Team Canada has been held down by Team Cezchia for the last two years. Coming into this tournament, where not only doubters but also expectations are high, they had to play against Czechia in their first game of the tournament.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Canada’s 7–5 Win Over Czechia at the 2026 World Juniors
After two years, Canada finally overcame and beat Czechia, 7-5, and got that monkey off their back. It’s a huge confidence boost to start the World Junior Championship, and they’ll have to carry it forward, despite the glaring defensive and physicality issues, which they can fix.
Canada Slayed the Dragon
Canada, after the pre-tournament games against Sweden, was under a lot of scrutiny. Offensively, defensively, goaltending, the power play — they looked sloppy all the way around. The big difference makers, Gavin McKenna and Zayne Parekh, didn’t perform well, and the lines needed to be shuffled.
Canada, for the game against the Czechs, had a top line of Tij Iginla on the left wing, Michael Misa at centre, and Porter Martone on the right wing. That worked out really well for them, as Iginla was the best player on the ice before he scored his first goal in the third period to put the Canadians back on top.
Iginla is elite, and he’s going to be a driving force on the team throughout the rest of the tournament. The second line consisted of McKenna on the left wing, Michael Hage at centre, and Brady Martin. There’s something about that McKenna and Martin connection. It popped off in the pre-tournament contests; when Canada switched it up, everything fell apart for both of them. The two were put back together, and now, they’re both firing again. Hage looked incredible as well, as he brought the heat from his season with the Michigan Wolverines (NCAA) into the tournament, as he potted a goal and three points.
Parekh was the true star on the offense. He had two huge goals in that game, and one beautiful snipe where he circled, went up the left side, and put the puck right over the goalie’s right shoulder and under the crossbar with a defender in front of him on the power play to give Canada a 4-3 lead. There were questions about his game, but after that performance, his offensive talent is the real deal.
Even Ethan MacKenzie, a bottom-pair defenceman, had three points and a big goal late. Everything was clicking in their own zone.
Canada Needs to Be Stronger Defensively and Physically
While it was a phenomenal offensive display, scoring seven goals, allowing five is unacceptable. The main pairing to point at is Cam Reid and Parekh. Parekh, as good as he is offensively, is tough to watch in the defensive zone. He cannot play defence, and he should be dominating in all aspects this tournament because he’s played pro hockey in the NHL with the Calgary Flames.
Reid, because of that, then gets the short end of the stick because he is just as offensive as Parekh is. However, Reid was one of the main reasons for three of Czechia’s goals — he had a worse game than Parekh. Canada has to split the two of them up and get them alongside a more defensive-minded d-man, because this is going to bite them later in the tournament. Or, you sit Reid. By the looks of it, Canada will have to outscore their defensive mishaps to win every game.
The physicality is a real issue, too. Canada was being knocked over and bullied for the whole game, much like in the previous years. The only time they showed any of it was when Martone got an unsportsmanlike penalty for knocking into one of the Czech players on his way back to the bench after scoring an empty net goal when the game was over, which was stupid. Canada will have to get more ragtag and mean if they want to come close to gold.
Either way, this is a big win and a brick lifted off of Canada’s shoulders, and after everything Czechia has put them through, they can bury the hatchet, for now.
