Takeaways: Canada's World Junior run ends in heartbreaking fashion after late goal

A rematch of last year’s gold medal game with the same teams and the same score, but this time around, the winner and loser were different. In heartbreaking fashion, Canada’s run at the 2024 World Junior Championship has come to an end.

Knocking their opponents out of the tournament with a 3-2 win in the quarterfinals on Tuesday thanks to a last-minute goal, Czechia now advances to the semifinals to play for a medal for the third consecutive year.

This marks the first time since 2019 that Canada won't be in the final or even have the chance to medal.

Though the Canadians were considered to have a subtle edge coming into this one, these teams once again demonstrated their ability to play evenly-matched hockey against one another — which, this year, was not overly surprising given their No. 2 and No. 3 finishes in their respective groups during the preliminary round. 

However, in terms of motivation, the Czechs likely held a slight advantage entering the game, driven by a determination to prove themselves after last year’s 3-2 defeat that resulted in silver medals. As Canada head coach Alan Letang put it on Monday, “We remember the good side, they remember the disappointment.”

That lingering disappointment clearly fuelled Czechia’s performance on Tuesday, with Jakub Stancl and Tomas Cibulka scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes to take a 2-0 lead over Canada. The opening period also saw Czechia awarded a penalty shot after Dominik Rymon was slashed by Noah Warren, but Canadian goaltender Mathis Rousseau successfully foiled the attempt with a poke-check. 

But it would have been premature to count out Canada at that point — the deficit still manageable, their talent and tenacity still present and pressing on Czechia. And for any viewers concerned that Canada’s chances of securing a win would take a further downturn in the second period, their fears were quelled when the team took charge and levelled the score at 2-2 with goals from Matthew Wood and Jake Furlong. 

With both teams pushing and their netminders standing tall, the third period saw little action on the offence front. Receiving the game’s first power play, Canada was presented with an opportunity to take their first lead, but they were ultimately unable to break through.

And then, just as the clock dwindled down to mere seconds and the game appeared seemingly destined for overtime, it was Czechia’s Stancl who emerged as the hero, putting his team up by one with 11 seconds to go.

Let’s talk about that goal a little more.

Stancl unleashed a quick wrist-shot toward the Canadian net, benefitting from a couple of fortunate bounces as it ricocheted off the stick of defenceman Oliver Bonk and then found its way in past Rousseau off the short-side post. Stancl himself called it a "lucky bounce" after the game. And the thing about lucky goals is that there’s really no fair way to place blame on anyone for letting it happen — not that we should be anyways since, again, this is a development tournament for teenagers. 

Both Rousseau and Czech netminder Michael Hrabal suited up for and played every minute in their respective team’s preliminary round games and the quarterfinal. 

On Tuesday, Rousseau faced 22 shots, while Hrabal faced 30, the latter slightly outplaying his opponent. Hrabal, along with Canadian defenceman Denton Mateychuk, earned Player of the Game honours. Standing at six-foot-six and weighing 209 pounds, Hrabal's size appeared to be a significant obstacle for Canada.

Across five games, Hrabal has a .898 save percentage and 2.75 goals-against average after allowing 14 goals on 137 shots. The 18-year-old was drafted 38th overall by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2023 NHL Draft. Meanwhile, over the same span of games, the undrafted Rousseau recorded a .912 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average.

Captain Fraser Minten: “It feels like the world’s ending a bit. Such an unbelievable opportunity for all of us in our careers. You never really know if you’re going to get another look representing your country or playing on such a global stage.”

Forward Owen Beck: "Our heads are kind of just spinning right now. Not really sure what happened. It’s a horrible way to end things off here.”

Forward Matthew Poitras: “Felt like I gripped my stick a bit too tight. I couldn’t find the back of the net. It sucks. I feel like I kind of let some of these guys down, let the country down.”

After kicking off this year’s World Juniors with a convincing 5-2 win over Finland and 10-0 beating of Latvia, Canada faced more challenges than expected in their next two preliminary round games. They were blanked 2-0 by Sweden and then struggled to put away Germany, though they ultimately won that game 6-3.

For all intents and purposes, the national team still resembled a powerhouse, finishing second in Group A with nine points behind Sweden’s 10. Did the unexpected challenges in those matches instil a sense of uncertainty around the team? Maybe. Regardless, we all know that anything can happen in the knockout round, where teams only have one shot at moving forward.

So, rather than interpreting Tuesday’s result as a cause for concern about Canada’s future dominance in this tournament, it's more realistic to see it as an indicator of Czechia’s own growth. It's also worth remembering that the Canadian team had to go without several eligible NHL players and lost two defencemen to injury before the tournament even began.

The day’s first game saw Finland beat Slovakia 4-3 in overtime. Later, the United States eased by Latvia 7-2 to reach the semifinals and host Sweden eliminated Switzerland 3-2 in overtime.