Canada's Gavin McKenna (#9, left) and Porter Martone (#22, right) keyed the offence in an 8-1 thrashing of Switzerland at the 2024 U18 Worlds in Vantaa, Finland.
photo: PHOTO: © INTERNATIONAL ICE HOCKEY FEDERATION / CHRIS TANOUYE
Canada clinched first place in Group B with an 8-1 rout of Switzerland at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 World Championship on Sunday. After a tepid start, coach Gardiner MacDougall's boys exploded for seven goals in the middle frame.
Captain Porter Martone dazzled with a hat trick. His linemate Gavin McKenna, the 16-year-old Canadian wunderkind projected to go #1 overall in 2026, also shone with a goal and two assists. Ryder Ritchie added a goal and an assist.
"We didn't start the game how we wanted to, for sure," said Ritchie. "I think in the first period we came out slow, but we responded in the second."
Making his tournament debut, Canadian goalie Ryerson Leenders, the starter for the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads, recorded 26 saves for the win.
Kimi Koerbler had the lone goal for Switzerland, which was outshot 34-27 on the night.
"It was a bad game," said Koerbler. "You can't lose 8-1 in this situation. Our start was kind of good, but we completely messed it up afterwards."
This didn't look like a blowout at the outset. Swiss coach Patrick Schoeb’s troops came out adrenalized and physical, outshooting Canada 15-6 in the first period.
Switzerland nearly opened the scoring on its first power play when Jamiro Reber dinged one off the iron. Leenders was sharp to deny Robin Antenen on a one-timer from the slot.
The Swiss defended tenaciously during their first penalty kill, where Canada mounted some late-period pressure. Swiss starting goalie Christian Kirsch denied Malcolm Spence from point-blank range after the penalty expired.
In the first minute of the second period, Kirsch said no to Spence again on a breakaway. And then the teams traded goals 10 seconds apart.
First, it was Koerbler picking off a pass in the Swiss end and going end-to-end to squeeze a wrister through Leenders at 2:47. Koerbler knows the Canadian style well as a member of the OHL's Ottawa 67s.
"It was a good goal, but we couldn't take the momentum out of this goal," said Koerbler.
Indeed, Swiss joy was short-lived. Off the ensuing centre-ice faceoff, Canada's Kashawn Aitcheson pinched in to fool Kirsch on the short side.
McKenna gave Canada its first lead when he danced down right wing, cut to the net, and pushed the puck through Kirsch at 5:55.
Ritchie, who plays for the Prince Albert Raiders, praised McKenna, a fellow WHL star with the Medicine Hat Tigers: "I'm not surprised. I've gotten to see him play for the last few years. He's obviously a special player, and what he's doing in this tournament is pretty special. He's fun to play with and watch out there."
Just 28 seconds later, on a broken play off the rush, Cole Beaudoin got the puck to Marek Vanacker for a one-timer that made it 3-1. Canada was also pulling ahead in the physicality department, as exemplified by a huge open-ice bodycheck by rearguard Charlie Elick on Leon Muggli.
Moments after Leenders denied Kevin Haas on a shorthanded breakaway, Martone put the game out of reach at 34:02. Following up on another spectacular rush by McKenna, he batted the rebound in out of mid-air.
At 15:29, Ritchie hammered a one-timer from the slot for his first goal of the tournament and a 5-1 lead. Tij Iginla's snipe from the right faceoff circle at 16:39 ended Kirsch's night as Phileas Lachat took over between the Swiss pipes. Martone made it 7-1 with 18 seconds left in the second.
Iginla hailed Martone's performance: "It was unreal. It was pretty cool to watch, some pretty spectacular goals. And even aside from that, just some really good plays."
Leenders foiled Switzerland's Nolan Cattin on a mid-third period breakaway, as a game that had begun so promisingly for the underdogs receded into disappointment.
To round out the scoring, Malcolm Spence found Martone unguarded in front of the Swiss net, and he went between the legs for a flashy finish with 2:37 left.
The offensively gifted Canadians have scored at least six goals in each of their games so far. They thumped Sweden 6-3 and Czechia 6-0 to start off this tournament.
On Tuesday, Canada finishes off its preliminary round against winless Kazakhstan, while Switzerland takes on Sweden.
"We want to win that one and try to complete the 4-0 record going into the do-or-die games," said Iginla. "I think we just want to bring our best and keep getting better every game."
