2025 Under 17 World Hockey Challenge – Semifinals Recap 

The third period saw both teams continue playing a wide-open style, with end-to-end action, seeing them both exchange scoring chances. Instead of being demoralized by the score or the difficulties they faced, neither team gave up at any point, and the Canadians showed resiliency. 

“I loved the resiliency of our group tonight. There was no quit at all. We could have packed it in at a lot of different points of this hockey game, and we just kept grinding. Our group has come here with a lot of pride and purpose and that Canada-USA rivalry is such a historic one, you could feel it. The U.S. has a great team over there, and to see our guys have so much pride in the country and the jersey they were wearing. It didn’t matter if a guy had one shift or 30, everyone bought in and did anything they could to win this hockey game. I’m incredibly proud of the group and we will be ready for tomorrow.” 

Canada White head coach Scott Barney on the win. 

With both sides exchanging goals again, the U.S. held a 7-6 lead with five minutes remaining, then it seemed Canada found another gear. Maybe it was some motivation on the bench, or it was pride, as Kulemin said after the game, “Wearing the Maple Leaf, it means everything, and you know there’s no other place you want to be.”

Then, Brenner Lammens scored to tie it up. He had been buzzing all tournament, playing the role of a matchup forward, playing the pest, and with a physical edge that has gotten teams to lose focus, and it was no different in this game. This set the stage for a wild overtime period, where Liam Pue was able to play the hero for Canada. 

Pue had missed a couple of opportunities in regulation that may have given them a win without the dramatics, but this situation gave him a chance to rise to the occasion under significant pressure. 

“I’d say that’s the biggest goal of my life. The puck got loose in our end, and Maddox [Schultz] and I ended up on a two-on-one. He looked at me like he wanted me to take the shot. I missed the first one, but luckily the rebound came to me again, and I was able to bury it.” 

Liam Pue on scoring the game-winning goal in overtime. 

It is obvious that the Americans were distraught at the loss to Canada, and while Gold was their goal, Meyer looked disappointed but also focused after the game. 

“We’ll just go back to the hotel tonight and get some rest. We want a medal, so we’re going to do everything we can here tonight and tomorrow to get that done”

– Carter Meyer on Team USA’s need to win a medal.

A game that saw 15 goals scored may not seem like the goaltenders were a factor, but that score would have been far higher if not for Sam Berthiaume (who faced 52 shots) and Nate Chizik (who faced 43) making some big saves throughout the game, and many of which were point-blank shots from the slot, some even undefended. But Canada moves on to play the winner of the next game. 

Canada (Red) vs. Czechia 

While the first game of the day was a shootout, this one was far more methodical and defence-oriented, with a final score of Canada (Red) 4, Czechia 1. From the get-go, Canada seemed to have control of the game.

The Czechs were battling; however, they were playing with far less passion than they had in their game against Canada (White) to open the tournament. Instead, they spent most of the first two periods probing the Canadian defences and not getting many shots on goal. After 40 minutes of play, Czechia had only seven shots on goal, and only one that was of any danger, which Leif Oaten stopped easily. 

Canada was in control of the game, setting the pace of play. They were methodical, using a two-man forecheck and always keeping a third man high.

This provided a layered defence, which prevented the Czechs from building up speed or space in any counterattack. The first period was scoreless, yet in Canada’s 11 shots in that frame, there were several good scoring chances, but Vaclav Osvald was able to square up and see every shot as the Czechian defence kept traffic away from their crease.

In the second period, Canada was able to start to pull away, getting a PP goal from their captain, Alexis Joseph, who made an incredible individual play to beat his defender to the outside, used his large frame to defend the puck, and then, in one motion, kicked the puck to his stick where he released a laser over Osvald. After two periods, Canada had a two-goal lead and didn’t seem to be loosening their grip on the game. 

“Our guys did a tremendous job of playing north and playing fast. Our breakouts were great tonight. The Czechs are a team that play hard and are really aggressive on the forecheck, so we had to be really tidy in our own zone and made great decisions at our own blue line. It took a while for us to crack their goaltender, but we just stuck with it and got the first one to drop.” 

-Canada (Red) head coach Ryan McDonald on the win. 

In the third period, Czechia seemed to wake up, and they started attacking with the physicality and tenacity seen in their opening game. They had only seven shots in the first forty minutes? Well, they more than doubled that in the third, getting 15 shots on goal.

This is where Oaten stepped up and earned his nomination as player of the game for Canada, making several athletic saves to weather the storm in those first five minutes of the period, where Czechia had full control. But because they were opening their game up to create offence, that left some gaps in their defensive structure that Benjamin Veitch took advantage of to counterattack and finish, making it a three-goal lead for Canada. 

Czechia was given a golden opportunity to get back into the game as Canada was penalized for too many players. Maximilian Mares was able to establish his large 6-foot-6 and 209-pound frame at the top of the crease, where he tipped in a point shot from Oliver Andrle to break the shutout and get them back to within two goals.

Soon after, Canada was penalized again. They were pushing hard to get that next goal, but a good defensive play by Mirco Dufour allowed him to flip a puck out to Brock England, who scored a shorthanded goal that put the game out of reach at 4-1 with less than three minutes remaining. Canada was able to grind the last few minutes out, smothering the Czechs and moving on to the gold medal game. 

“I thought we had a great first two periods. I think we got pucks behind them and went to work. We took some penalties in the third that we aren’t too happy about, but our goalie was dynamite back there and bailed us out. Tomorrow there is going to be a battle. Every one of us was at camp together, we all started with gold as the goal, and I know everybody on both sides will be ready to play.”

-Camryn Warren on facing Canada White in the final.

The Medal games are set with Czechia facing the United States for Bronze, and an all-Canadian matchup, Canada (White) facing Canada (Red) for Gold. TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will show the medal games on Nov. 8; please check local listings for details.