In what has already been a year of upsets, the two-time defending gold medal winners could not avoid being part of one as they were eliminated by Czechia, losing 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the World Junior Championship (WJC) on Tuesday. With the loss, the tournament comes to a heartbreaking and quick end for Canada.
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Czechia jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Canada would storm back to tie it heading into the second before losing in the waning seconds of the third. Despite dominating for more than three-quarters of the contest, it was not enough, and a deflection ultimately led to their demise.
Czechia’s Jakub Stancl scored his second goal, and the game-winner, on a deflected shot off the skate of Canada’s Oliver Bonk and into the back of the net. It was about as heartbreaking as can be for any team. Canada will now leave Sweden without competing for a medal for the first time since 2019.
There will be several questions about what went wrong for a team that many people felt would be competing for another gold medal. All Canada can do now is learn from this and prepare themselves for 2025, when the tournament will be back on home soil in Ottawa, Ontario. Here’s a look at what stood out in Canada’s quarterfinal defeat.
Canada Didn’t Take Advantage of Opportunities
Canada got off to a bad start. They gave up two goals in the first period and nearly a third on a penalty shot that was stopped by Mathis Rousseau. However, from the start of the second to 11 seconds left in the third, the Canadians dominated play and overwhelmed Czechia at times, including scoring two unanswered goals in the second by Matthew Wood and Jake Furlong. There were plenty of other chances to grab the lead and win this one.
Related: Canada Dashes Germany’s Medal Round Hopes With 6-3 Win
In the end, though, Canada could not take advantage of their opportunities. They had a couple of power plays but missed the net way too often, and there were too many easy shots for Czechia goalie Michael Hrabal to see. When they did make it more difficult, Hrabal denied them every time. What this game proved was that in the medal rounds, if you don’t take advantage of what the other team gives you, you’re not going to win.
Rousseau Possibly Overworked
The last time that Canada started just one netminder for an entire WJC was in 2007 when Carey Price played every game in their gold medal run. Head coach Alan Letang hoped for a similar run from his team and Rousseau. Unfortunately, it backfired. Rousseau appeared a bit gassed in the first period when both goals seemed stoppable. The deciding goal by Czechia’s Stancl was just an unlucky bounce off a teammate’s skate.
Letang will have to wonder if he had given his starting goaltender a game or two to rest, would the outcome have been different? Rousseau was strong overall in this contest, stopping 19 of 22 shots. He locked in after the two goals surrendered in the first. He also finishes the tournament with a 3-2-0 record, a 2.00 goals-against average, and a .912 save percentage. However, riding one goalie throughout was certainly a risk that did not pay off.
Czechia will now look to advance to their second consecutive gold medal game when they play their semi-final match on Thursday. As for Canada, they will reflect and regroup for next year when they look to bounce back next year as the host nation.