MINNEAPOLIS — A new IIHF World Junior Champion will be crowned this year for the first time since 2023.
As many predicted ahead of the tournament, it could very well be Canada.
The Canadians are looking for their first gold medal in three years and have won three of the past six WJCs. The U.S. claimed the other three, most recently in 2025 and 2024.
With Finland knocking the Americans out of the tournament with a 4-3 overtime win in the quarterfinals on Friday, the path to gold is even clearer for Team Canada.
The first 13 minutes of the first period in the quarterfinal matchup between Canada and Slovakia on Friday night at 3M Arena at Mariucci were rather quiet.
With seven minutes remaining in the first, shots were just 5-4 in favor of Canada.
But that all changed rather quickly.
In the final six minutes and two seconds of the first period, the Canadians did what they do best and found the back of the net five times. If you looked away for just a few seconds after one goal, you risked missing the next.
The first period was certainly the most eventful, but the Canadians added another pair of goals in the second for good measure en route to a 7-1 victory.
There is much talk about Canada being a tournament favorite, but the players are blocking out the noise.
“We just came into this game trying to win, not really worried about the media and stuff like that,” forward Michael Misa said.
Those first-period goals all came from different forwards and NHL draft picks — Cole Reschny (University of North Dakota, Calgary Flames), Tij Iginla (Kelowna Rockets, Utah Mammoth), Misa (San Jose Barracuda, San Jose Sharks), Sam O’Reilly (London Knights, Tampa Bay Lightning) and Brady Martin (Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Nashville Predators).
“Yeah, I mean, exactly, it was, like one after another, and it built our momentum for the next two periods,” Misa said when asked if the scoring was contagious. “So, yeah, happy with our group.”
This back-to-back goals trend continued in the second. Canadian captain and Michigan State forward Porter Martone extended the lead to 6-0 at the 9:31 mark of the second. Then, forward Cole Beaudoin (Barrie Colts) made it 7-0 just 70 seconds later.
Slovakia got on the board at last, thanks to forward Jan Chovan (Sudbury Wolves) with 3:10 remaining in the second.
Canada defenseman Keaton Verhoeff (University of North Dakota) recorded two assists in the win. At the end of the night, 14 different Canadian players finished with at least one point.
“It was fun,” Iginla said. “We had a great start and we came out flying. And I think scoring goals like that early is discouraging for the other team. We didn’t stop at one or two or three. We just kept going.”
Canada entered the quarterfinals a perfect 4-0 with pool-play wins over Czechia, Latvia, Denmark and Finland. The Canadians have scored seven or more goals in four of their five games this tournament.
Slovakia goaltenders Michal Pradel and Alan Lendak combined for 35 saves. Canada’s netminder and Nashville Predator draft pick, Jack Ivankovic (University of Michigan) made 21 total saves.
Ivankovic, who is in his freshman season at Michigan, earned his second start of the tournament in the net on Friday.
“I feel like I play my best when the stage is pretty big,” Ivankovic said, “so I’m super excited.”
Slovakia had seven shots on net to Canada’s 20 in the second. Through 40 minutes of play, shots were 36-13 in favor of the Canadians.
Slovakia was limited to just 22 total SOG while Canada finished with double that amount.
Canada will face Czechia in the WJC semifinals on Sunday, Jan. 4, at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Just two wins stand between the Canadians and that gold medal they’ve been chasing since 2024.
“It’s a privilege to wear this jersey and a privilege for us to be in Minnesota to try to get back on the podium and win a gold medal,” Martone said. “We were really excited the whole time and now we’re even more excited going into the semifinal.”
Full tournament coverage
Click on the image above to read comprehensive coverage of the 2026 World Junior Championship tournament.
Click on image to read comprehensive coverage of the 2026 World Junior Championship tournament.
