Team Canada is looking to build on their tournament-opening win over Czechia as they get set to take on Latvia Saturday afternoon.
Watch the matchup LIVE on TSN1, TSN4, TSN.ca and the TSN App at 4:30pm ET/1:30pm PT, with pre-game coverage beginning 30 minutes prior.
Canada took care of business against Czechia with their 7-5 Boxing Day victory in Minneapolis, but it didn’t come easy. In fact, Canada trailed by a goal in the second period and found themselves deadlocked 4-4 in the third. But a go-ahead goal from Tij Iginla gave Dale Hunter’s squad the lead and Ethan MacKenzie made it a made it a two-goal advantage soon after as Canada held on to win the opener.
Michael Hage had a team-high three points (one goal, two assists) and Zayne Parekh carried a heavy offensive load with two goals. Brady Martin and Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, had two points apiece.
Parekh, a defenceman selected No. 9 overall by the Calgary Flames in the 2024 draft, woke up Friday feeling under the weather but gutted through to take home Canada’s player of the game award.
“It was a grind this morning to get up. Feeling really under weather, but I pumped a bunch of electrolytes into me and some meds and felt great,” he told TSN’s Mark Masters.
The victory was more than just three points to start the tournament – it was payback. Czechia has eliminated Canada in the quarter-finals in each of the past two tournaments, including on home soil last year in Ottawa. The Czechs went on to win bronze both times while Canada finished off the podium in consecutive years for the first time since 2013 and 2014.
McKenna even told reporters before the tournament his team was out to settle the score against the Czechs.
“It’s what we’ve been waiting for. It’s finally here. We want revenge,” he said.
While Canada is heavily favoured against Latvia Saturday, payback should still be front of mind for the Canadians. A year ago in Ottawa, Latvia defeated Canada 3-2 in an eight-round shootout for one of the bigger round-robin upsets in recent tournament history.
Canada leads the all-time head-to-head series 4-1, outscoring Latvia 41-4 in the other four victories prior to last year’s defeat.
Latvia has yet to play at this year’s World Juniors and was last in action on Monday, when they wrapped up their pre-tournament schedule with a 3-1 loss to Sweden.
