Canada defeats USA to capture U18 IIHF gold

ESPOO, FINLAND — Canada defeated USA 6-4 in the 2024 Under-18 IIHF Men’s World Championship. The game was a story of two halves. The U.S. controlled the first two periods of the game. They outshot Canada by a margin of nearly twenty shots and were up 3-2 through two periods.

Then midway through the third period, Canadian winger Ryder Ritchie and a USA player were tied up in a battle along the boards and USA winger Trevor Connelly came in and threw a hard hit on Ritchie. The hit resulted in a five-minute major and a game misconduct for illegal checking to the head. Canada would go on to score three goals on the ensuing power play and seized back control of the game.

“This team showed unbelievable resiliency and unbelievable grit,” said Canada coach Gardiner MacDougall. “If you’re watching the game, maybe even in parts in the first but certainly in the second, you’re thinking ‘There’s no hope, there’s no hope for this team. We hung around.”

The major penalty by Connelly comes amidst NHL teams intensely scrutinizing him.

Gavin McKenna, the star 2026 draft-eligible forward for Canada, recorded a hat trick and four points leading the team to victory.

“Every game that we come into he just wows me more,” said Canada’s captain Porter Martone. “He’s incredible and I had the honor to play with him.”

The MVP of the tournament as voted by the media was USA forward James Hagens who set the single tournament record for points. He was held pointless in the gold medal game.

Media All-Star Team

G: Carter George (2024)
D: Cole Hutson (2024)
D: Luka Radivojevic (2025)
F: James Hagens (2025)
F: Gavin McKenna (2026)
F: Porter Martone (2025)
MVP: James Hagens (2025)

Directorate awards

G: Carter George (2024)
D: Cole Hutson (2024)
F: James Hagens (2025)

Required reading

(Photo: Jussi Nukari / Lehtikuva via AP)