Canada did not have a great team this year at the World Junior Hockey Championship presented in Sweden, but it would have deserved to at least fight for a medal in the semi-finals.
The Canadians return home with a fifth place, cruelly defeated 3-2 by the Czech Republic on Tuesday in the quarter-finals. Canada is therefore excluded from the final four for only the fourth time in its history, after having won gold in 2022 and 2023.
It’s hard to imagine a worse turn of fate: with 11 seconds left in the game, Jakub Stancl, 18, a fourth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues, took a harmless shot. The puck deflects off two opposing sticks, hits the inside of the post before lodging in the back of the net.
The last one to touch the puck? Canadian defenseman Oliver Bonk, son of former Czech hockey player Radek Bonk. You can not make that up…
But let’s not blame it all on bad luck. The Canadian team got itself into trouble by allowing two goals to the Czechs in the first period, with an ineffective forecheck and its inability to stifle opposing counterattacks in the neutral zone.
Canada outrageously dominated in the last two periods and caused the tie, the Czechia was content to survive, until this unusual goal. We should have started playing from the first minute.
The Canadian team was not facing a power. Despite the presence of the top scorer in the American League, Jiri Kulich, the Czech Republic had nothing of its formation from last year, finalist against Canada, with the loss of its trio of experienced defenders of David Jiricek, David Spacek and Stanislav Svozil.
Czechia was crushed 6-2 by Slovakia in its first match, beat Switzerland with difficulty 4-2, but nevertheless pushed the Americans into overtime.
Canada was obviously deprived of its best elements. Connor Bedard alone would have completely changed the game. Add to that the absence of Adam Fantilli, Zach Benson, Shane Wright and defender Kevin Korchinski, retained in the professional ranks, not to mention the loss of his best defender, Tristan Luneau, at the start of the tournament, and you have find yourself with an ordinary club.
The Canadian team is nevertheless deprived of important elements each year and still manages to distinguish itself. This time, the offensive leaders, Matthew Poitras, Matthew Savoie, Conor Geekie and Jordan Dumais did not produce. The top scorer, Macklin Celebrini, eight points in five games, is 17 years old. The second, Brayden Yager, five points, played on a third line with Celebrini…
Canada scored 16 goals against Latvia and Germany, but only seven against Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic, including one in an empty net.
We still allowed ourselves to leave some talent behind. Andrew Cristall, 18, a 2023 second-round pick of the Washington Capitals, has 59 points in just 29 games in the Western Junior League. Quentin Musty, a late first-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks that same year, had 41 points in 23 games in the Ontario Junior League.
Forward Matthew Wood, first round pick, 15e in total by Nashville in 2023, was content with one or two presences per match during the preliminary round matches. He scored in his second appearance against the Czech Republic before being used extensively thereafter. Bad evaluation?
The leaders of the Canadian team opted for a stronger defense, but less offensively gifted. Jake Furlong’s second-period goal was the second by a Canadian defenseman of the tournament. The first was counted in an empty net.
There should be no shortage of reviews over the coming days.
Good tournament for Filip Mesar
PHOTO BJORN LARSSON ROSVALL, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Filip Mesar
Slovakia was eliminated in overtime by Finland in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, but Canadian prospect Filip Mesar still had two more points, including the tying goal in the final minute of the third period. This late first-round pick in 2022 finishes the tournament with nine points in just five games. That obviously doesn’t guarantee a great NHL career, but it’s an encouraging performance nonetheless. Mesar obviously had an advantage due to the size of the rink. It will be to his advantage, as recently suggested on the airwaves of RDS by the personnel director and co-director of recruitment of the CH, Martin Lapointe, to go to the most sensitive places on the ice instead of remaining on the outskirts.