Join Daily Faceoff’s Andy MacNeil as he breaks down Thursday’s preliminary round matchup between Finland and Canada at the U20 World Junior Hockey Championships.
Game odds via bet365.
Canada is back after a disappointing fifth-place finish at the 2024 WJC. The Canadians entered the tournament as back-to-back gold medalists but suffered a heartbreaking quarterfinal loss to Czechia. After rallying from a 2-0 deficit, they gave up the go-ahead goal with just 11 seconds remaining. Still, Canada enters this tournament as a +130 favorite to win gold.
This year’s squad features four returning players: Easton Cowan, Carson Rehkopf, Brayden Yager, and defenseman Oliver Bonk. Yager will captain the team after leading the Moose Jaw Warriors to their first WHL title in franchise history. Tanner Molendyk, who missed last year’s tournament due to injury, and Callum Ritchie will serve as alternate captains.
Veteran coach Dave Cameron, who guided Canada to silver in 2011 and gold in 2022, is back behind the bench. Hockey Canada brought him in after last year’s quarterfinal exit, emphasizing the need to be more competitive. They’re counting on the 66-year-old’s old-school approach to make the necessary adjustments.
Canada looked sharp in the pre-tournament, going undefeated with wins over Switzerland (7-1), Sweden (4-2), and Czechia (3-2). Easton Cowan led the way with a hat trick against Switzerland and added another goal against Sweden. Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, was the only other Canadian to score multiple goals, including the game-winner against Czechia. The youngest player on the team made a strong impression with two goals in three games.
Luca Pinelli, Oliver Bonk, Brayden Yager, Andrew Gibson, Berkly Catton, and Caden Price also found the back of the net during exhibition play.
Carter George started Canada’s pre-tournament finale after stopping all 11 shots he faced in the first two periods against Switzerland. Drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the second round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, George appears to have earned the starting job over Jack Ivankovic and Carson Bjarnason heading into the tournament. Canada will also boast a couple of top-four projected picks, including defenseman Matthew Schaefer.
Finland fell short at last year’s WJC, losing 8-5 to Czechia in the bronze-medal game to finish fourth. The Finnish team, which last won the WJC in 2014, enters the 2025 tournament with the fourth-best odds (+1100) of capturing gold.
Finland hasn’t reached the gold-medal game since a 3-2 loss to Canada at Rogers Place in Edmonton in 2022. Most recently, they opened the 2024 tournament against Canada on Boxing Day, falling 5-2.
This year’s squad brings back six players from last year’s team: forwards Konsta Helenius, Rasmus Kumpulainen, Emil Hemming, and Kasper Haltunnen, as well as defensemen Emil Pieniniemi and Kalle Kangas, both prospects for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Finland started strong in pre-tournament play with a 6-1 win over Slovakia but closed out with a 5-2 loss to the United States.
Seattle Kraken prospect Kim Saarinen is Finland’s most experienced goaltender and the only one drafted by an NHL team. In 16 career games with Hämeenlinnan Pallokerho (HPK) of Liiga, Saarinen posted a 4-6-4 record with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage.
The 6-foot-4 Finn spent most of the 2023-24 season with HPK’s U20 club, where he excelled with a 14-5 record, a 2.41 goals-against average, and a .917 save percentage—ranking second among all SM-sarja U20 netminders last season.
Petteri Rimpinen has been solid at the pro level, though, posting an 11-5-7 record with the Liiga’s Kiekko-Espoo. So far in 2024-25, Rimpinen has posted a .916 save percentage, a 2.25 goals-against average, and one shutout in 24 games played.
The 2025 WJC doesn’t offer the same kind of betting options that the NHL does, but that’s not surprising. Oddsmakers have little to go on, and won’t spend a lot of time preparing markets for a niche tournament that they may take a loss on. So, we’re stuck with the typical markets: moneyline, puck line, total, and of course, futures. That said, I do think there’s a lot to like about over 6.5 goals at -125 odds.
Last year, only two of Finland’s seven games featured fewer than seven goals. Based on their lacklustre performance against the United States, it’s not a stretch to think that Canada will dominate them by a wide margin. Moreover, three out of Canada’s four preliminary round games featured seven goals or more last year.
