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By its (very high) standards, Canada was mired in a terrible slump at the World Junior Hockey Championship.
Okay, it's only been two years, but the country that cares about this event more than anyone else (together?) has been knocked out of the quarterfinals twice in a row. Since the World Juniors switched to the current format of a group stage followed by playoffs in 1996, this is the first time Canada has failed to reach the semi-finals in recent years.
Last year's release was especially disappointing. Despite home-ice advantage in Ottawa, Canada scored just 10 goals in four group stage games and was the most punished team in the tournament. In the quarterfinals, a questionable knee late in the third period led to the game-tying power play goal in a 4-3 loss to the Czech Republic, which knocked out the Canadians. second year in a row.
Now the pressure has really increased. The last time Canada made three straight World Junior Championships without at least a bronze medal was back in 1981, when the late Dale Hawerchuk led the team in scoring as a 17-year-old.
No doubt sensing the urgency, Hockey Canada brought in the big gun behind the bench in Dale Hunter. Considered the best coach in junior hockey, the former NHL forward has won three Memorial Cup titles and three Ontario Hockey League Coach of the Year awards with the London Knights since purchasing the team and taking over as coach in 2001. He also led Canada to the 2020 World Junior title with pretty mediocre lineup.
Here's something else you need to know for the World Juniors, which open on Boxing Day in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.
Canada is the favorite to win gold, but it probably won't happen.
A quick look at the betting odds usually gives us a pretty good idea of who should win. Current prices on one popular site show Canada (+125) as a slight favorite over the immediate champion USA (+185). Sweden (+460) is quite far behind the Americans, then a big lead over Finland (+1300) and another pullback to the Czechs (+3000).
So, essentially, Canada is a leader in what the gambling markets suggest, which is two, maybe three, horse racing. But it should be noted that Canada has only a 44 percent chance of winning the tournament. Host United States has 35 percent as it is the first three-win tournament in history and the first by any nation since Canada won five in a row from 2005-2009.
Gavin McKenna has something to prove.
The highly skilled forward from Whitehorse was just a week shy of his 17th birthday when he made Team Canada last year, making him an exceptionally young player in a tournament where most guys are 19 years old. Although he was not eligible to enter the NHL Entry Draft until 2026, it was decided at that time that McKenna would go No. 1 overall in 2025 if he were cleared to participate.
Few guys had ever played for Canada at the world juniors before the draft began, and the hope was that McKenna would follow in the footsteps of Connor Bedard, who helped Canada win back-to-back titles and titles. absolutely illuminated 2023 tournament in Halifax as a 17-year-old. But it didn't work. After scoring Canada's first goal of the tournament, McKenna didn't score a point the rest of the way.
McKenna had a strong season with the WHL's Medicine Hat, scoring 41 goals and 129 points in 56 regular-season games before leading the Tigers to the Memorial Cup final. His six points in four games at the Canadian Junior Championships included a goal in Medicine Hat's 4-1 loss to Hunter's London Knights in the title game.
The projected No. 1 overall pick in next year's NHL draft hails from Canada's far north – Whitehorse, Yukon. He will also play in the NCAA at Penn State during his draft year, a decision that could change the path top prospects take to the NHL. But who is Gavin McKenna?
After this, McKenna became one of the first players use rule change in the United States, allowing NCAA hockey teams to sign players who have already proven themselves in Canada's major junior league. McKenna committed to Penn State, where his transition to playing against older, bigger and stronger players in a more structured environment wasn't the smoothest. Through 16 games, the six-foot, 170-pound rookie has scored a relatively modest four goals and 18 points, and it seems less certain (though still fairly likely) that he will be the No. 1 pick in the draft.
During training camp in Canada, McKenna said he was enjoying the opportunity prove his doubters wrong. The team's first exhibition game against Sweden last night in Kitchener, Ontario was off to a good start: McKenna set a couple of goals his teammate Brady Martin's excellent passing gave Canada a 2–1 victory.
Here's more about McKenna's upbringing in the Yukon from CBC Sports' Carissa Donkin.
Canada looks solid in goal.
In addition to McKenna, the six players remaining from last year include goaltenders Carter George and Jack Ivankovic, meaning Canada won for the first time brought back two net goalkeepers together.
George was a very good starter last year, recording two shutouts and allowing zero goals at even strength in three group stage matches before the Czechs beat him twice on the power play and twice at even strength in the quarter-finals. He finished with a tournament-best save percentage of .936.
Ivankovic, a substitute last year, saved 24 of 26 shots and was perfect at even strength in his only appearance, a too-close-for-comfort 3-2 win over Latvia in the group stage.
Hunter hasn't named his number one goalie, but George appears to have inside information after starting in the opener last night and making 19 saves.
There is interesting new blood.
Former head coach Dave Cameron raised a lot of eyebrows last year by eliminating talented forward Michael Misa, who eventually led the OHL in scoring with 134 points (including 62 goals) in 65 games, and slick defenseman Zane Parekh, who led all CHL defensemen with 33 goals and 107 points as Misa's teammate in Saginaw. This backfired as Canada averaged just 2.6 goals per game and the professorial-looking coach was criticized for being overthinking his squad construction.
To be fair to Cameron, he lost superstar defenseman Matthew Schaefer to a broken collarbone in Team Canada's second game. Schaefer ended up being the top pick in the NHL draft, and the impressive New York Islanders rookie is currently making a strong case that he belongs on Canada's Olympic team. So it's safe to say that he could change the situation at the Junior World Championships.
But maybe Misa and Parekh would have been the same too. Misa was drafted second overall by San Jose and Parekh was drafted ninth overall by Calgary in 2024, so it's clear they have talent.
Although both are currently playing in the NHL, they are set to make their world junior debuts after receiving clearance from their professional teams. Parekh was in the camp from the very beginningand Misa joined on Wednesday after the Sharks were satisfied with his recovery from a lower-body injury that has kept him out since November 1.
Other intriguing newcomers include 17-year-old defensemen Keaton Verhoeff and Carson Carels, who are expected to be among the youngest blueliners Canada has ever sent to a World Junior Championship. Both he is expected to be in the first group selected at the upcoming NHL Draft. And Carels, the tough farm boy from Cypress River, dude. (“a small town of about 50 people in the middle of nowhere”, as he describes it) is rising up the player rankings thanks to his well-rounded play.
Canada Schedule:
The bid for revenge against the Czechs comes just as Canada opens group play against last year's bronze medalists on Boxing Day at 8:30 p.m. ET. Next up is Latvia on Saturday, December 27 at 4:30 pm ET, followed by Denmark on December 29 at 8:30 pm ET and, to round out the group stage, 2025 silver medalist Finland on New Year's Eve at 8:30 pm ET. The other group includes the USA, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia and Germany.
The top four in each group advance to the quarterfinals on January 2. In this round, the first-place team in each group plays the fourth-place team in the other, with the number 2 teams advancing to play the number 3 team. The winners will then be re-seeded for the semi-finals on 4 January. The medal games will take place on Monday, January 5th.
