Following its worst consecutive results in program history, Canada's national junior hockey team is entering the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship with a renewed sense of humility. The squad, which finished fifth in both 2023 and 2024, finds itself in modest accommodations for this year's tournament in Minneapolis-St. Paul, a stark contrast to the luxury of an NHL locker room experienced on home ice last year.
A Longer Walk Reflects Recent Results
Last December, as hosts in Ottawa, Canada enjoyed the full amenities of the Ottawa Senators' professional dressing room at Canadian Tire Centre. This year, the team is stationed at 3M Arena on the University of Minnesota campus. While powerhouses like Finland, Czechia, and the host United States secured prime locker rooms, Canada was assigned a unique and distant location.
To reach their dressing room, players must traverse the Zamboni tunnel, walk several hundred feet to a separate rink—Ridder Arena—skate across that ice surface, and finally navigate to their designated space. The lengthy commute noticeably cuts into intermission time.
Head coach Dale Hunter took the arrangement in stride. "I'm getting my steps in anyways," he chuckled. Defenceman Harrison Brunicke acknowledged the unusual setup, stating, "It's a little bit of a walk. But I guess that's what happens when you finish fifth." Hunter confirmed the walk is a direct consequence of the team's recent performances, simply stating, "It is what it is."
Opening Against a Familiar Foe
The challenges begin immediately on the ice, as Canada opens its tournament on Boxing Day against Czechia—the very nation that eliminated them in the quarter-finals the past two years. This adds a significant layer of motivation for the Canadian players.
Despite the recent setbacks, the historical record heavily favors Canada. Since 1994, the two nations have met 28 times at the world juniors, with Canada holding a dominant 21-4-2 advantage. However, one of those four losses came on Boxing Day in 2023.
"They're the ones that we lost to last year, and nobody likes to lose, so it's added (motivation)," Hunter said. He praised Czechia as a well-coached, structured, and disciplined team, predicting a great game for fans.
Focusing on the Future, Not the Past
Players are determined to use both the logistical setup and the tough opening matchup as fuel, while focusing on their own game plan. Alternate captain Cole Beaudoin, from Kanata, Ont., reflected on the different atmosphere compared to last year's hometown tournament in Ottawa.
"It's almost better that we can have that little adversity of being in the U.S.," Beaudoin said, embracing the role of "dream killers" for other teams.
Brunicke emphasized the team's readiness to execute, noting that after pre-scouting, they know Czechia is a fast, physical, and in-your-face opponent. When asked about extra motivation from the past two years, he replied, "For sure... We're throwing that behind our backs and just moving forward."
Hunter's final message to his team was straightforward: focus on hard work over emotion. "Just go play hockey," he advised. "When you work hard, you get tired—so then you're not as emotional because you're tired. Just go work hard and good things will happen."
Canada's Boxing Day opener is a cornerstone of its world junior tradition. Through 49 previous tournaments, the team boasts a formidable 42-6-1 record in opening games, including a 36-3 record specifically on December 26th.
