OTTAWA -- Zeev Buium was certainly a big hit with his teammates after suggesting the goal song “Free Bird” for the United States National Junior Team at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Buium (Minnesota Wild), a sophomore defenseman at the University of Denver, recommended the 1973 song by Lynyrd Skynyrd while on the bus with his U.S. teammates prior to the start of the tournament on Thursday.
It's an annual right a passage by each of the 10 participating countries to choose a goal song that gets fans and the team going whenever a goal is scored. The U.S. used “The Boys Are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy as the goal song on the way to a gold medal-winning effort at the 2024 WJC.
Buium believes “Free Bird” is another winner.
"We were just kind of on the bus ride over, hanging out, trying to figure out a song and we were all kind of throwing out songs," Buium said. "I threw out 'Free Bird' and we all kind of clicked on it. We know how much Jacob Fowler (Montreal Canadiens) from last year's U.S. team loved that song, so we thought it'd be a good tune to go with."
The U.S. heard the song 10 times Thursday in a 10-4 win against Germany in its tournament opener. The song doesn't start from the beginning; rather, just prior to the guitar solo.
"We know the first 5-6 minutes of that song is super mellow and there's not much going on, so we just thought it'd be [the upbeat] part if we were going to use that song.
"I mean, I think when I'm just hanging out with the guys, we'll probably throw the song on. It's a long song, so everyone just kind of sits around waiting for that part, but it's a good song."
Buium, chosen No. 12 by the Wild in the 2024 NHL Draft, is sure Fowler is smiling every time the U.S. scores while watching the games on television.
"He loves it," Buium said. "I'm sure he's watching at home and he's loving it every time we score."
