Jason La Rose
Canada’s National Men's Under-18 Team closes out the preliminary round Monday at the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship, taking on Finland with the top three spots in Group A very much undecided.
Last Game
Canada made it back-to-back shutouts on Saturday, getting 12 saves from Gavin Betts in an 8-0 win over Norway. Dima Zhilkin led the offence with a hat trick and an assist, Jaxon Jacobson scored twice and Tynan Lawrence recorded a goal and two helpers for the Canadians, who piled 66 shots against two Norwegian goaltenders.
The Finns moved into top spot in Group A with a 5-4 overtime win over host Slovakia on Saturday. Samu Alalauri tied the game with 4:51 left and Oliver Suvanto provided the overtime winner for Finland just 1:50 into the extra period, putting the Scandinavians (2-1-0-0, eight points) ahead of the Slovaks (2-0-1-0, seven points) and Canadians (2-0-0-1, six points).
Last Meeting
The Canadians and Finns last met at the U18 level in the bronze medal game of the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup last summer in, ironically, Trencin. Cooper Williams, Ethan Belchetz and Daxon Rudolph scored in the first, second and third periods, respectively, and Betts stopped all 22 shots he faced for the shutout in a 3-0 win.
At U18 Men’s Worlds, the teams most recently faced off in the preliminary round of the 2025 tournament in Texas. Ben Kindel, Brady Martin and Xavier Villeneuve each recorded a goal an an assist as the Canadians recorded a 5-1 win despite being outshot 40-20. Jack Ivankovic was terrific between the pipes in a 39-save effort.
What to Watch
Zhilkin has been terrific for the Canadians, sitting tied with Finnish forward Luca Santala (more on him below) for the scoring lead with six points (4-2—6) in three games. His hat trick against Norway was the 20th by a Canadian in tournament history and the first since Gavin McKenna potted three goals in the classic 2024 gold medal game against the United States. Named captain of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit in early January despite being just 16 years old when the puck dropped on the 2025-26 campaign (his birthday is Oct. 8, 2008), Zhilkin recorded 75 points (36-29—75) in 59 games, almost doubling his scoring efforts from his rookie season (43 points). A member of Canada’s bronze medal-winning team at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, Zhilkin doesn’t need to go far to find out what it takes to be successful at U18 Men’s Worlds—his brother, Danny, won gold with Canada at the 2021 tournament.
Santala is turning heads as an underager—as a 2009-born player, he isn’t eligible for the NHL Draft until 2027. Santala, who represented his country at the 2025 U17 World Challenge in Truro, Nova Scotia, last fall, came out firing, matching Zhilkin’s performance against Norway hat trick and assist of his own against the Norwegians. With the absence of Oscar Hemming (No. 11 among North American skaters) due to a dispute with the Finnish association, Suvanto is the notable name among draft watchers, finishing at No. 3 among international skaters according to NHL Central Scouting. Suvanto spent this season with Tappara in the Liiga, the top professional league in Finland, posting 11 points (2-9—11) in 48 games. He was well-travelled internationally this year, appearing at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and World Juniors prior to U18 Men’s Worlds.
A Look Back
As they usually are at major international tournaments, the Canadians and Finns have been frequent foes at U18 Men’s Worlds, with Canada winning eight of 15 meetings (with one tie) dating back to 2002.
Those matchups have come largely in the prelims, with only one including a medal up for grabs; at the 2012 tournament in Czechia, Hunter Shinkaruk scored at 2:05 of overtime to finish his hat trick and give Canada a 5-4 win and the bronze medal.
All-time record: Canada leads 8-6-1 (1-3 in OT/SO) Canada goals: 48 Finland goals: 44