Welcome back for a knockout round edition of the WJC Predictions for the 2025 Men’s IIHF World Under-20 Junior Championships brought to you by us at Last Word on Hockey as the quarterfinals kickoff today from the home of the Senators, Ottawa, Ontario. This edition covers the 2v3 matchups, while we also cover the others here. Finland and Czechia finished second in their respective groups, while Canada and Slovakia were third-place round robin finishers. Just who will move on to face one another in the semifinals, let’s dive in and see if we can figure it out.
World Junior Hockey Championships (2025 WJC) Predictions
Finland versus Slovakia
Time: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
TV: TSN1; NHL Network
You would have to think Finland comes into this one as favourites. Finland is a hard skating team. Moreover, they have the strength, skill, and hockey intelligence to contend in this tournament with any of the top teams. After opening the tournament with a 4-0 loss to Team Canada, Finland has turned it around. This was highlighted with a huge 4-3 overtime victory against the United States. Some may consider the Americans favourite at this point, especially with the Canadians struggling.
Who Has the Edge Between Finland and Slovakia
So, just how is Team Finland getting it done you may ask? Goaltending. They are first in the tournament in team save percentage. The Finnish netminder, Petteri Rimpinen, has three victories, along with a .947 SV% and a 1.75 goals-against average. In addition, the strong goaltending has allowed them to possess the top penalty kill, as they are 13 for 13 so far on the kill in the tourney.
Therefore, we can easily say that Finland has definitely been getting it done defensively. As a matter of fact, none of their players has more than three points. However, one of the players that has been leading the charge offensively is Konsta Helenius, the 14th overall pick from the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The Buffalo Sabres prospect has three assists in the tournament to tie with the team lead. He is tied with Jesse Kiiskinen, who has three goals thus far.
Despite us giving Finland the edge, Slovakia might have something to say about that. They may just have the kryptonite to the young Finnish superstars. Their captain, Dalibor Dvorsky, enters play today tied for third in the tournament in points with seven. So, it is possible they will be able to strike on the stingy Finnish defence when they least suspect.
In contrast, as we mentioned at the beginning, Slovakia may not have the depth to compete. So far, they loss to Sweden and Czechia and played tight games against Switzerland and Kazakhstan. In fact, they narrowly snuck pass Kazakhstan giving up two late shorthanded goals, which had pushed the game to overtime. Look for Finland to overcome any doubts in their inability to score enough to win. That’s why we are going with Finland to get passed the Slovaks in this one.
WJC Predictions: Finland 4 – Slovakia 1.
Czechia versus Canada
Time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)
TV: TSN1/4; NHL Network
With our feature quarterfinal matchup for our WJC predictions, we look at the home Canadians taking on the team from Czechia. Canada would love some sweet revenge on home ice after Czechia eliminated Canada in last year’s quarterfinals with a score of 3-2. Moreover, Czechia thought they were doing well to earn a weaker quarterfinal matchup, but it has definitely backfired.
WJC Predictions Czechia and Canada Will Bring the Heat in this Tight Quarterfinal Matchup
This will be a battle of goaltenders of sorts between Carter George and Michael Hrabal. George, the Los Angeles Kings prospect, has been carrying the Canadian side to some degree, including two shutouts against Germany and Finland. He has a .964 SV% and 1.01 GAA. On the other hand, Hrabal is no slouch either. His .926 SV% and 2.36 GAA is why we can conclude the goaltenders might just decide the outcome in this elimination contest.
One problem for Canada has been their inability to score. As a team, they only have ten goals through four games, putting them well back of the leaders. They currently sit dead last in the tournament was a dismal shooting percentage as a team of 5.78%. Meanwhile, Czechia leads that category in the tournament at 19.69%. In saying that, there have been positives for Team Canada. They have generated solid attack and their 173 shots on goal is actually first in the tournament. Even analyzing the game against the USA, Canada was all over them in the second period until undisciplined penalties ultimately decided the outcome.
So another positive for Team Canada is that they have faced adversity in this tournament to this point. This will hopefully be something that head coach Dave Cameron can draw on to motivate his troops. The loss to Latvia was a big blow, but they have played strong throughout the tournament. Also, adding to the adversity, the loss of defenceman Matthew Schaefer hurt the team. So now Canada can leave all that in the past and focus on the task at hand. It is win or go home now, and both Canada and Czechia would love to be the ones to have the honour of knocking the other out of this tournament.
The Canadians Need to Get It In Gear and Use the Home Ice to their Ultimate Advantage
For Canada, as long as they maintain their discipline, they do have a strong team. They have been able to control the game against all of their opponents (at times at least). In terms of individuals, they have plenty of firepower, but the time is now for these talented individuals to show up and perform on the biggest stage. The list of forwards with only one point is surprising and alarming. Gavin McKenna, Bradly Nadeau, Brayden Yager, Jett Luchanko, and Berkly Catton are all players with aspirations of long NHL careers, and yet, all tied with one point a piece. Easton Cowan leads the charge with one goal and two assists, but coach Cameron needs all hands on deck.
The big problem for Canada with Team Czechia is that they are a well designed lineup. They have a strong defensive team with five of their six defencemen playing in North America. That includes Jakub Dvorak of the AHL’s Ontario Reign. Additionally, Jakub Fibigr has had a strong tournament with five assists. Upfront they have five forwards with five or more points, led by Vojtech Hradec and Jakub Stancl with seven.
This one is going to come down to Canada being able to use the adrenaline from the heavily-biased home crowd and not go over the line. If Canada can stay out the box, they should be able to generate offence and eventually wear down the Czechia defence. When that happens, their offensive minded players will finally break through and get the job done.
WJC Predictions: Canada 4 – Czechia 2.
Main Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
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