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2023 24 nmu18t can kaz matchup

U18 Men’s Worlds Preview: Canada vs. Kazakhstan

Tuesday, April 30 | 12 p.m. ET | Vantaa, Finland | Preliminary Round

Jason LaRose
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April 30, 2024
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With first place in Group B secured, Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team has its sights set on finishing a perfect preliminary round when it takes on Kazakhstan on Tuesday at the 2024 IIHF U18 World Championship.

Last Game

Canada used a record-setting second period to down Switzerland 8-1 on Sunday. After a scoreless opening 20 minutes, the Canadians erupted for seven goals in the middle frame, becoming the seventh team in U18 Men’s Worlds history to hit that number in a single period. Porter Martone had two of the seven before finishing his hat trick in the third period, and Gavin McKenna added a goal and two assists.

Kazakhstan made history of its own Monday, getting an overtime goal from Mstislav Shiplin to earn a 4-3 win over Czechia for its first-ever Top Division win at the U18 level. Roman Bolshedvorsky added a goal and an assist for the Kazakhs, who erased 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to secure the victory.

Last Meeting

You have to go all the way back to 2003, the only other year Kazakhstan was part of the Top Division. In that one, Canada got two goals each from Geoff Platt and Steve Bernier, and three assists from Marc-Antoine Pouliot in an 8-1 win. That tournament, played in Yaroslavl, Russia, ended with Canada winning its first U18 world title.

What to Watch

The name on the back of the jersey is enough to draw attention from even the most casual of Canadian hockey fans, but Tij Iginla has the game to back up the name. The son of Hockey Hall of Famer and two-time Olympic gold medallist Jarome Iginla, Tij has inherited his dad’s goal-scoring touch, potting three goals in as many games in Finland after posting 47 in 64 games with the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets. The 17-year-old – ranked as the No. 9 North American skater in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings for the 2024 NHL Draft – can become the third Iginla to win a world title, following his dad and older sister Jade, who helped Canada to gold at the 2022 IIHF U18 Women��s World Championship.

As is the case most years with a team coming up from Division 1A, the Kazakhstan roster looks nothing like the one that won gold a year in France. The lone returnee is Bolshedvorsky, who went without a point in five games in 2023. The 17-year-old spent this season with Snezhnye Barsy Astana in the MHL, the top Russian junior league, and the goal he scored against the Czechs on Monday was his first of the season – he had four assists in 41 MHL games and two helpers in nine playoff contests.

A Look Back

Not much more to say that hasn’t already been said. Just one, mentioned above, in 2003.

All-time record: Canada leads 1-0
Canada goals: 8
Kazakhstan goals: 1

For more information:

Esther Madziya
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 284-6484 

emadziya@hockeycanada.ca 

Spencer Sharkey
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 777-4567

ssharkey@hockeycanada.ca

Jeremy Knight
Manager, Corporate Communications
Hockey Canada

(647) 251-9738

jknight@hockeycanada.ca

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