Canada's Cole Beaudoin (26) celebrates his goal with teammates after scoring in second period IIHF World Junior Championship hockey action against Finland in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov)

By Britton Gray/CJME

World Juniors

Canada to take on Slovakia in quarter-final at World Juniors

Jan 2, 2026 | 12:55 PM

The job’s not finished yet, but Team Canada is getting closer to being back on the podium at the World Juniors.

The Canadian team (3-1-0-0) finished at the top of Group B after going undefeated in the round robin. It was the first time Canada finished at the top of its group in the U20 World Hockey Championships since the 2021 tournament in Red Deer, Alta.

Canada will take on Slovakia (1-0-3-0) in the quarter-final on Friday night. Puck drop for the game is set for 7:30 p.m.

Canada has not brought home a medal in the past two editions of the tournament, finishing fifth in 2024 and 2025. The last time Canada was on the podium was in 2023, when the team won gold.

The Canadians have won every game they’ve played in this year’s tournament, which taking place in Minneapolis.

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The tournament opened for the Canadian team on Boxing Day with a game against Czechia. The 7-5 win was a measure of revenge for Canada, as it was Czechia that eliminated them in the quarter-final of the previous two tournaments.

Then, on Dec. 27, Canada found itself in a battle with Latvia. Latvia defeated the Canadians in a shootout in 2025, marking a major upset in the World Juniors. While this year’s game against Latvia also needed an extra frame, Canada came away with a 2-1 win.

Canada handled business against Denmark on Monday, winning 9-1.

On New Year’s Eve, Canada earned another win to close out the round robin, beating Finland 7-4.

Canadians Zayne Parekh, Gavin McKenna and Michael Hage are tied with Slovakian forward Thomas Chrenko for the tournament lead with eight points.

Macklin’s Cole Reschny is the only Saskatchewan-born player on the team this year. He has a goal and an assist in the tournament.

Matt Cullen, one of the broadcasters for the World Juniors said it won’t be a simple task for Canada to make it past the Slovakian team.

“If you thought this was going to be an easy game, I think that that needs to be corrected,” said Cullen. “I think that this is going to be a really tough game. This Slovak team had one win and three losses, and all three losses were by one single goal.”

Cullen also looked ahead to a potential gold-medal game, and shared his predictions.

“There’s been no reason to think that Canada can’t be back in the gold-medal game,” he said. “Yes, the last two years haven’t been terrific, with the two straight quarter-final exits… I think we’ll see Canada there. I really like Sweden. I think Sweden outclassed the United States – I think they’re the other team to beat.”

–with files from 650 CKOM’s Will Mandzuk