WJC Three Stars Day 7: Czechia's Jecho ends Canada's medal hopes

One team suffered relegation, another secured their spot in the top division for another year, four advanced to the semifinals, and four saw their medal hopes come to an end. Day 7 of the 2025 World Junior Championship was nothing short of action-packed.

Thursday, the third-last day of the tournament, featured the lone game of the relegation round, along with four quarterfinal matchups as the playoffs got underway.

An early relegation game between Group A and B’s last-place finishers, Germany and Kazakhstan, kicked off the packed schedule. Despite Kazakhstan putting together another respectable effort, it wasn’t enough for the recently-promoted country to stick in the top division for a second consecutive year. They fell 4-3 to Germany and will now return to Division I-A for 2026. Denmark, the winners of this year’s Division I-A tournament, will take their place at next year’s World Juniors in Minnesota. 

Kazakhstan built a 3-1 lead through the start of the second period but subsequently surrendered three unanswered goals to Germany, who will now make their seventh consecutive World Juniors appearance in 2026. Thursday’s game was actually a rematch of the best-of-three relegation series Kazakhstan and Germany played back at the 2020 World Juniors, which saw the Germans win the deciding game 6-0.

The quarterfinals then opened with a matchup between Sweden, the first-place finisher in Group B, and Latvia, who finished fourth in Group A. Sweden scored three unanswered goals over the course of the game’s first 24 minutes and held on to win 3-2 after Latvia responded with two goals of their own in the second frame. 

The Swedes extended their unbeaten streak against Latvia and advanced to compete for a medal for the fourth consecutive year. Latvia, meanwhile, heads home after a quarterfinal loss for the second straight year, following a 2025 performance highlighted by their 3-2 shootout victory over Canada to open the preliminary round. 

Next to book their spot in the semifinals was the defending champion United States, following a dominant 7-2 win over Switzerland. Like the one before it, this matchup was a meeting between a top seed (the U.S. in Group A) and a fourth seed (Switzerland in Group B). The action kicked off with a flurry of goals in the opening period — four of them belonging to the U.S. and one to Switzerland.

The Americans then added three more goals in the second period, with the Swiss netting the game’s final marker in the third. The final result marked Team USA’s 25^th all-time win over Switzerland at the World Juniors and extended the goal differential between the two countries to 154-50.

Facing off after that were Group A’s second-place team, Finland, and Group B’s third-place team, Slovakia. The game began with Finland scoring three goals in the first period within a 13-minute span. Slovakia wasn’t able to get on the board until halfway through the second period, capitalizing on a five-minute major and game misconduct penalty against Finland’s Emil Pieniniemi for kneeing. But five minutes later, the Finns restored their three-goal lead.

Slovakia added two more goals in the third period, making for an exciting finish as time wound down. However, Finland sealed the 5-3 win with one last goal in the game’s final two minutes. With their spot in the semifinals secured, Finland now has an opportunity to earn their first medal since their silver in 2022. Slovakia, on the other hand, saw their medal drought extend to 10 years, with their last having been bronze.

The day’s events came to a close in the evening as Canada, who finished third in Group A, and Czechia, who finished second in Group B, met in the final quarterfinal. Few Canadian fans would have believed it if told before the tournament that their team would once again fall short at this stage — especially as they were considered favourites behind the U.S. Yet that’s exactly what happened. The hosts suffered a stunning and heartbreaking loss at the hands of Czechia, failing to reach the semifinals for the second year in a row.

The back-and-forth affair saw Czechia open the scoring in the first period, but Canada tied things up with a shorthanded goal following Cole Beaudoin’s five-minute major and game misconduct for kneeing. The Czechs responded with two more goals before the period ended, and the Canadians answered with two of their own — one on the power play in the second and a game-tying goal in the third with less than five minutes remaining. 

The building erupted as renewed hope swept through the Canadian partisan crowd, but that excitement faded when Andrew Gibson took a two-minute kneeing penalty with just over two minutes left. It then evaporated when, with just seconds remaining both in regulation and on Czechia’s power play, they capitalized and scored the game-winner. The Czechs will now aim for their third straight medal, having secured bronze in 2024 and silver in 2023.

Only four teams remain in the tournament now, with Sweden facing Finland and the U.S. taking on Czechia in the semifinals on Saturday. The final standings for the five eliminated countries are: 5. Canada, 6. Slovakia, 7. Latvia, 8. Switzerland, 9. Germany, and 10. Kazakhstan. 

Here’s a look at three star-worthy performances from today’s games. 

3^rd star: Ryan Leonard, USA

The U.S. captain scored two goals against Switzerland, a feat impressive in itself. But what made his performance even more notable was the heart and soul he displayed throughout the full 60 minutes of play.

The 19-year-old forward from Amherst, Mass., played a physical game, absorbing some big hits, throwing a few of his own, and twice suffering injuries to his face. Leonard took a high stick to the bridge of his nose, requiring a bandage, and later took a puck to his nose after blocking a shot that deflected up his stick. The second instance appeared to break his nose, with it leaning decidedly to one side, but Leonard did not miss any time, finishing the game with 16:07 of ice time.

