Canada beats Finland for World Junior bronze, ending two-year medal drought – Grand Forks Herald

ST. PAUL, Minn. — There were no wild celebrations.

Canada slowly filed off the bench, congratulated goaltender Carter George, skated to the blue line and waited for the medal ceremony.

The Canadians beat Finland 6-3 on Monday in Grand Casino Arena to finish third at the World Junior Championship.

It wasn’t the medal the Canadians dreamed of winning this week in Minnesota, but it ended a rare two-year medal drought for Canada at the under-20 event. The Canadians hadn’t gone three years in a row without a medal since 1979-81.

“Obviously, we wanted to come here and win a gold medal,” said Canadian forward Cole Reschny, a freshman at UND. “It’s just not the way it ended up. It was good to end on a good note.”

Penn State freshman forward Gavin McKenna (one goal, three assists) and Michigan sophomore forward Michael Hage (four assists) both had four-point nights

Sam O’Reilly scored twice for the Canadians, while Zayne Parekh, Braeden Cootes and Michigan State forward Porter Martone each scored once.

UND freshman defenseman Keaton Verhoeff tallied an assist, his fourth of the tournament.

“It’s been fun,” Verhoeff said. “Obviously, it’s a really cool experience to come out to Minnesota and have an opportunity to compete on the national stage. We get away with a medal. It’s nice. It’s obviously not the one we wanted. But to have that opportunity today was pretty special.”

Canada won gold in 2023, but lost in the quarterfinals to Czechia in 2024 and 2025.

On Sunday night, the Canadians lost to the Czechs again in the semifinals, but this time, they had a chance to win a medal Monday afternoon.

Canada controlled the game from the start, scoring just 1:10 into the game.

Canada led 3-2 after the first period, then broke the game open with two goals in the opening six minutes of the second period.

“With Canada not medaling the last couple of years, it was important for us to take control of the game and prove what kind of team we are and country we are,” Verhoeff said.

Finland was unable to slow down Canada at the World Juniors.

In the pool play game meeting between the teams in Minneapolis on New Year’s Eve, Canada beat the Finns 7-4. The Canadians did the same to Finland on the other side of the river Monday.

“It’s tough to play in one of these games — on both sides,” Reschny said. “You’ve just got to do what you can — play your game, stick to what you’ve done all tournament. Ultimately, that’s what led to success. We did that and you saw that today. It was a great win.”

Canada’s defense and goaltending was porous at times in the tournament. The Canadians allowed three goals per game, including 11 in the two games against Czechia.

Finland scored three times on George on Monday, but it wasn’t enough against Canada’s potent offense, which scored a tournament-high 42 goals in seven games.

“We stuck with it,” Reschny said. “It wasn’t the prettiest, but we got it done. Kudos to all the guys in our room.”

Schlossman has covered college hockey for the Grand Forks Herald since 2005. He has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the top beat writer for the Herald’s circulation division four times and the North Dakota sportswriter of the year twice. He resides in Grand Forks. Reach him at bschlossman@gfherald.com.