Day one of the World Junior Championships is in the books, and there is plenty of action and storylines to cover in this recap.
The opening day of the world juniors was quite the exciting one. The day started with a surprisingly close tilt between Sweden and Slovakia and ended with Canada getting revenge on Czechia in a slugfest between two of the tournament’s top teams.
The two games in the middle of the schedule – Finland vs. Denmark and USA vs. Germany – were fairly one-sided affairs with the favorites taking home the easy victories. The Finns had as many goals as the Danes had shots after the second period. The Americans dominated play despite the Germans clawing within one in the second period before the U.S. pulled away.
Both the Americans and Finns took care of business, putting them in position to challenge the top teams in their respective groups for first place. The Americans play Switzerland in their next game on Saturday, and the Finns play Latvia on Sunday, both games that should go their way as they look to stay in the fight for the top of their group.
Sweden Survives Slovakia in Tightly Contested Affair
The game started with the Swedes controlling the puck, but neither team really found an edge offensively. The Slovaks seemed to be biding their time. Both teams traded chances as the first frame wore on, but no one could break through as both Love Harenstam (SWE) and Alan Lendak (SVK) stood tall.
The second period saw quite a bit more action. The Swedes kicked things off as they took advantage of some undisciplined play from the Slovaks. First, it was Anton Frondell getting on the board with a power-play goal courtesy of a wicked one-time shot that beat the Lendak clean. Next up, Frondell set up Victor Eklund for a tap-in at the top of the crease on the power play to give Sweden a two-goal lead.
Slovakia wasn’t going to go down without a fight, though. They managed to score a power-play goal of their own before the period ended as Tomas Pobezal fired a wicked shot over Harenstam’s shoulder with five seconds to go in the frame. Slovakia was back in this game.
About halfway through the third period, Slovakia’s Tobias Tomik shovelled in a backhander from in tight after he plucked the puck out of a mess. The 2026 NHL draft-eligible center scored the kind of gritty, dirty goal that Slovakia was going to need in order to get back into this game. Unfortunately for the Slovak squad, Tomik wasn’t the only draft-eligible player to play hero for his team.
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After what had been a perfectly fine yet unspectacular game, Ivar Stenberg made the play that resulted in the game-winning goal. He picked up the puck in the defensive zone, made an excellent outlet pass to Eddie Genborg in transition and found his way in behind the Slovak defenders. Genborg got him the puck, and Stenberg tucked it home cleanly.
Sweden held on after that to secure their first win of the tournament, in a game that was tighter than expected. The Swedes certainly didn’t seem to have their A-game, which led to some sloppier play and missed passes at times, but they managed to win because their best players were their best players. Frondell, Eklund and Stenberg scored, and the Swedes survived.
Canada Gets Revenge On Czechia As Their Rivalry Renews
It’s hard to be an instant classic when it’s not a medal round game, but the opening game between Canada and Czechia was as close as it comes. The tensions were high for both teams as Czechia came in looking to improve on their back-to-back bronze medals and extend their three-year medal run. Canada had all of the pressure of woefully failing out of the tournament in the quarters in back-to-back years, the worst two-year run for Canada in the last few decades.
Canada managed to open the scoring on a beautiful play from the second line. After Michael Hage dropped the puck off for Gavin McKenna, the 2026 top draft prospect fired a pass to the slot for Brady Martin, who buried it from the low slot.
Tomas Poletin answered with a deflection in front of the net, getting Czechia on the board. Hage scored for a quick response from Canada, and they went into the intermission with a 2-1 lead. It didn’t last long, though, as Czechia really started to dictate play in the second period, scoring a couple of goals to take the lead. All of the feelings that haunted Canada over the last couple of years against Czechia began to creep back in.
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Was revenge in the cards? Is this year’s roster good enough? What could the Canadians do to right the ship? Who was going to be the hero?
With just under three minutes to go in the second period, Zayne Parekh picked up a puck on a broken play and fired it home from high in the zone, tying the game and calming some of the nerves. The back-and-forth affair was just getting started.
Canada went on the power play early in the third period, and it was none other than Parekh who made a beautiful play to score once again. The Canadian hero seemed to emerge, and it was the Calgary Flames' top prospect. Parekh celebrated with all the swagger of a player who just willed his team back into the driver's seat.
The thing about this era of Czech hockey is that they never seem to be out of it. Every time they get knocked down, they get back up and counterpunch.
Less than two minutes later, Poletin pots his second of the game to get Czechia back to a tie game. The Czech squad was battling for every puck, fighting for every inch, and was pushing back against the most potent offense that a Canadian team has brought in a few years. Czechia continued to be a thorn in the side of the Canadians.
Canada’s response was quick and decisive, though. Tij Iginla came flying down the wing just under a minute later and snapped one by the netminder with a beautiful toe-drag release. Canada was back in the driver's seat, and they stole the momentum. They would add another just a few minutes later from unlikely scorer Ethan MacKenzie, an undrafted defender brought to the tournament to provide some defensive stability.
Canada’s 6-4 lead with just under half of the third period to go felt anything but safe. The Czech squad kept pushing and creating chances for themselves. With just under five minutes to go, Czech veteran defender Tomas Galvas scored on a nice passing play to pull the team within one.
Czechia pulled their goalie with the faceoff in their offensive zone. The comeback felt inevitable, but an excellent faceoff play to get the puck to safety and eventually up ice to score an empty-netter worked perfectly.
Canadian captain Porter Martone scored the goal and was immediately called for an unsportsmanlike penalty after celebrating quite vocally in front of the Czech bench and tapping a Czech player on the backside as he skated by.
Despite Czechia getting back on the power play with a minute to go, Canada was able to hold on and get the revenge they so desperately wanted. Canada taking down Czechia is what could be the game of the tournament. The back-and-forth drama, the high stakes for the group, and the recent history of the two nations at this tournament made for the perfect opening night matchup.
Both teams will be in action on Saturday, with Canada facing Latvia in another revenge game, while Czechia takes on Denmark in a contest where Czechia might let off some steam.
The World Junior Championships are back and as good as ever.
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