GRAND FORKS, N.D. –  It was an eventual Sunday at Grand Casino Arena, as the semifinals took centerstage at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships in St. Paul, Minn.
 
WORLD JUNIORS: Czechia 6, Canada 4
For the third straight year, Canada fell in crushing fashion to Czechia in the medal round of the tournament, this time by a 6-4 score in the final semifinal of the day.
 
Canada rallied from multiple deficits in the game, including knotting the contest at 4-4 late in the third, but Czechia scored the eventual game winner with just over a minute to play and added an empty netter to secure the win and advance to the final against Sweden.
 
Cole Reschny was at the center of all the action, as the forward was named Team Canada's top player for the game following his performance. The Calgary, Alberta, native looked to get his first goal of the night on the power play, as a point shot deflected off his body parked in front and in to knot the game at 2-2 in the second period.
 
He struck again in the third period with a great power move to the front of the net to once again tie the game at 3-3 in the third period and pot his second of the game. Reschny also paced all Canadians with eight faceoff wins and logged over 17 minutes of action.
 
Ethan MacKenzie and Keaton Verhoeff also saw action on defense for Canada, with MacKenzie logging 11:39 of ice time and Verhoeff playing 8:39.
 
Canada will play Finland in the Bronze Medal Game on at 3:30 p.m. (CT) on NHL Network and TSN.
 
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