Team Canada react after their loss to Team Czechia in the quarterfinals match during the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship at Canadian Tire Centre on January 2, 2025 in Ottawa, Canada. (Credit: Getty Images)
Former Canadian professional hockey player Kevin Bieksa believes Team Canada’s shock exit from the World Juniors was because of improving standards in junior hockey in other countries. Czechia knocked Canada out of the tournament in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
Bieksa played for the Vancouver Canucks and Anaheim Ducks in the NHL as a two-way defenceman. He co-hosts Hockey Night in Canada on Sportsnet. On Saturday, he pointed out that the recent tournament results indicated a parity in minor hockey, especially across the border with the USA.
“As Canadians, we believe that we dominate minor hockey and the NHL," Biieksa said. "You're going to see it in the Four Nations tournament. There was a guy named Wayne Gretzky who grew hockey in the south. Now you got Phoenix, you got Dallas, you got LA — all hockey hotbeds to go with Michigan, Chicago.
