World Juniors 2025: Canada's Kids Lost - But The Adults Were Largely To Blame

OTTAWA - Officially, Canada is now in its worst stretch at the world juniors in modern memory with back-to-back crash-outs in the quarterfinal.

While in past years, fans and media have been chided for blaming teenagers when things go wrong at the tournament, it was pretty much unanimous that Hockey Canada's adults were to blame for the latest disaster.

There is no shame in losing to the Czechs, of course. That national side deserves all the credit for having a solid game plan and executing it (get sticks in lanes, find holes in Canada's defensive structure and keep the puck low in the offensive zone as much as possible). But the 2025 edition of Canada's world junior team was not the best it could have been.

Players such as Beckett Sennecke and Zayne Parekh could have helped this team where it needed it most: getting to the middle of the ice (Sennecke) and improving what is currently the sixth-best power play out of 10 teams (Parekh). That's on management, and it's hard not to notice that Peter Anholt and Brent Seabrook are two of the common denominators between last year's failure and this one.

Related: Six Biggest World Juniors Snubs: Will Canada, USA Regret Cutting Cristall, Misa And Musty?

For a country that used to physically dominate this tournament, Canada's 2025 roster was not very big overall. And that was certainly a factor in what will go down as one of the country's worst offensive performances ever: in five games, they scored only two more goals than Kazakhstan - the team that got relegated.

"We could have gotten more traffic in front," said Carolina Hurricanes prospect Bradly Nadeau. "The whole tournament, the goalie could see the puck and the goalies are so good now, if they see it they make the save."

There was also the matter of Canada's parade to the penalty box. The 34 minors taken by the squad were far more than any other country through five games (Kazakhstan was next with 27), and while two kneeing penalties against the Czechs were controversial, the Canadians certainly didn't do themselves any favors overall. With the game tied late, Canada left the door open for the Czechs, and that's when St. Louis Blues pick Adam Jecho iced it for the visitors.

"We should have scored more and could have been more disciplined; those two things really didn't help us," Nadeau said. "But we played a good team. We didn't get the result we wanted."

Discipline, preparation - that's on the coaches. It is rare for a Canadian coach to inspire as much venom as Dave Cameron has during this tournament, but the decisions made by him and his staff were baffling, over and over again.

Why did Oliver Bonk start on the point on the power play when he doesn't even play that position with his club team in the OHL? Why didn't they try to use Carson Rehkopf and Porter Martone together more when they are literally linemates with the Brampton Steelheads? Why didn't the team practise more?

From the outside, Canada's poor start against the Czechs seemed to be the result of a team that was tentative and unsure of itself. Great young players were making mistakes that appeared to be coming from a lack of confidence. But the kids weren't making excuses after the game. I asked Bonk if it was a particularly mentally taxing tournament for Canada, and he quickly rebuffed the notion.

"I don't think so," he said. "We go through adversity all the time, everybody does with their club teams and their lives. It's about battling through it. I wouldn't call it 'mentally taxing,' we just didn't get it done."

Now, Hockey Canada must conduct an unpleasant autopsy. Did they duff the selection process? And did they put the kids they did bring in the best position to succeed? Ultimately, your record is your record and for the second straight year, Canada didn't come close to a medal. The adults need to take a critical look at the roles they played in this debacle.

Related: World Juniors 2025: Semifinals Set After Exciting Quarters With Canada Losing Again