Hoping for the best, Jakub Stancl fired in a shot as extra time loomed.
The Czech Republic had already given Canada a hard time during this quarter-final duel of the World Junior Hockey Championship last year.
The Canadian team, a powerhouse, trailed 2-0 after the first period but tied the score in the second period.
In another disappointing performance, in a tournament peppered with uninspired play, Canada increased the pressure in the third period.
That’s when disaster struck in Sweden.
Stancl's shot grazed the stick of Canadian defenseman Oliver Bonk and off the near post of goalie Mathis Rousseau to give the Czechs a 3-2 lead with 11.7 seconds left in regulation.
Inside the Scandinavium in Gothenburg, supporters dressed in red buried their faces in their hands. Bonk's shoulders slumped. A nation that had won 20 gold medals would finish in fifth place, an ugly and unacceptable outcome.
“It’s not something that’s your fault,” Bonk said, reflecting on that sequence. “Or under your control.”
The hapless 19-year-old defender from Ottawa is looking to make amends in his hometown at the 2025 edition of the tournament, after receiving a torrent of insults online following Canada's disastrous elimination around 12 years ago. month.
“You have to put this behind you,” said the son of Czech-born former NHL player Radek Bonk and one of five players from the 2024 edition returning to the current team. “It’s hockey and it happens. It motivates you more.”
Bonk, whose father played 10 seasons in the nation's capital with the Ottawa Senators, was part of a group in 2024 that never managed to get going in the spotlight of the World Junior Championships. There were high draft picks, top prospects and star players.
For some reason it didn't click.
“It’s difficult to judge when you’re there,” he said. “We need to be better prepared, more competitive. I think last year maybe we thought everything was going to be handed to us and it would be a little easier than it actually was.
“It was not a good tournament for Canada.”
Bonk, who scored in Saturday's 4-2 preseason win over Sweden, bounced back from his disappointment and used it as fuel with the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights . In 60 games in 2023-24, he finished the season with 24 goals and 43 assists for 67 points.
He added 16 points in 18 playoff games before registering four goals and an assist at the Memorial Cup, where his team narrowly lost in the final.
“I learned a lot,” Bonk said of last season. “I’ve been through it all.”
According to Rob Simpson, associate general manager of the Knights, despite the difficulties encountered on the ice, the Philadelphia Flyers' hopes were improved.
“These experiences are so valuable, whether you win or lose,” he said. “You can always get something out of it.”
Simpson added that while disappointed by what happened in Sweden, where Bonk made Team Canada as an early-age player, his professional approach guided him through difficult times.
“He’s a very well-rounded young man,” Simpson said. “I don’t think he had his highs too high and his lows too low. He just looked at the tournament and what he could have done better and then moved on.
“Whether he has a good game or a bad game, he can evaluate himself and he is very self-aware.”
Canada head coach Dave Cameron said his country will rely heavily on Bonk.
“He is an intelligent and competitive boy,” analyzed the veteran head coach, back at the helm for the third time after winning silver in 2011 and gold in 2022.
“You know he’s going to learn lessons from the last tournament. We expect a lot from him.”
“Oliver has something to prove,” added Peter Anholt of Hockey Canada, who runs the under-20 program.
According to Simpson, Bonk's skill at both ends of the ice comes down to time and space.
“He knows how to protect the puck using his hips or how to put his body in a position that allows him to get out of a bad situation or separate a man,” Simpson said.
“He doesn’t need to show speed or intelligence. He seems calm and patient. But in reality, it's because he thinks about the game at a very high level.
“Often it looks easy, but it’s not easy to do. It’s just very clever.”
Bonk's father played with the Senators from 1994 to 2004, before his son was born in January 2005.
The family moved to Czechia after Radek's NHL career ended. He played five seasons there before the Bonk family moved to the nation's capital in 2014, following the former center's retirement.
Oliver became a huge Senators fan, with particular attention to defenseman Erik Karlsson, the team's captain at the time.
The young Bonk now has the opportunity to chase gold in the same arena — and erase last year's mistake — when Canada opens its tournament Thursday against Finland at the Canadian Tire Centre.
“It’s a special experience,” he said. “Something very, very rare. I’m going to try to take advantage of it.”
