Unheralded Finnie leads the way as Canada beats Slovenia at hockey world championship

FRIBOURG — In a game where Canada’s offensive stars were largely silent, unheralded forward Emmitt Finnie helped keep his team undefeated at the world hockey championship.

Finnie scored his first international goal and added an assist as Canada defeated Slovenia 3-1 on Friday to increase its lead atop the standings in Group B.

It’s another step forward for Finnie, who has found a regular role with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings after being selected in the seventh round of the 2023 draft.

The 20-year-old from Lethbridge, Alta., appeared in all 82 games as a Red Wings rookie this season, scoring 17 goals and adding 13 assists.

Finnie showed a goal-scorers poise as he put the game out of reach in the third period. Parked in front of the Slovenian goal, he smartly redirected a Morgan Rielly point shot past goaltender Zan Us.

“It feels great (to score), and if anyone told me nine months ago that I would be (at world championship), I would have said they were crazy,” said Finnie, who was named Canada’s player of the game.

“It has been a lot of fun here, and I have had a lot of support from everyone, so it feels great. We need to keep playing our game, never be satisfied and keep working hard.”

Denton Mateychuk and Dylan Cozens also scored for Canada, which now has 14 points from four regulation wins and an overtime victory.

Rozle Bohinc scored for Slovenia with 65 seconds left to spoil Jet Greaves’ shutout bid.

Greaves made 13 saves for Canada, while Us stopped 29 shots for Slovenia.

“Slovenia competes hard, and their goalie played well and stood on his head today,” Finnie said of Us’s performance.

Finnie helped set up Mateychuk’s goal in the first, while Cozens gave Canada a 2-0 lead with a goal in the second.

Cozens was happy to see Finnie make the most of his chance to get into the lineup.

“(Finnie) has been in and out of the lineup, but he has been positive every day and he is a fun teammate to be around,” Cozens said. “Every time he gets on the ice, he works hard and he got rewarded for that today.”

Canada wraps up its preliminary round with games against Slovakia on Sunday and Czechia on Tuesday. The Slovaks face the Czechs on Saturday.

Second-place Slovakia is three points behind Canada in Pool B, while the Czechs are four points back.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2026.