Canada needs major changes after 2nd straight early WJHC exit

Beckett Sennecke was fittingly named the OHL's player of the month for December on the same day Team Canada was embarrassingly eliminated by Czechia in the quarterfinals of the World Junior Hockey Championship for the second consecutive year.

Sennecke, the third overall pick by the Anaheim Ducks in the 2024 NHL Draft, was puzzlingly omitted from Canada's world junior roster. His absence is just one of many questionable decisions made by Canada's management group and coaching staff that should result in wholesale changes.

Peter Anholt, tasked with choosing the roster for the second year in a row, doesn't deserve a third crack at it. Head coach Dave Cameron needs to be replaced, too, despite leading Canada to gold in 2022.

Getting bounced by an inferior opponent before the medal round in consecutive years is unacceptable for a hockey nation with standards as high as Canada's. And this is no knock on Czechia, a program on the rise. While it's usually gold or bust, these were not Canadian teams in championship form that lost to the United States or Sweden in the medal round.

This is the first time Canada has been eliminated from the quarterfinals in back-to-back years in the tournament's current format. Canada last finished outside the top four in consecutive years when it did so three straight times from 1979-81.

There's plenty of blame to go around, but it starts at the top. Canada could've used Sennecke's game-breaking offensive ability during a tournament in which it struggled mightily to generate offense at five-on-five, managing only six such goals in five games. Fellow 2024 top-10 picks - defensemen Carter Yakemchuk (No. 7) and Zayne Parekh (No. 9) - were left off the team, too. The OHL's second-leading scorer, Michael Misa - a likely top-five pick in 2025 - was also omitted. (2024 Nos. 4 and 6 picks Cayden Lindstrom and Tij Iginla were unavailable because of injury.)

All four of these players were stunningly left off Canada's original training camp roster. Sennecke and Parekh were later added as injury replacements, but management had clearly already made up its mind without giving these players an opportunity to battle for a job in camp.

Management galaxy-brained the entire thing. When in doubt, it's best to go down with talent - especially in a tournament played by teenagers that lacks the structure of NHL hockey. Canada did the opposite.

But despite these notable omissions, Canada's depth still made it a top-three team in the tournament on paper, at least. Poor coaching compounded the questionable roster decisions.

Canada got off to a sluggish start against Czechia, as it did in losses to the United States and Latvia and a 3-0 win against Germany that was only 1-0 until the final five minutes. Extra reps could've helped, but Cameron opted to give his players rest instead, canceling two practices and a morning skate.

Canada's lack of discipline was arguably its biggest issue throughout the tournament. While there were indeed some questionable calls versus Czechia - most notably Cole Beaudoin's kneeing major - the team couldn't stay out of the box. In five games, Canada racked up a tournament-high 113 penalty minutes, 34 more than the closest team, Kazakhstan. While that ultimately falls on the players, the coach is partially to blame for failing to get his team in line.

Cameron also failed to craft game plans that generated high-quality looks. Canada racked up plenty of shots from the outside throughout the tournament but was consistently unable to penetrate the middle of the ice. Bringing aboard some of the nation's most skilled players - such as Sennecke and Misa, who can win one-on-one and attack off the rush - surely would've helped.

Whoever is charged with building Canada's 2026 world junior team will be under the microscope. A third consecutive early exit would be catastrophically embarrassing. Choosing the best players sounds simple enough, but hiring the right coach will be crucial.

The pressure is on.