For a second consecutive year, Canada was eliminated in the quarter-finals of the World Junior Championship by the Czech Republic on a goal in the final moments of the match. And like last year, the Canadian team lost again by a single goal, 4-3, but the similarities end there.
Posted at 10:16 p.m.
Updated at 11:16 p.m.
Canada had a good preliminary round in 2024, with three victories against a single loss, 2-0 against the eventual finalists, Sweden. He crushed Latvia and Germany, scoring 21 goals in four games and allowing just seven.
Last year’s defeat was cruel. The Canadian team lost on an unfortunate shot deflected by a defender, Oliver Bonk, after having dominated the match overall.
This year, Canada lost to Latvia in the preliminary round, a terrible slap in the face, and struggled to defeat Germany. He also suffered another setback against the United States in the last meeting. They scored a measly 10 goals in four games, had the lowest shooting success rate among the 10 teams entered and had no scorers among the top 38 before facing the Czech Republic.
Their defeat against the Czech Republic on Thursday evening was deserved.
It took a goal at the end of the second period during a numerical superiority, a point shot deflected by attacker Porter Martone, although removed from the lineup during the previous meeting, to finally show a little enthusiasm.
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Porter Martone (22)
Canada largely dominated in the third period, but a penalty taken with just over two minutes left in the period, for a knee strike, allowed the Czechs to take advantage of a numerical superiority and score the winning goal, that of Adam Jecho, 18, a third-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2024.
The team’s lack of discipline was the topic of the day the day before the match, and head coach Dave Cameron’s half-hearted responses impressed no one.
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
In the center, Dave Cameron
Not only was the Canadian team again sunk by its Achilles heel at the end of the match, but it received two penalties in offensive territory in the first period, one of which lasted five minutes. The Canadian finished first in the tournament in penalty minutes, 113, ahead of Kazakhstan with 79.
We left good players in the lurch, we have been saying for several weeks, including three young men drafted in the top nine. The injury suffered in the second game by 17-year-old defenseman Mathew Schaefer, perhaps the next first overall pick, hurt.
But the loss of Schaefer, the absence of Beckett Sennecke, Carter Yakemchuk and Zayne Parekh also does not explain the soft play of this club during the majority of the tournament, its lack of collective cohesion, its breakdowns in confidence.
There were still 10 first-round picks on this team, including three having played at least one game in the NHL, six second-round picks, and three possible picks in the top 3 in total.
The selectors will have to examine their consciences, as will the coaches. How to explain that the most dominant defenseman in the country, Sam Dickinson, 11e overall pick by the San Jose Sharks in 2024, 46 points in 26 games in London, offers such mediocre play?
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Sam Dickinson (3)
That Berkly Catton, eighth overall pick in 2024, 47 goals in 28 games in Spokane is content with just one assist in five games? That Gavin McKenna, only 17 years old, but the next McDavid, is said to have gotten a single point? That the team’s best scorer is satisfied with three points? That the defense is so porous?
Why did Canada, lacking scorers, leave it behind for the match against Czechia, with 142 points in its last 87 games in the junior ranks? Why Porter Martone, undoubtedly a choice in the top 5 in 2025, was he left out of the lineup for a few games only to find himself on the power play in the quarters? Why did you wait four and a half games before changing your trios?
Canada is excluded from the final four for a second consecutive year. This hadn’t happened since 1981. At the time, Ronald Reagan entered the White House, Prince Charles married Lady Di and Guy Lafleur was still making rain and shine at the Canadian with Pierre Larouche and Steve Shutt.
Lots of questions. Many people across the country will be hungry for answers. This time, Dave Cameron won’t be able to throw the ball into the players’ court like he did on Wednesday…
