Finland vs Canada Preview & Prediction | 2025 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship | Group Stage

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Twenty-time gold medallists and junior ice hockey juggernauts Canada take on Finland as they begin their quest to reclaim their World Junior Championship crown on home ice.

Start date/time: Friday 27th December, 2024, UK – not before 12:30am / Thursday 26th December, US ET – not before 7:30pm / Thursday 26th December, US PT – not before 4:30pm

How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – NHL Network / Canada – TSN

How to watch online: UK – Cannot be streamed / US – NHL Network via subscriptions for fuboTV, DirectTV, SlingTV or ESPN+ / Canada – TSN streaming platforms

Finland vs Canada Prediction

Canada endured a rare failure last year in this tournament, knocked out in the quarter-finals by Czechia in the biggest shock of the competition. That result will have stung what is a proud ice hockey nation and they have every intention of putting that right this time around in front of their home fans. Dave Cameron’s side have no excuse not to be in that gold medal match come January 5th, especially when you take into account their stacked squad.

This Canadian squad is full to the brim with exciting young talent making headlines across both the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Western Hockey League (WHL), not to mention the NHL itself, with many of these prospects either having been already drafted by NHL franchises, or are set to be drafted in the future. Players such as Porter Martone, Matthew Schaefer and Gavin McKenna fall into the latter category. 

In terms of this particular contest, Canada will need to be at their best. Finland were very good last year and ran eventual champions USA very close in the semi-finals, only losing 3-2. However, the Canadians defeated them in the group stage of that competition and are well worth backing to do the same again on this occasion.

Finland vs Canada Tip: Canada to win