Canada cruises past Slovakia 9-2 to open title defence at U18 men’s hockey worlds

ALLEN — Braeden Cootes had two goals and three assists, Cameron Schmidt added two goals and one assist and Canada cruised to a 9-2 win over Slovakia at the under-18 men’s world hockey championship on Thursday.

Lev Katzin, Jackson Smith, Matthew Gard, Ryan Lin and Quinn Beauchesne also scored for the defending champion Canadians in the tournament opener.

Jack Ivankovic made 22 saves in the win.

Canada held a 6-0 lead before Slovakia got on the board late in the second period, then added another early in the third.

“I liked how we capitalized on our opportunities,” Canada head coach Cory Stillman said. “I think we started off slow; Slovakia played yesterday and we were just getting going, but we started getting better as the game went on, moving pucks and we got the saves from Jack (Ivankovic) we needed early.

“When you get up by five goals, it’s a tough game to play in. Guys want to score and maybe change some of their habits. Every team in this tournament has skilled players and they took advantage and scored a couple on us. You may not notice those little things in a 9-2 game, but in a one goal game, you will.”

Tomas Chrenko scored twice for Slovakia.

Michal Pradel surrendered five goals on 16 shots before Samuel Hrenak came in for relief. Hrenak gave up four goals on 24 shots.

Canada jumps right back into Pool A action on Friday against Latvia.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2025.