Can Canada bounce back from a pair of bad world juniors?

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By its (very high) standards, Canada is mired in a terrible slump at the world junior hockey championship.

OK, it's only two years, but the country that cares more about this event than anyone else (combined?) was eliminated in the quarterfinals twice in a row. Since the world juniors switched to its current format of a group stage followed by playoffs in 1996, this is the first time that Canada has failed to reach the semifinals in consecutive years.

Last year's exit was especially frustrating. Despite enjoying home-ice advantage in Ottawa, Canada mustered only 10 goals in its four group games and was the most penalized team in the tournament. In the quarterfinals, a questionable kneeing call late in the third period led to the decisive power-play goal in a 4-3 loss to the Czech Republic, who knocked out the Canadians for the second straight year.

Now the pressure is really on. The last time Canada went three straight world juniors without winning at least a bronze medal was way back in 1981, when the late Dale Hawerchuk led the team in scoring as a 17-year-old.

No doubt sensing the urgency, Hockey Canada brought in a big gun behind the bench in Dale Hunter. Widely considered the top coach in junior hockey, the former gritty NHL forward has won three Memorial Cup titles and three Ontario Hockey League coach of the year awards with the London Knights since buying the team and taking over as coach in 2001. He also guided Canada to the world junior title in 2020 with a pretty mediocre roster. 

Here are a few more things to know for the world juniors, which open on