OTTAWA -- Brayden Yager remembers the dismay he felt when he left the ice after Canada’s quarterfinal loss to the Czech Republic at the 2024 World Junior Championship.
“We didn’t just forget about it,” the Winnipeg Jets forward prospect said about the 3-2 loss that eliminated Canada from medal contention at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Gothenburg, Sweden.
For Canada, a country that takes a gold-or-nothing approach at the World Juniors, the fifth-place finish last year left a scar.
Now, Yager and six other players from that team have an opportunity for redemption with the 2025 WJC being held in Ottawa, from Dec. 25-Jan. 5, 2025.
“Obviously last year didn’t turn out the way we wanted,” Yager said. “It’s frustrating. But that’s in the past and we’re focused on this year. It looks like a pretty special group here. We’re going to come back here and try to be as competitive as we can and try to win gold at home.”
Yager and the other members of last year’s team invited to camp won’t get ahead of themselves, though.
Though players with tournament experience usually are locks to make the final roster, that is not the case this year. From the first day of camp the message from team management and the coaching staff has been clear and it has been repeated over and over again.
“They’re going to have to make the team,” Canada general manager Peter Anholt said. “There’s no freebies.”
So there are no assured spots for Yager and forwards Easton Cowan (Toronto Maple Leafs), Carson Rehkopf (Seattle Kraken) and Matthew Wood (Nashville Predators), defensemen Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia Flyers) and Tanner Molendyk (Nashville Predators), who was injured prior to the start of last year’s tournament, as well as Scott Ratzlaff (Buffalo Sabres), who was Canada’s third goalie in Sweden.
They arrived in camp on an equal footing with the other 26 players battling for a spot.
“You have to make the team,” coach Dave Cameron said. “We have talent and obviously guys who were on the team last year maybe should have a leg up. But you’ve got to make the team this year.”
The experience the returning players obtained last year aside, the overall performance of that team adds little else of substance to their resumes. That team was criticized for a lack of aggressiveness and commitment, and it often appeared disorganized during the tournament.
The final result was no fluke, so it’s clear that Canada wants to avoid making the same mistakes this year.
“We want a real Canadian team. We want a Canadian identity,” vice-president of hockey operations Scott Salmond said. “We’re playing here in Ottawa, obviously at home. I thought at times last year we could have been more competitive, and so that’ll be a real clear message to our players up and down the lineup.
“If you want to play, we need skilled guys, we need fast guys, we need competitive guys, and ultimately, we need all three of those things.”
Salmond is hardly the only one who has come to the same conclusion. This year, the expectations and demands are clear, and you can feel it in the keywords used by the staff and the players.
“I think we’ve got to be more prepared, more competitive,” said Bonk, who was selected by the Flyers in the first round (No. 22) at the 2023 NHL Draft. “And I kind of thought last year that we were maybe thinking it’s going to be given to us and a bit easier than it would be. We have to come in with something to prove now, not expecting things to be given to you. Coming in with something to prove and setting the tone off the start."
Said Rehkopf, a second-round pick (No. 50) by the Kraken in the 2023 draft: “Details are so important. And the preparation is huge for that tournament because it comes down to one play every game. I think Dave’s done a really good job of making that message clear.”
The uphill work began with competing in the World Junior Summer Showcase in Plymouth, Michigan, an event Canada skipped last year. And the coaching staff was named in early July, whereas last year those decisions weren’t made until mid-October.
The rest will be up to the players who will don Canada’s uniform. And those returning from last year will have to lead the way for the new faces to follow.
“So it’s clear, there’s no doubt about the expectations from them,” Salmond said. “And I think nobody has higher expectations than those players. When you live through a fifth-place finish in Canada and you have an opportunity to come back and right that, and right that in Canada, I think it’s a great opportunity. And they realize that.”
