Minneapolis, Minn.- Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman Ethan MacKenzie scored a goal and two assists in his Team Canada debut as the Canadians eked out a 7-5 Victory over rival Czechia to open the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Rockets star Tomas Poletin scored twice for the Czechs in a showdown against his Kelowna teammate, Tij Iginla.
Poletin was named Player of the Game for the Czech contingent, while current and former WHLers accounted for 14 points- seven for each country.
A four-goal third period helped Canada down a Czech squad that eliminated them for two straight seasons at the tournament.
2025 WHL Player of the Year Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) earned an assist on Canada’s tournament-opening goal, scored by Brady Martin.
Poletin, a fourth-round pick of the New York Islanders, levelled the game for the Czechs less than four minutes later with a pristine tip on a point shot from Utah Mammoth prospect Max Psenicka (Portland Winterhawks).
Canada carried a 2-1 advantage into the middle frame courtesy of a late tally from Michael Hage, but incoming Rocket Vojtech Cihar (Los Angeles Kings) managed to tie the match again with a whip from above the left faceoff dot.
Prince Albert Raiders rearguard Matyas Man served up the secondary helper on the goal.
Cihar found himself on the scoresheet once again with a primary assist on a Petr Sikora tally to give the Czechs their first lead of the night.
Calgary Flames defenceman Zayne Parekh lifted a nervous crowd to its feet with his first goal of the tournament for a tie game heading into the final frame, and found twine again to open the third period with McKenna and former Victoria Royals centreman Cole Reschny earning the assists.
Poletin snagged his second goal of the night by parking on the doorstep of the Canadian net and swatting a loose puck off the back boards past a sprawling Carter George.
Mammoth 2024 sixth-overall pick Tij Iginla (Kelowna Rockets / Lake Country, B.C.) put the Canadians back on top for good by showing off his wicked release and wiring a shot through traffic past Prince Albert Raiders goaltender Michal Orsulak, with Ethan MacKenzie (Edmonton Oil Kings / Peachland, B.C.) taking the second assist.
Ever on a quest to prove that NHL teams made a mistake passing on him in the NHL Draft, 19-year-old defenceman MacKenzie flexed his shot with a wide-open rip from the blue-line to make it a 6-4 game less than a minute after the Czech goal.
He made it a three-point night with an assist on Porter Martone’s empty-netter for the Canadians, while Cihar would pick up another helper on a late Czech tally.
Orsulak turned aside 14 of 17 shots in his World Juniors debut.
Canada (1-0-0) is back in action against Latvia (0-0-0) on Saturday, December 27, at 2:30 p.m. PST.
NOTES
Saskatoon Blades forward Dustin Willhoft registered a primary assist for Germany in a 6-3 loss to the host United States… Vancouver Giants attacker Tobias Tomik scored a late equalizer for Slovakia, though Sweden would prevail 3-2 over the Slovaks… Star Everett Silvertips rookie Matias Vanhanen picked up a secondary assist for Finland in a 6-2 rout of Denmark.
