Gavin McKenna scored a hat trick as Canada finally flexed its muscles at the World Junior Championships, beating Denmark 9-1 on Monday night.
Porter Martone added two goals and an assist for the Canadians, while Zane Parekh, Michael Misa and Kashawn Aitcheson had a goal and an assist. Braden Coots completed the offense.
Carter George had to make just 12 saves. Brady Martin had three assists, while Michael Hage and Caleb Desnoyers each had two assists.
Frederik Amondsen responded on behalf of Denmark, which is taking part in the U20 men's tournament for the first time since the 2019 tournament. The beleaguered Patrick Tijin finished with 41 stops.
Canada, hoping to return to the podium after back-to-back quarterfinal exits, improved to 7-0 all-time against Denmark with a total score of 59-5.
The Canadians, who beat the same opponent 13-2 in an exhibition game last week, now turn their attention to a New Year's showdown with Finland for first place in Group B before the medal round.
After a 7-5 win over the Czech Republic and a nerve-wracking 2-1 overtime triumph over Latvia, where Canada never really got going against a determined underdog, the hockey powerhouse turned the ice early – and never really gave up.
McKenna, a top prospect in the 2026 NHL draft, scored on a power play at 3:17 of the first period before Coots, a Vancouver Canucks prospect, fired a shot into the stairs at 8:36 at 3M Arena on the University of Minnesota campus.
Parekh, who has played 11 games for the Calgary Flames this season, made it 3-0 at 10:03 after a breakdown as Denmark forward Tristan Petersen struggled to return to his team's bench without a skate blade at the other end of the rink.
Aitcheson then fired a devastating shot along the boards to Oliver Larsen in the opening 20 minutes, which ended with a 15-1 shot advantage as the opposition, with just one NHL draft pick, struggled to keep up with the talent-rich North Americans.
Denmark only got on the board on their second shot 28 seconds into the second when Amondsen came up on the turn and fired a shot at George.
Martone restored a three-goal lead for Team Canada, which last faced the Danes at the World Junior Championships on Boxing Day 2018 in Vancouver, when the hosts cruised to a convincing 14-0 win after an 8-0 loss the previous year in Buffalo, 6-11 with the men's advantage.
Later in the period, Tijin robbed Tijin Iginla with a stunning glove stop before McKenna scored his second at 15:03 to make it 5-1.
George didn't have much to do at the other end, but he made a good stop on Anton Linde late in the second round.
Misa, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 draft by the San Jose Sharks, scored at 4:41 of the third before McKenna completed his hat trick 64 seconds later with a deft pass over Tiejin. Aitcheson and Martone completed the scoring.
Canada made two roster changes, with defenseman Keaton Verhoeff seeing his first action for fellow 17-year-old NHL draft prospect Carson Carels and Carter Bear taking Liam Greentree's place as the 13th forward.
The superior Danes had a tough night, but 13 of their 24 players are eligible to return to next year's tournament in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta., if they qualify for the main field again.
Verhoev, who is expected to be drafted in June, played as a goalkeeper until he switched to defense at age 12.
“I didn’t really know that,” McKenna said when asked about the University of North Dakota freshman following him before the game. “This is news to me. Pretty crazy.”
Canadian baseball legend and former Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who still lives in the area, took a morning skate in his home country before speaking to the team.
“It means so much more when you play for each other,” Morneau, the third player on the 1998 Memorial Cup champion Portland Winter Hawks, said of his message. “I think these guys are very good at it.”
USA beat Slovakia
Boston College forward James Hagens scored 1:03 apart late in the second period and early in the third, and the United States overcame a two-goal deficit to beat Slovakia 6-5 on Monday night at the world junior hockey championship.
Hauppauge, N.Y., Hagens tied the score at 4 with 45 seconds left in the second and then put the Americans ahead 18 seconds into the third.
Leading up to the New Year's showdown, the United States faced Sweden 3-0 in Group A. Sweden started the game with four power-play goals in an 8-1 win over Germany.
“We have to be careful with some things, like shifts that are too long or getting stuck on the blue lines,” Swedish captain Jack Berglund said. “Things like this can punish us against the US. If we have bad changes, bad turnover, they will come quickly. We must be prepared for this.”
Caleb Hale supported the USA in goal. He is from Victoria, Minnesota and plays for Madison in the USHL. Fellow Minnesotans Brendan McMorrow and Will Zellers scored the goals. McMorrow is from Lakeville and plays for Denver. Zellers, of Maple Grove, plays for North Dakota.
Michigan State's Lee Riker and OHL Windsor's AJ Spellacy added goals. Tomas Crenko scored twice for Slovakia.
In the first match, Swedish captain Jack Berglund, Anton Frondell and Viggo Bjork each scored two goals.
“We had good energy from the start,” Berglund said. “We came at them hard.”
The Czech Republic beat Finland in overtime
Elsewhere in Group B at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Adam Jiricek scored at 3:39 of overtime to give the Czech Republic a 2-1 win over Finland.
The Czech Republic won after Emil Hemming tied the game for Finland with 19.3 seconds left in regulation.
Viti Vaisanen of Finland received a major fine and a game misconduct for cross-checking at 1:06 of the first period.
Matej Kubiesa scored 46 seconds later on the power play, firing past Petteri Rimpinen. The Finns spent seven of the first 10 minutes shorthanded.
