A Little Constructive Criticism Of Canada's World Juniors Players Isn't Terrible

Hockey Canada and Dave Cameron share enormous responsibility for Canada's showing in the 2024 and '25 world juniors. But so do the players, says Ken Campbell.

We've been seeing a lot of very justified finger-pointing at Hockey Canada and coach Dave Cameron over the team's poor showing at the 2025 world juniors. Some have gone so far as to say this all Hockey Canada's fault and that the players bear no responsibility for this debacle.

What a complete, unadulterated and total bunch of hooey.

Of course, the players deserve scrutinization and some pointed, constructive criticism. For the most part, they weren't good enough. They looked lost and played some stretches without any sense of urgency. They took the bad penalties, missed the goals and passed up shots. To suggest anything otherwise is to let these young men off the hook far too easily.

Do they deserve to be vilified? No. Do they deserve to have their social media accounts filled with hate? Absolutely not. Do they deserve to wear this for the rest of their careers? No, no, no.

But to call into question their performance is entirely fair. Yes, they're teenagers. Yes, they tried their best. But to point out that their effort wasn't near good enough is in no way out of bounds.

Here's more in this video column:

(Don't see the video? Click here.)

Check out The Hockey News' world juniors coverage here. Get the latest news and trending stories right to your inbox by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or by visiting our forum.