FRISCO, Texas – Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team saved their best effort for last, shutting out Sweden 7-0 to win its second consecutive IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship, repeating as champions for the first time .
Canada scored seven unanswered goals—including a pair from Brady Martin (Elmira, ON/Sault Ste. Marie, OHL)—while Jack Ivankovic (Mississauga, ON/Brampton, OHL) made 28 saves for his second shutout of the tournament to lead Canada to victory.
Xavier Villeneuve (Les Cèdres, QC/Blainville-Boisbriand, LHJMQ) opened the scoring just four minutes in the first period and Canada never looked back. Taking a 2-0 lead after the first period, Canada netted three goals the second and added another two in the final frame.
“What a great feeling,” said head coach Cory Stillman (Peterborough, ON/Guelph, OHL). “[It’s been a] long season for these guys and you always want to finish the season with a championship with your club team. If that doesn’t pan out, you get to represent your country and that’s pretty special. We got better as the tournament went on. Tonight, was the best game we played, and we came out winners.”
Canada’s offence was well-rounded on Saturday night, with six different goal scorers and 14 players registering a point.
Jack Nesbitt (Sarnia, ON/Windsor, OHL) and Ben Kindel (Coquitlam, BC/Calgary, WHL) had two-point performances, registering a goal and an assist and a pair of assists, respectively.
Jackson Smith (Calgary, AB/Tri-City, WHL), Ethan Czata (Brampton, ON/Niagara, OHL) and Braeden Cootes (Sherwood Park, AB/Seattle, WHL) all contributed with goals, improving Canada’s tournament-leading goal total to an impressive 36.
“This was one of the closest teams I’ve ever been on,” said Smith. “We came together quick, didn’t have a ton of time to get to know each other but that didn’t matter. It showed out there with how we played tonight, we are truly a team. This is an incredible feeling. There is nothing better than winning gold for Canada, and to do it twice (2024 Hlinka-Gretzky) is extra special. Hopefully, this is just the start for me and these guys.”
Cole Reschny (Macklin, SK/Victoria, WHL), Quinn Beauchesne (Ottawa, ON/Guelph, OHL), Lev Katzin (Thornhill, ON/Guelph, OHL), Alex Huang (Rosemère, QC/Chicoutimi, LHJMQ), Keaton Verhoeff (Fort Saskatchewan, AB/Victoria, WHL), Tyler Hopkins (Campbellville, ON/Kingston, OHL) and Cameron Schmidt (Prince George, BC/Vancouver, WHL) all chipped in with assists.
“I’m so proud of this group,” said Reschny. “We got better every day, and tonight was all of our hard work coming together. It’s an amazing feeling winning gold for Canada and to do it with this group of guys is even better.”
Following the game, Ivankovic and Martin were named to the tournament all-star team, an award voted on by the IIHF and tournament directorate. Ivankovic was also named Best Goaltender of the tournament.
A full game summary can be found at HockeyCanada.ca.
The Canadians were undefeated throughout the tournament, beating Slovakia, Latvia, Finland and Norway and outscoring their opponents 29-5 in the preliminary round. Canada booked its spot in today’s gold medal game with a 3-2 overtime win over Czechia in the quarterfinals and a 4-0 semifinal win over Slovakia.
Since 2002, Canada has won six gold medals at the IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship (2003, 2008, 2013, 2021, 2024, 2025), in addition to one silver (2005) and four bronze (2012, 2014, 2015, 2023).
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