2022 World Junior Championship – Page 2

Saturday, August 20 | 6 p.m. MT | Edmonton, Alberta | Gold Medal Game

One more. It all comes down to Saturday night for Canada’s National Junior Team, which faces off against Finland in the gold medal game at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship, one win from a 19th World Juniors gold.

LAST GAME

Canada booked its place in the final for the third year in a row with a 5-2 semifinal win over Czechia on Friday afternoon. Kent Johnson drove the offence with a goal and two assists, opening the scoring before setting up a pair of key power-play goals in the second period. Connor Bedard, Logan Stankoven, Mason McTavish (with his tournament-leading eighth goal) and Joshua Roy also found the back of the net, while Dylan Garand made 31 saves.

The Finns faced their Nordic neighbours from Sweden in their semifinal, in what turned out to be a titanic defensive struggle. The goaltenders starred – Juha Jatkola stopped all 23 shots he faced and Jesper Wallstedt turned aside 27 of 28 – and a power-play goal from Kasper Puutio late in the second period was the lone marker as the Finns earned a 1-0 win to return to the gold medal game for the first time since they won gold in 2019.

LAST MEETING

The Canadians and Finns closed out the preliminary round on Monday night with first place in Group A on the line. Brennan Othmann, Tyson Foerster and Bedard gave Canada a 3-0 first-period lead and it was 5-1 after 40 minutes thanks to Ridly Greig and McTavish. Penalty trouble for the Canadians made things interesting in the third, but an empty-net goal from William Dufour sealed a 6-3 win and a perfect prelims.

WHAT TO WATCH

Top to bottom, the Canadians are pretty darn good. Their 38 goals lead the tournament, they are clicking at a 57.1% success rate on the power play (second only to Finland), McTavish leads the tournament with 15 points (just the 12th Canadian to reach that mark in a single year), Olen Zellweger is a tournament-best +12 (tied with McTavish) and is the first Canadian defenceman to reach double digits in points since Thomas Chabot in 2017, and Garand has fashioned a .923 save percentage (best among goaltenders who have appeared more than twice). Gold No. 19 is a solid 60 minutes away.

Looking at the Finns, the conversation begins and ends with the power play. Finland has scored 14 times with the man advantage in the tournament, exactly half of its 28 total goals and almost double the next most efficient unit (Canada has eight PPGs). It provided the only goal in the semifinal win over the Swedes, the third time in its five victories that the game-winning goal came while a man up. Six different Finns have scored on the power play, led by four from Roby Järventie and three each from Roni Hirvonen and Joel Määttä.

A LOOK BACK

The Canadians have faced the Finns 40 times since the first IIHF World Junior Championship in 1977, fashioning a 25-9-6 (W-L-T) record. The teams are also frequent foes in the playoff round; in the last decade, they’ve matched up in the quarterfinals (2016, 2019), semifinals (2014, 2020) and bronze medal game (2012). Jonathan Huberdeau owns the best single-game performance by a Canadian against the Finns, posting a goal and four assists in a tournament-opening 8-1 win in 2012.

All-time record: Canada leads 25-9-6 (Finland leads 1-0 in OT/SO)
Canada goals: 160
Finland goals: 103

Friday, August 19 | 2 p.m. MT | Edmonton, Alberta | Semifinal

GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. CZECHIA (AUG. 19)

With a spot in the gold medal game on the line, Canada’s National Junior Team looks to remain undefeated in Edmonton when it meets Czechia on Friday in the semifinals of the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship.

LAST GAME

Canada advanced to the semifinals after doubling up Switzerland 6-3 on Wednesday night. Tyson Foerster needed only 67 seconds to open the scoring, starting a wild first period that saw Jack Thompson, Logan Stankoven and Nathan Gaucher score in a span of 4:30 to help Canada to a 4-2 lead after 20 minutes. Will Cuylle scored in the second period and Stankoven finished the scoring into an empty net. Dylan Garand made 23 saves in between the pipes for Canada.

Czechia pulled off the upset of the tournament in its quarterfinal, downing the previously unbeaten United States 4-2. Jan Mysak scored in the first period before Petr Hauser and Matyas Sapovaliv counted in the second to give the Czechs a 3-1 lead after two. The Americans made things interesting in the third, scoring as part of a five-minute power play, but Jiri Kulich potted an empty-netter to put Czechia in the semis for just the second time since its last medal in 2005.

LAST MEETING

The two teams last faced off Saturday night in prelim play, with Canada earning a 5-1 win. The Canadians fell behind early thanks to a shorthanded goal by Martin Rysavy on a five-minute power play, but Mason McTavish tied the game with under four minutes to go in the first period, and Kent Johnson netted a highlight-reel lacrosse-style goal to send Canada to the dressing room with the lead. Ridly Greig scored a power-play marker, McTavish added his tournament-leading sixth goal in the middle frame and Tyson Foerster capped the scoring in the third. Canada pounded Czech goaltender Tomas Suchanek with 57 shots.

WHAT TO WATCH

He may have had a quieter start to the tournament, but Logan Stankoven is finding his groove in Edmonton. After his three-point night in the quarterfinals, the reigning CHL player of the year is tied with Olen Zellweger and Connor Bedard for second in Canadian scoring with seven points, trailing only Mason McTavish and his tournament-leading 14. The line of Stankoven, Foerster and Johnson has been Canada’s most consistent in the tournament, combining for six points in the win over the Swiss.

On the Czech side of the puck, how about Jiri Kulich? The 18-year-old has already had success on an international stage this year, netting nine goals in six games during the IIHF U18 World Championship. The Buffalo Sabres’ first-rounder in the 2022 NHL Draft (28th overall) has a high hockey IQ and is great at finding open space. And let’s not forget Tomas Suchanek. The goaltender made 28 saves against the Americans and has fashioned a .921 save percentage across his three starts, good for third among all puck-stoppers.

A LOOK BACK

As Czechoslovakia (1977-92), the Czech/Slovak Republics (1993) and the Czech Republic/Czechia (1994-present), the Canadians have faced the Czechs 37 times since the first IIHF World Junior Championship in 1977, fashioning a 22-7-8 (W-L-T) record.

Against the current iteration, Canada has lost just a single game in 21 tries since 1994, and none in regulation time. Prior to the now-unofficial meeting in December (which isn’t included in the 21 meetings), the Canadians posted a 3-0 quarterfinal win in the Edmonton bubble in 2021, anchored by a 29-save shutout from Devon Levi, and were 7-2 winners on New Year’s Eve 2019 on the back of four-point efforts from Barrett Hayton and Dylan Cozens.

All-time record: Canada leads 19-1-2 (Czechia leads 1-0 in OT/SO)
Canada goals: 102
Czechia goals: 34