Canada kicks off World Juniors elimination round with quarter-final rematch against Czechia | TSN

It’s been an up-and-down World Junior Championship for Canada.

They started strong with a 4-0 victory over Finland, but followed that up by being on the business end of one of the biggest upsets in tournament history against Latvia 3-2 in a shootout. Then after a bounce back 3-0 win over Germany, the United States put on a masterclass against Canada to win 4-1 at Canadian Tire Centre and take Group A, sending the hosts to a third-place pool play finish.

From here on out, it’s do or die.

Canada will begin the quarter-final round Thursday evening against Czechia, who placed second in Group B behind Sweden.

Watch Canada vs. Czechia LIVE Thursday at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on TSN1, TSN4, TSN.ca and the TSN App with pre-game coverage beginning 30 minutes prior.

Danny Nelson scored the eventual winner for the U.S. during their anticipated New Year’s Eve meeting with Canada Tuesday night. Cole Hutson and Cole Eiserman also found the back of the net, and Ryan Leonard iced things late in the third period with an empty-netter. Bradley Nadeau scored Canada’s lone goal in the loss.

Front and centre among Canada’s problems were penalties.

Canada allowed seven U.S. power plays with 22 total penalty minutes and the Americans took advantage, scoring their first three goals on the man-advantage before adding the empty-netter.

Head coach Dave Cameron was asked how he’d handle his team’s lack of discipline.

“Can’t. I can’t address it. They know it. They know the penalties are penalties. You talk all you want… They have to decide as simple as that,” Cameron told TSN’s Mark Masters.

“It’s an individual thing. It’s a character thing. They have to decide and I’m pretty sure they will… I think lesson learned.”

The players agreed, with alternate captain Tanner Molendyk saying the leadership group will dive deeper into the discipline problem.

“When that kind of stuff happens you gotta hold guys accountable. It was sloppy out there. Myself too, I took a dumb one too. Yeah, guys have to be held accountable.”

“As a group we have to have a little chat and just make sure everybody’s on the same page,” captain Brayden Yager said.

The penalty issues continued a trend for Canada throughout the tournament. In fact, the hosts went the entire round robin without allowing a 5-on-5 goal.

“When we’ve been playing 5-on-5 we’ve been the best team in the tournament. At this point, it’s just about staying 5-on-5 and not letting discipline and dumb penalties get in the way of that,” defenceman Sam Dickinson said.

On the flip side, the Americans were thrilled with how things went.

“Beating them in their home country, I don’t think it gets much better than that,” Hutson said.

The U.S. draws Switzerland – who won just once in group play – in the quarters. Czechia, Canada’s next opponent, was second in Group B by winning three of their four games and finishing with a plus-16 goal differential.

While the Canadians would likely have preferred an easier opponent, Thursday will be a chance for Canada to avenge last year’s quarter-final loss to the Czechs. On Jan. 2 of last year in Gothenburg, Sweden, Canada fought back from an early 2-0 deficit but a bad bounce led to a Jakub Stancl goal with 11.7 seconds left in regulation to give Czechia a 3-2 win and send Canada home.

Exactly one year later, the two sides will meet again. What better way for Canada to get its tournament in gear than returning the favour of last year’s elimination?

Watch every elimination round game from the 2025 World Junior Championship LIVE on TSN, TSN.ca and the TSN App.