- Carson Carels wants Canada to be a team other countries dread facing in Edmonton
- Canada has not played for World Junior gold since winning the 2023 title
- Read below for the message Cole Reschny says landed on day one of camp
Team Canada’s next World Junior roster already knows what it wants to be.
Carson Carels, the defenseman Calgary drafted sixth overall in June, laid it out for Chris Wahl of NHL.com after the group’s week together in Windsor.
“It’s obviously about putting Canada back on top, where teams are scared to come play us and know it’s going to be a hard game.”
The tournament runs Dec. 26 through Jan. 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, which is a big reason Carels likes the timing.
“It’s a good year to do it, especially in front of a home crowd. That’s what our plan is, we just need to build that culture where we’re playing for each other and putting our bodies on the line for that logo.”
Playing for each other showed up in small ways at the World Junior Summer Showcase. Watch Ethan Belchetz make sure the guy who set him up got the credit:
Cole Reschny went through the same week. The Flames forward, who scored four goals in seven games at last winter’s tournament, said the message arrived the moment players walked in the door.
“There was kind of a strict message sent as soon as we arrived here, and I think all of us as players were in on it too. We’ve got to engrave it into our heads; that’s how we need to play to have success.”
There is a reason for the reset. Canada has not reached a gold medal game since winning the 2023 title, with quarterfinal exits in 2024 and 2025 and a semifinal loss to Czechia last winter that left the team playing for bronze.
General manager Alan Millar rebuilt the summer camp around that. He invited 32 players instead of last year’s 42, scrapped the intra-squad game, and kept every returnee in Windsor for all three games.
On the ice, none of it has shown up yet. Canada closed the week with a 7-2 loss to the United States in Windsor.
A week later, the under-18 group made its own statement. Canada went 5-0 at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and buried the Americans 8-1 for gold in Edmonton. Here’s video of the final horn:
Pool play brings Czechia, Latvia, Norway and Switzerland when the puck drops on Boxing Day.
