PRAGUE, Czechia – Canada’s National Men’s Team has finished fourth at the 2024 IIHF World Championship after falling 4-2 to Sweden in the bronze medal game at O2 Arena on Sunday.
“Playing for Canada is so special, and regardless of the circumstances, any time you get the call to represent your country and compete for a gold medal is an amazing opportunity,” said captain John Tavares (Oakville, ON/Toronto, NHL). “To wear the [captain’s] ‘C’ and play with this group of guys is something I will be forever grateful for, but obviously it is a disappointing result for us.”
After falling behind 1-0 in the first period on a Carl Grundström goal, Jamie Oleksiak (Toronto, ON/Seattle, NHL) found Dylan Cozens (Whitehorse, YT/Buffalo, NHL), who buried his tournament-leading ninth goal from the slot to even the score.
Canada broke the deadlock just over four minutes into the third period when Pierre-Luc Dubois (Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, QC/Los Angeles, NHL) fired home a one-timer off a Brandon Hagel (Morinville, AB/Tampa Bay, NHL) cross-ice pass. Tavares also registered an assist on the play, moving him into a tie for the tournament lead in assists with nine.
Erik Karlsson and Grundström would give Sweden a 3-2 lead after scoring twice in 4:07 in the third period before Marcus Johansson scored into an empty net.
“The really tough loss was last night because we wanted to be playing for a gold medal today, but we also wanted to win our last game and bring home a bronze medal. Today stings but the semifinal stings a lot too,” Dubois said. “Every time you come [to the world championship], you meet unbelievable people. Some are new and some are players that you have met before, and I had an unbelievable time with this group. After a month together, it is tough to be so close to playing in the gold medal game but losing in a shootout.”
Jordan Binnington (Richmond Hill, ON/St. Louis, NHL) made 29 saves in the loss. A full game summary can be found at HockeyCanada.ca.
“It was a little tough to get our game going today, but I thought we were rock solid in the second period. We could have handled our lead a little better and I feel like we backed off [Sweden] too much, and unfortunately we were not as good as we needed to be,” said head coach André Tourigny (Nicolet, QC/Utah, NHL). “Our players worked hard all tournament, and they were very committed to winning and fought for each other. I have so much respect for all the guys in our room for the sacrifice they made to play in this tournament, and I am really proud of our team.”
Following the semifinals, Cozens, Brandon Tanev (Toronto, ON/Seattle, NHL) and Colton Parayko (St. Albert, AB/St. Louis, NHL) were named Team Canada’s three best players of the tournament.
Canada finished the preliminary round in first place in Group A after wins over Great Britain, Denmark, Austria, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Czechia. It booked a spot in the semifinals after a 6-3 win over Slovakia before falling to Switzerland 3-2 in a shootout.
Since 1931, Canada has collected 28 gold medals at the IIHF World Championship, to go along with 16 silver and seven bronze.
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