SAINT PAUL – Canada will play for bronze at the world junior hockey championship.
Tomas Poletin scored with 1:14 left in the third period as Czechia ended Canadian gold-medal dreams for a third straight year with a 6-4 victory in the semifinals at the men’s under-20 tournament Sunday.
Vojtech Cihar had two goals, including one into the empty net, for the Czechs, who also eliminated Canada at the quarterfinal stage in both 2024 and 2025 — the first time the country failed to make the event’s final four in consecutive years.
