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Canada will compete for bronze at the IIHF World Junior Championships.
Tomas Poletin scored with 1:14 left in the third period and the Czechs ended Canada's gold medal dreams for the third year in a row with a 6-4 victory in the semifinals of the under-20 men's tournament on Sunday.
Vojtech Csihar scored two goals, including one into an empty net, for the Czechs, who also eliminated Canada at the quarter-final stage in 2024 and 2025 – the first time in recent years that the country failed to reach the final four of the tournament.
Adam Benac and Maximilian Curran contributed a goal and two assists each, while Adam Tittlebach provided the rest of the offense. Michal Orsulak made 20 saves.
Teej Iginla, Zane Parekh, Porter Marton and Cole Reshni responded for Canada. Jack Ivankovic stopped 31 shots. Michael Hage had two assists.
The Czech Republic will play Sweden for gold on Monday after Canada faces Finland for bronze. Canada and the United States will not take part in the World Junior Championships final for the first time since 2016, when Finland beat Russia.
Curran scored the game-winner when the puck nearly sailed over Canada's goal line with 76 seconds left in regulation before Cichar tipped it into the empty net.
Csihar gave the Czechs a 4-3 lead at 9:49 of the third after he beat Canadian forward Caleb Desnoyers on a rush and beat Ivankovic on a tight end.
Canada fought evenly
Canada had little success at even strength throughout the game, and it continued as the clock ticked down before star forward Gavin McKenna – a top prospect in the 2026 NHL Draft – got the whistle for cross-check, but the Czechs were assessed as secondary due to too many players on the ice.
Canada's Michael Misa was then whistled for a delay of game for being judged for putting his hand on the puck to give the Czechs a 4-on-3 advantage, but Ivankovic held on before Martone scored with 2:41 left and the teams returned in full force for wild celebrations on the Canadian bench.
But Poletin scored the winner and Resny was whistled for goaltender interference with 53.7 seconds left to seal another Czech upset.
Canada was slow out of the gate but opened the scoring on the power play at 15:14 when Iginla – the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla – fired home from Orsulak's doorstep.
The Czechs responded at 16:56 when Curran struck after Ivankovic stopped Tomas Galvas' point shot.
Canada, which fielded 12 forwards and eight defensemen, lost top winger Brady Martin to a suspected upper-body injury late in the period when he was hit shoulder-to-shoulder by Czech defender Mathias Manu.
The Czech Republic won 2-1 at 3:44 of the second when Tittlebach fired an off-stick shot past Ivankovic.
Canada scored its second power-play goal of the night at 12:38 with a two-man lead after a pair of close shots when Parekh fired a shot that appeared to hit forward Reshni – one of the members of the Calgary Flames organization – in front before Benac pushed the Czechs ahead late in the period.
Tittlebach made it 2-2 with 42.8 seconds left in the second after Canadian defenseman Ethan McKenzie turned the puck over in the neutral zone. The Czechs raced the other way and Benac fired past Ivankovic before diving into the glass at the Grand Casino Arena to celebrate.
The Canadians had their chances
Canada had a great chance to take the lead minutes earlier when Hage was awarded a penalty. The center's early efforts ended with a trip from Orsulak, and officials gave the Montreal Canadiens prospect another chance. But Hage lost control at a critical moment in his second attempt to keep things tight.
Reshni got Canada back even at 3:59 of the third round when he pulled ahead and fired a shot past Orsulak before Csihar secured the edge for the win.
Canada, which lost to Sunday's opponents in the quarter-finals on home soil last year in Ottawa after suffering the same fate in Sweden exactly 12 months ago, beat the Czechs 7-5 on Boxing Day in a game that was full of fireworks. Martone, Canada's captain, crossed the red line and hit an opponent with his shoulder during warm-ups, and Parekh and fellow defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson also attempted to intimidate an opponent before puck drop on Dec. 26.
Martone then received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at the end of regulation for hitting Czech forward Adam Novotny on the back and faced a disciplinary committee for his warm-up antics, later apologizing for his actions.
Canada, which beat the Czechs in overtime at the 2023 tournament in Halifax, also failed to shake hands at the final buzzer, forcing the sport's national governing body to issue its own culpability.
