'Let's not panic': Team Canada regroups after 'devastating' night

Team Canada stayed off the ice on Saturday as players were given the chance to visit with friends and family in the afternoon. It was an opportunity to catch their breath following a shocking 3-2 shootout loss to Latvia. 

"Let's not panic here," stressed Hockey Canada management group lead Peter Anholt, who is the GM of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the Western Hockey League. "The world hasn't fallen in. I mean, it's hard, yeah, but we'll learn from it and we'll be better next game."

"It's a bit of s—tty feeling," said winger Bradly Nadeau, who plays for the Chicago Wolves in the American Hockey League. "Obviously we all know what this group's capable of and losing this game is not our standard. We'll bounce back from it and come even harder next game." 

Canada had won its previous four games against Latvia at the World Juniors while outscoring them 41-10. Friday's result represented one of the biggest upsets in the event's history. 

"No words to describe it," said Latvian captain Peteris Bulans, who plays for the Chicoutimi Sagueneens. "Someone needs to pinch me because it feels unreal." 

The Latvian players said they started to believe in the potential for an historic win, only their third at this level, after they got to the first intermission tied. 

"We should've put it to bed earlier," said Canada's top-line centre Cal Ritchie, who started the season in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche. "Just tough. Tough one." 

Canada failed to score an even-strength goal against Latvia and twice squandered leads. 

The spotlight is always on Team Canada at the World Juniors, especially at home, and the attention is only intensifying in the wake of Friday's stunning defeat. 

"We know we should've won," said London Knights defenceman Oliver Bonk, who is one of four returning players on the roster. "We know we didn't play good. Whatever else you want to say, we know. Like, people have been saying it. Yeah, we know. We lost, but it's one game. You're not out of the tournament and I think we can bounce back." 

Canada will play winless Germany on Sunday before wrapping up the preliminary round on Tuesday against the undefeated United States. If Canada wins both games in regulation they will top Group A. 

"Just stay positive," said Knights winger Easton Cowan. "Lots of tournament left. We can still clinch first so that's our mindset."

Saskatoon Blades defenceman Tanner Molendyk described the defeat as "devastating" and "eyeopening" on Friday night. 

"There's a lot more we can give," the alternate captain said. "We know that. We know that in the room. Every guy's got another gear and we haven't hit that yet." 

Canada fired 57 shots on Latvia's Linards Feldbergs, but several players mentioned that they felt they could have generated more high-danger chances and made life more difficult for the Sherbrooke Phoenix goalie. 

"When you're controlling the puck as much as we did last night there's almost a sense of you're really, really comfortable with that," Anholt said. "We gotta understand, we got to strike, and when we strike we got to have people at the net and work hard to get to the blue paint."

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The task will get harder for Canada moving forward, because Erie Otters defenceman Matthew Schaefer is out for the tournament after crashing hard into the net in the first period on Friday. 

"The way he plays the game, he plays it with such a high speed and reckless abandonment in a lot of ways," Anholt said. "It's a bump in the road for him. He's a tough kid. He's resilient. He'll come through this."

TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie reports that Schaefer, a top prospect in the 2025 NHL draft, sustained a broken collarbone and will likely be out two to three months. 

"Big blow to our team," acknowledged Anholt. "He plays so well. He skates and he makes things happen."

"I'm sure Schaefer would want us to win for him," said Nadeau. "So that's the least we could do for him." 

Schaefer, who had been playing on a pairing with Bonk, picked up the primary assist on Canada's opening goal in the opening-night win. He also sealed the victory over Finland with an empty-net goal. Schaefer is tied for the team scoring lead with Cowan, who also has two points. 

"We'll need some better performances out of some of the guys on the back end and we feel like we got the people back there to do it," Anholt said. "That's the beauty of Canada in a lot of ways with the depth."

Vancouver Canucks prospect Sawyer Mynio will draw into the lineup on Sunday. This is the first international event in his career. 

Sam Dickinson, who plays with Bonk in London, is expected to move up the lineup. He leads all defenceman in the OHL with 46 points in 26 games. 

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Canada's top line of Ritchie between Nadeau and Cowan got on the board in all three pre-tournament games and the opener against Finland, but couldn't breakthrough against the Latvians. 

"I feel like I can get to the middle of the ice more and create more screens," Cowan said. "Good things come when you're in front of the net." 

Cowan scored in Thursday's win and the Toronto Maple Leafs prospect set up Ritchie for a power-play goal on Friday. Canada had been 0/6 on the power play prior to that. 

