden has become the world junior nation other countries should model themselves after. Upon downing Canada on Thursday, Sweden ran its preliminary-round unbeaten streak to an absurd 36 games. The last time the Swedes lost a non-medal round game was in 2007; Carey Price was in the other net. The current edition of the Tre Kronor came in locked and loaded, returning 11 players and debuting budding star Alexander Nylander. So far, they've looked like a squad who plays together year-round. A few preliminary-round stats to chew on: Sweden had the highest save percentage, second-most goals, second-best penalty kill and third-best power play.

CANADA HAS A FIRST-GOAL PROBLEM

You know which team hasn't been at its best in the opening 20 minutes of its games thus far at the world junior? Canada. Denmark, Switzerland and Sweden all scored the icebreaking goal versus the Canadians, while the all-North America tilt remained scoreless until Brendan Perlini scored for Canada in the second. What's more, three of the five first-period goals-against occurred when Dave Lowry's team had a player sitting in the penalty box. For a team whose quarter-final opponent has a potent power play (Finland has capitalized on eight of 16 opportunities) and the crowd's backing, this is an issue.

WE HAVE ANOTHER ELITE HOCKEY FAMILY

Unless you are A) a prospect junkie or B) a fan of the OHL's Mississauga Steelheads, in all likelihood the name Alexander Nylander didn't fully register prior to the world junior. Already, the full-caged teen has made an impression on the masses. Ex-NHLer Michael Nylander's son has been a revelation for Team Sweden (eight points as a 17-year-old) and is one half of a brother tandem seemingly fit to set the hockey world ablaze for years to come. It's a shame Alexander's older sibling, future Toronto Maple Leaf William Nylander, has been sidelined for the bulk of the tournament due to a head injury. Both appear to be the real deal.

THE FINNS ARE COMING … AND FAST

The forward trio of the tournament has been Sebastian Aho between Jesse Puljujarvi and Patrik Laine. And it's not even close. Finland's excellent top line is big and skilled, and have been white-hot on home ice. Combined, they have racked up 29 points and rank first (Puljujarvi), second (Aho) and third (Laine) in world junior scoring. The scary part is that Puljujarvi and Laine, both just 17, eventually will be suiting up for men's world events. Imagine the duo lining up alongside other young bucks like Aleksander Barkov, Teuvo Teravainen and Olli Maatta if the NHL and NHLPA decide to participate in the 2018 Olympics. Look out.

CANADA IS NOT GUARANTEED A MEDAL

Disregard for a moment that there have been five different winners at the past five tournaments. Ignore the relative parity in modern international hockey. Toss aside Canada's mediocre round-robin results and focus on the here and now. Feel any better? Didn't think so. There is a legitimate chance Canada loses to Finland in its first game following the group stage. This thing is wide open — while there is no clear-cut favourite, Finland and Sweden have looked stellar — yet the Canadian group in Helsinki hasn't shown they belong in the gold-medal conversation. They have been very vanilla and are icing a lineup with plenty of holes. Can they flip the switch in time or already is it too late?

Email: john.matisz@sunmedia.ca

Twitter: @MatiszJohn