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World Juniors Day 6 Recap: Canada underwhelms again in loss to Eiserman, USA
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Photo credit: David Reginek-USA TODAY Sports
Mike Gould
Jan 1, 2025, 11:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 1, 2025, 09:41 EST
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Cole Eiserman (NYI) led the way for Team USA on Tuesday in a huge 4-1 win over Team Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Eiserman, the No. 20 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, assisted on the opening goal and added an insurance marker of his own late in regulation as the Americans toppled their Group A rivals.
The Canadians gave Team USA nine opportunities on the power play on Tuesday evening. With Easton Cowan (TOR) sitting in the box for a boarding penalty, Eiserman ripped a wrister past Carter George (LA) to make it a 3-1 game — and, as Cowan exited the sin bin, Eiserman hit him with some choice words.
As Flames fans know all too well, Zayne Parekh’s purported lack of discipline was often cited as a reason for his omission from Canada’s final World Junior roster. But the guys they picked instead are having all kinds of trouble staying out of the box, and very few of them can match Parekh’s offensive capabilities.
Indeed, Team Canada scored just once on 39 shots against the Americans. It took until the third period for Bradly Nadeau (CAR) to beat Team USA goaltender Trey Augustine (DET) the first time, and nobody else did it again the rest of the game. The Canadians had their looks, but they really struggled to finish.
Cole Hutson (WSH), Danny Nelson (NYI), and Ryan Leonard (WSH) also scored for an American team that finished first in Group A with a 3-0-1-0 record and a plus-12 goal differential. Next up in the quarterfinals: Team USA takes on Team Switzerland, while Canada will face off against the same Czech team that bounced them early last year.

Best of the rest

  • Herman Traff (NJ) looks like a steal of a third-round pick. Playing on his 19th birthday, the 6’3″ winger led the way with pair of goals as Team Sweden defeated Team Czechia by a 4-2 score on New Years’ Eve. The usual suspects chipped in for the Czechs — namely, Eduard Sale (SEA) and Adam Jecho (STL) — but beating Sweden was always going to be a tall order, particularly with the top spot in Group B on the line.
  • The plucky Latvians already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals with their win over Team Germany on Monday, but they still could’ve avoided the Swedes with a win over Team Finland last night. Alas, it wasn’t to be. The shots were pretty close (39-28 for the Finns) but Team Latvia conceded one goal in each period en route to a 3-0 defeat. Undrafted forward Benjamin Rautiainen, who’s been turning heads in the Liiga this year, led the way with a goal and an assist for the Finns on Tuesday — his tally set up by top centre prospect Konsta Helenius (BUF).
  • And finally, in the battle to avoid the relegation round, Team Switzerland ended up getting the better of Team Kazakhstan. Kirill Lyapunov has piqued the interest of scouts in Ottawa with three goals in four games and netted the Kazakhs’ only tally on Tuesday; Simon Meier (also undrafted) led the way with a goal and a helper in the 3-1 win.

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