"I know I can be better, especially on the power play," Cowan said. "I know I'm way better than that. And 5-on-5 I know I can be better too. Yeah, I guess it starts with me being an older guy. I know I can be better on the power play. We haven't scored a lot so it starts me."

Cowan is a model of consistency in the OHL where he has hit the scoresheet in 56 straight regular season games over the last two seasons. 

"We're all looking to him," Bonk said. "He's definitely a great player so I think he's going to have a good response."

Medicine Hat Tigers phenom Gavin McKenna described Cowan as the "backbone" of the team after the Boxing Day win.  

Canada went 0/3 in its penultimate pre-tournament game and didn't get a man-advantage chance in the final tune-up game against Czechia. 

The lack of live-action opportunity prevented chemistry from developing, according to Anholt. But that's not the only issue. 

"Just a lot of players playing different [spots]," Cowan explained. "We're coming together. We got one there [against Latvia], so I think the floodgates will open now."

Bonk, who usually plays the bumper spot in London, has been quarterbacking the top unit. 

"Definitely not what I'm used to coming from the bumper," the Philadelphia Flyers prospect said. "But it's something you gotta figure out and play a role and help the team."

Hockey Canada is using the off day to mull over potential changes. 

"There's lots of talk about our power play, how we can do some adjusting on that, maybe with some different personnel or moving guys around," Anholt confirmed. "There's lots of discussion about that." 

Dickinson plays the point in London. He's scored nine of his 15 goals on the power play this season. 

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Carson Rehkopf may be able to help on the power play. Despite his status as a returning player, Canada opted not to dress the Brampton Steelheads sniper in the first two games.

"Razor's an individual who can score, right, we've seen that," Anholt noted. "He's scored a ton of goals over his career in the OHL and even at this level, so I would expect that he'll go in."

Rehkopf scored twice in five games at last year's World Juniors. He has 72 goals in his last 87 regular season games in the OHL. 

"He's going to bring a lot," said Cowan. "He scores goals. He finds ways. He plays hard too. If he gets back in, he deserves it. I know he'll help us out a lot. He finds a way to score every game."

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Dave Cameron had no issue with his team's performance on Friday. 

"Full marks to Latvia," Team Canada's head coach said. "They blocked [shots]. What they didn't block, their goalie blocked. I don't know what the O-zone time would be, but we spent most of the game in their zone. We weren't able to generate enough offence, but you probably play that game, you win it nine out of 10 times. So, it's not so much about what we didn't do, full marks to Latvia."

Cameron estimated that his team generated enough chances to score six to eight goals. 

"If my team wasn't real good I'd be really worried, but it's not [that]," he said. "We had enough looks to win that hockey game." 
 

This is the fifth World Juniors for Cameron and third as head coach. Most recently, he guided Canada to gold at the 2022 summer event in Edmonton. 

"We're wounded, but we're not dead," the 66-year-old told TSN's Kenzie Lalonde.

Cameron became a first-time grandfather earlier this month, which has provided him even more perspective as he navigates the high-pressure World Juniors environment.  

"It should sting for 30, 40 minutes," he said of the loss, "and then you let it go."

McKenna is wearing a special vest promoting his Indigenous heritage, which was made by his maternal grandmother, to every World Juniors game. 

"It makes my heart want to explode," said his mom Krystal. "It's really important to us and our family and not just our family, but people in the Yukon as well. We're trying to really promote our culture and let people know that everyone is important including the Indigenous."

McKenna, a member of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation, is the second player from Yukon to make Canada's World Junior roster. 
"There's so many watch parties," Krystal said. "Our phones have been blowing up. Everyone from the Yukon is watching and cheering him on."

The Whitehorse native scored Canada's first goal of the tournament on Thursday. 

"Incredible," Krystal said. "My heart is beating [fast] just thinking about it. Me and my daughter jumped up and down and we hugged each other and we were screaming. We had no idea what the [goal] song was afterwards. We were so excited. It was so much fun."

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Team Canada lines in Friday's game: 

Nadeau - Ritchie - Cowan
McKenna - Catton - Pinelli
Howe - Yager - Martone
Beaudoin - Luchanko - Gauthier 
Cataford 

Molendyk - Gibson
Schaefer - Bonk 
Akey - Price 
Dickinson 

Ivankovic 
George

Scratches: Rehkopf, Mynio, Bjarnason