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Canada picks up first World Junior medal in three years

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Jan 6 2026, 12:00 am
Canada picks up first World Junior medal in three years
IIHF

Canada has medalled at the World Junior Championship for the first time in three years.

Though it wasn’t the medal the Canadians were hoping for heading into the tournament, they were able to defeat Finland by a 6-3 final on Monday afternoon to pick up a bronze medal.

Canada got goals from Sam O’Reilly (2), Braeden Cootes, Zayne Parekh, Porter Martone, and Gavin McKenna in the win. Parekh was also able to add an assist on Martone’s tally, giving him 13 points in the tournament. That sets a new record for most points in a World Juniors tournament for a Canadian defenceman. Both Bryan McCabe (1995) and Alex Pietrangelo (2010) had sat atop the leaderboard with 12.

Picking up the win for Canada was Carter George, who stopped 22 of the 25 shots he faced.

Canada’s quest for a gold medal came to an end on Sunday, where they fell in a thrilling outing to Czechia by a 6-4 final. It marked the third-straight year in which Czechia has eliminated Canada from gold medal contention.

Despite the tournament not going how they would have liked, Canada was able to return to the podium for the first time since 2023. They finished fifth place in both 2024 and 2025 after winning gold in ’23.

While a disappointing result, Canada will have an opportunity to win gold on home soil soon enough. The 2027 World Junior Championship is set to take place in Edmonton and Red Deer.

As for this year’s tournament, the gold medal winner will be decided on Monday evening in a final between Sweden and Czechia. Both countries have two gold medals in this annual tournament.

More to come…

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