Gavin McKenna and Michael Hage scored four points apiece as Canada downed Finland 6-3 to earn the bronze medal at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship on Monday. Hage took over the tournament points lead (2+13=15) prior to the Sweden-Czechia final.

"I think our special teams have been great all tournament," said McKenna, who finished with 14 points as a top 2026 NHL draft prospect. "Power play stepped up today. Our kill was great. We wanted the hardware to go home with, and fourth obviously wouldn't feel good."

With a goal and an assist, Zayne Parekh set a new single-tournament record for points by a Canadian defenceman (6+7=13). The previous record was established by Alex Pietrangelo (3+9=12) in 2010. Parekh's total is one shy of the tournament record set in 1985 by Sweden's Peter Andersson (4+10=14).

"it's kind of cool to have, but at the end of the day, I wanted to leave here with a gold medal, and I'm a little bit disappointed with that," Parekh said.

This is Canada’s first medal since winning gold at the 2023 World Juniors in Halifax, marking its longest medal drought ever. The Canadians, winners of an all-time record 20 titles, have lost to the Czechs three straight years in the playoffs. So this at least provided some solace for coach Dale Hunter and his players.

"It was a tight game for a long time, and for us to come out on top is a credit to our guys," Hunter said. "They really wanted to get this done. "

Coach Lauri Mikkola's Finns go home empty-handed after taking the silver medal last year.
 

Not medalling is a bitter pill for either of these nations to swallow nowadays. Canada is a perennial gold-medal favourite, but the Finns – despite not winning gold since 2019 – always believe they have a real shot at going all the way too.

For Canada, Sam O'Reilly added a pair of goals, and Braeden Cootes and captain Porter Martone also scored. McKenna scored Canada's last goal here in Minnesota.

Finnish assistant captain Heikki Ruohonen had a goal and an assist, and Arttu Valila and Julius Miettinen added singles. The Finns outshot Canada 35-34.

"We gave it all today," Miettinen said. "I thought the guys battled through the whole 60 minutes, but Canada was just better today."

In goal, Petteri Rimpinen, who couldn’t match his 2025 Best Goalie performance, played every game for Finland for the second straight year. Canada’s Carter George, whose last game was the 7-4 New Year’s Eve win over Finland, returned between the pipes for bronze.

If anyone – coaches, fans, or media – expected a defensive duel with the teams having cleaned up all their preliminary-round mistakes, they would be disappointed.

Just 1:10 in, O’Reilly took a backhand feed from Hage on a 2-on-1 and beat Rimpinen with a backhand deke to open the scoring.

Finland answered at 3:23. Valila – the overtime hero in the 4-3 quarter-final win over the U.S. -- cruised in to snap a shot past George’s blocker.

Cootes restored Canada’s lead at 4:57 from the slot with his second goal of the tournament.

At 11:58, Miettinen’s one-timer from the right faceoff circle, set up by Lasse Boelius, knotted the score again on Finland’s first power play.

When Canada enjoyed its first man advantage, Parekh danced in to the top of the left faceoff circle and zinged a shot over Rimpinen’s glove for a 3-2 Canadian lead at 18:41.

In the second period, Martone finished off a nice passing play with Parekh and Tij Iginla at 1:42 for his sixth goal of these World Juniors. And at 5:27, O"Reilly was perfectly placed by the crease to convert McKenna's slap pass, making it 5-2 Canada on the power play.

"We didn't do the little things in the first and second period very well, and were giving too much space for those guys," Mikkola said. "They are very skillful guys. They are going to get a goal if they get a chance and time and space."

Ruohonen reduced the gap to two goals, cutting in off right wing to whip one past George at 14:27.

The third period saw Rimpinen stopping Jett Luchanko on a shorthanded breakaway. But his Finnish teammates couldn't pay him back by getting a goal, despite outshooting Canada 17-6 in the last 20 minutes.

McKenna combined neatly with Hage to put Canada up 6-3, tallying into a gaping cage at 13:35. It was McKenna's first goal since his hat trick in a 9-1 rout of Denmark.

"Obviously, I'm not focused on the individual stuff in a tournament like this," McKenna said. "Without us winning, it honestly doesn't feel like a good tournament. But I guess this tournament built confidence for me in the second half."

Canadian forward Brady Martin, who scored four goals and four assists at these World Juniors, did not play in the bronze medal game. He left Sunday’s semi-final after taking a hit from Czechia’s Matyas Man. Liam Greentree drew back into the lineup in Martin’s place.

The only previous bronze medal game between these teams saw the Canadians winning 4-0 in Calgary in 2012.