Czechia eliminates Canada at WJHC for 3rd straight year

Czechia advanced to the gold medal game of the 2026 World Junior Championship with a 6-4 semifinal victory over Canada on Sunday.

New York Islanders prospect Tomas Poletin scored the winning goal with 1:14 left in the third period. Czechia will face Sweden for gold Monday night (8:30 p.m. ET). Canada will take on Finland in the bronze medal game (4:30 p.m.).

It's the third straight year Czechia has beaten Canada in the playoffs. The previous two were in the quarterfinal. The winning goals came with 40 seconds left in 2025, and 11 seconds left in 2024.

"They had an answer for everything we had," Canada's captain Porter Martone told TSN's Kenzie Lalonde postgame. "Sometimes you gotta tip your hats to their team. I'm really proud of those guys in (our locker room). We went to war tonight, and we fought to the very end.

"They have a really good hockey team over there. They won that game tonight. We fought to end, and it's a tough pill to swallow."

Czechia hasn't won gold at the world junior since 2001, and is in the final for only the second time since its last gold medal. Sweden is looking for its first title since 2012, and its third ever. The Swedes have lost four times in the gold medal game since last winning the tournament.

The gold medal game will not feature one of either the United States or Canada for the first time since 2016.

Utah Mammoth first-rounder Tij Iginla opened the scoring in the first period. Canada's advantage lasted only 1:42 before Colorado Avalanche prospect Maxmilian Curran evened it up for Czechia.

Philadelphia Flyers' sixth overall pick Martone tied the game with under three minutes left, only for Czechia to retake the lead for good 1:27 later.

Potential 2026 first overall pick Gavin McKenna was handed a minor penalty and a 10-minute misconduct for abuse of officials after Czechia's empty-netter. McKenna and other Canadian players were furious after Cole Reschny was assessed a goaltender interference penalty in the final minute.

Nashville Predators prospect Brady Martin was injured in the first period and didn't return to the game.