Looking at his offensive contributions, Leonard scored his first goal of the contest in the first period, which put the U.S. up 3-0 and would ultimately stand as the game-winner. His second tally came on the power play in the second frame, marking the Americans’ last goal of the game, putting them up 7-1. He finished with eight shots on goal.

Drafted eighth overall by the Washington Capitals this past summer, Leonard now has six points (four goals and two assists) across five games at the tournament. After the U.S. victory, he was awarded player of the game, and the announcement was met with boos from the Ottawa crowd. Leonard, however, was far from phased and has embraced the villain role. “It’s great, honestly,” he told media post-game. “At the end of the game, when I got that award, and you hear the boos, it kind of just made me smile. It’s cool to be hated.”

Currently playing at Boston College in the NCAA, Leonard is enjoying a successful sophomore season, having recorded 19 points (12 goals and seven assists) through 16 games so far.

2^nd star: Linards Feldbergs, Latvia

Although Feldbergs wasn’t selected as a 2024 NHL Draft-eligible goaltender, he has a strong chance in 2025, with his performance at the world juniors likely influencing that outcome. After playing in just one world juniors game last year, a less-than-ideal showing in which he recorded a 9.58 goals-against average and .774 save percentage, Feldbergs broke out on the international stage this time around.

The netminder played in all five of Latvia’s games this year and exits the tournament having allowed 16 goals on 226 shots, resulting in a save percentage of .929 and a goals-against average of 3.13. And although Latvia took the loss on Thursday, Feldbergs once again gave his team a solid shot at victory, saving 47 of Sweden’s 50 shots for a .940 save percentage. Many of those were highlight-worthy stops.

Recognized for both his effort on Thursday and throughout the past week, Feldbergs was awarded player of the game honours and also named one of Latvia’s three best players of the tournament — alongside Peteris Bulans and Eriks Mateiko. The fans in the crowd simultaneously expressed their admiration for his play post-game, showering him with a standing ovation and chants of “MVP.”

But the praise didn’t end there, as Feldberg’s teammates and even his opponents also offered glowing reviews of the goaltender. “We wouldn’t be here, if not for our goalie,” Mateiko told the media after Latvia’s quarterfinal loss. Sweden’s Anton Wahlberg added, “(He’s) probably the goalie of the tournament. He’s been so good. We watched him play against Canada, and he was the best goalie there. I think he’s been unreal. I don’t know if the Latvians would be this good without him. So big credit to him.” 

Meanwhile, Feldbergs called his final world juniors “one of the best weeks” of his life and said it would remain in his head and heart for the rest of his life. 

1^st star: Adam Jecho, Czechia

With Canada and Czechia tied 3-3 and overtime seemingly looming, it was Jecho who called game with 39.2 seconds to go, netting the power-play dagger to eliminate the hosts from this year’s world juniors. Instant hero status — or, more appropriately, instant “Hrdina” status.

The play began with Czechia’s Petr Sikora sending a pass to Adam Jiricek, who unleashed a slapshot from the point that Canada’s Ethan Gauthier blocked. Jiricek quickly retrieved the rebound, feeding it to Jecho, who fired his ensuing one-timer under the right arm of Canadian goaltender Carter George and into the net. The goal marked Jecho’s second point of the game, as he had earlier registered the primary assist on Jakub Stancl’s first-period goal, which gave Czechia a 2-0 lead.

“It’s hard to describe in words,” said Jecho post-game of his game-winning goal. “Super, super tough battle. Super, super tough game. We kind of started really good, and then the game slipped away a little bit for us, and Canada eventually tied the game, but big power-play goal, and we’re looking forward to the semifinals.”

When asked how special the win felt, he added, “It’s always special against Canada. It’s a super, super tough opponent to play against, and also playing with their home crowd and getting that special energy for them, it’s always a little bit harder, so definitely a big win.”

The 18-year-old Jecho is a prospect for the St. Louis Blues, having been drafted 95th overall by the organization this past June. He currently plays for the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings and has recorded 24 points (nine goals and 15 assists) across 26 games this season. 

Honourable mentions: 

• Finland’s Jesse Nurmi recorded an assist on his team’s first goal before scoring their second and fifth goals himself. 

• Germany’s Maxim Schafer made his presence felt in front of the net, with a shot by his teammate bouncing off his leg and in the net for his first goal and his second coming off a tipped shot.

• Latvia’s Eriks Mateiko scored his team’s only goals, with both coming in the third period to bring the game within one. He currently shares the tournament lead for goals with five, tied with Slovakia’s Dalibor Dvorsky.

• USA’s Gabe Perreault showcased his elite passing and playmaking abilities, recording the primary assist on all three of his team’s second-period goals. 

• Sweden’s overall defensive efforts deserve props as the team held Latvia to just 13 shots, the second-fewest by any team in the tournament. Impressively, they also kept Latvia to just three through the halfway mark.