In one of the most shocking upsets in tournament history, Canada lost 3-2 in a shootout to Latvia in the 2025 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Junior Championship (WJC). Canada now holds a 1-0-1-0 record.
Against a Latvia squad more so trying to avoid relegation, Canada’s defeat is a pretty jarring one. This was following a tight game against Finland until the final five minutes. Considering this, the Canadians have yet to be more than just decent. Below are four takeaways from one of the most unexpected results in WJC history.
Canada’s Power Play Is a Clear Weakness
Canada’s lack of high-danger opportunities on their power play was a theme in their opening contest versus Finland, a 4-0 win, and it continued against Latvia. They went 1-for-5, but it wasn’t a great night despite the goal. The Latvian power play was more potent, striking twice to first tie the game at 1-1 and then 2-2, both in the second half of the third period.
Related: Guide to the 2025 World Junior Championship
Perhaps the best course of action at this point is to change up the units. With this high-skill roster, there are just too many names to not switch things up even a little bit.
The biggest issue for Canada is that they’re not getting to the high-danger areas of the ice. It’s not that they’ve had much trouble keeping the puck in the zone, but they haven’t done much to challenge opposing netminders. Though it wasn’t exactly the expectation against Finland, it makes sense that a roster with medal aspirations would be able to limit Canada like this. But for Latvia to do the same, a team that was projected to lose by five or six goals (and won, of course), that’s when you start entering concerning territory.
It would be easy to say Canada figures it out and starts firing on all cylinders for the rest of the tournament, but we just don’t know this for certain. The best way to change the pace would probably be to alter the units and work from there.
Canada Again Limited to Perimeter Shots
This is kind of the same as the power-play section, but a change from the Finland game was that Canada didn’t muster much even at 5-on-5. You really have to tip your cap to Latvia, because they didn’t allow Canada to generate anything other than perimeter shots. Rarely did they come by net-front looks—goaltender Linards Feldbergs was incredible, but it’s not as though he had the best performance in the history of the WJC (even if 54 saves are very impressive). He had the effort of a lifetime, but the defence in front of him was remarkable.
Yet another game where their opponent was in it for well over half of the game, Canada hasn’t done a very good job of generating offence. Their puck possession game has been tremendous, but doing something with it has been a different story. They’re just too talented for that to be the case.
Even when a less skilled team like Latvia is on the slate, they’ll be able to take out the trash. Low-danger shots are universally stoppable. This was a major reason for Canada’s defeat.
Canada’s Depth Has Earned More Opportunities
Getting to a positive, Canada’s depth helped them out in this one. Colorado Avalanche prospect Calum Ritchie‘s power-play marker briefly gave his team a lead late in the third period, but the rest of the contest saw the lower-usage players be objectively more effective.
Philadelphia Flyers 2024 draftee Jett Luchanko tucked a shorthanded goal to open up the scoring. He made a nice heads-up play to steal a puck in the neutral zone while the Latvians were trying to establish possession, then he darted toward the net and buried a slick tally. He was limited to single-digit ice time.
Luchanko was the only “depth” player who got on the board, but it’s not like the top-line guys were scoring. The team went 0-for-8 in the shootout, too—that’s the whole idea here. In games like this where the best players on the roster are being shut down, spreading the wealth might be a good idea. Guys like Luca Pinelli, Ethan Gauthier, Luchanko, and even health scratch Carson Rehkopf may not get an increased workload, but they’ve probably earned it after this disastrous result.
Canada Must Get Its Discipline in Order
With 14 minor penalties through their first two contests, Canada has been quite the undisciplined crew. It put them in the history books against Latvia, with both of their goals in regulation being on the power play. They had eight attempts.
It’s not like Canada was taking penalties they had to, either. Latvia (and Finland, for that matter) didn’t exactly put up nail-biter sequences in the offensive zone. Really, this is just a case of poor discipline. The top teams will probably make them pay more than Latvia did, as Canada’s 5-on-5 dominance possession-wise likely won’t hold up against the United States or Sweden. Instead of eight being the tragic number, just two or three could do that.
After their embarrassing defeat, Canada will be looking for a blowout victory. They will get a day off before they face off against Germany on Dec. 29 at 7:30 p.m. EST. It will be hosted at Canadian Tire Centre.
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