In 13 previous U18 Worlds meetings, Canada outscored Switzerland 78-21 with 12 wins and one loss. In that 3-1 Swiss upset in 2010, forward Samuel Guerra potted the winner against a Guy Carbonneau-coached team with captain Erik Gudbranson and other future NHLers such as Ryan Murray, Brett Connolly, and starting goalie Calvin Pickard.
Captain Porter Martone dazzled with a hat trick. His linemate Gavin McKenna, the 16-year-old Canadian wunderkind projected to go #1 overall in 2026, also shone with a goal and two assists. Ryder Ritchie added a goal and an assist.
"We didn't start the game how we wanted to, for sure," said Ritchie. "I think in the first period we came out slow, but we responded in the second."
Making his tournament debut, Canadian goalie Ryerson Leenders, the starter for the OHL’s Mississauga Steelheads, recorded 26 saves for the win.
Kimi Koerbler had the lone goal for Switzerland, which was outshot 34-27 on the night.
"It was a bad game," said Koerbler. "You can't lose 8-1 in this situation. Our start was kind of good, but we completely messed it up afterwards."
This didn't look like a blowout at the outset. Swiss coach Patrick Schoeb’s troops came out adrenalized and physical, outshooting Canada 15-6 in the first period.
Switzerland nearly opened the scoring on its first power play when Jamiro Reber dinged one off the iron. Leenders was sharp to deny Robin Antenen on a one-timer from the slot.
The Swiss defended tenaciously during their first penalty kill, where Canada mounted some late-period pressure. Swiss starting goalie Christian Kirsch denied Malcolm Spence from point-blank range after the penalty expired.
In the first minute of the second period, Kirsch said no to Spence again on a breakaway. And then the teams traded goals 10 seconds apart.
First, it was Koerbler picking off a pass in the Swiss end and going end-to-end to squeeze a wrister through Leenders at 2:47. Koerbler knows the Canadian style well as a member of the OHL's Ottawa 67s.
"It was a good goal, but we couldn't take the momentum out of this goal," said Koerbler.
Indeed, Swiss joy was short-lived. Off the ensuing centre-ice faceoff, Canada's Kashawn Aitcheson pinched in to fool Kirsch on the short side.
McKenna gave Canada its first lead when he danced down right wing, cut to the net, and pushed the puck through Kirsch at 5:55.
Ritchie, who plays for the Prince Albert Raiders, praised McKenna, a fellow WHL star with the Medicine Hat Tigers: "I'm not surprised. I've gotten to see him play for the last few years. He's obviously a special player, and what he's doing in this tournament is pretty special. He's fun to play with and watch out there."
Just 28 seconds later, on a broken play off the rush, Cole Beaudoin got the puck to Marek Vanacker for a one-timer that made it 3-1. Canada was also pulling ahead in the physicality department, as exemplified by a huge open-ice bodycheck by rearguard Charlie Elick on Leon Muggli.
Moments after Leenders denied Kevin Haas on a shorthanded breakaway, Martone put the game out of reach at 34:02. Following up on another spectacular rush by McKenna, he batted the rebound in out of mid-air.
At 15:29, Ritchie hammered a one-timer from the slot for his first goal of the tournament and a 5-1 lead. Tij Iginla's snipe from the right faceoff circle at 16:39 ended Kirsch's night as Phileas Lachat took over between the Swiss pipes. Martone made it 7-1 with 18 seconds left in the second.
Iginla hailed Martone's performance: "It was unreal. It was pretty cool to watch, some pretty spectacular goals. And even aside from that, just some really good plays."
Leenders foiled Switzerland's Nolan Cattin on a mid-third period breakaway, as a game that had begun so promisingly for the underdogs receded into disappointment.
To round out the scoring, Malcolm Spence found Martone unguarded in front of the Swiss net, and he went between the legs for a flashy finish with 2:37 left.
The offensively gifted Canadians have scored at least six goals in each of their games so far. They thumped Sweden 6-3 and Czechia 6-0 to start off this tournament.
On Tuesday, Canada finishes off its preliminary round against winless Kazakhstan, while Switzerland takes on Sweden.
"We want to win that one and try to complete the 4-0 record going into the do-or-die games," said Iginla. "I think we just want to bring our best and keep getting better every game."
In 13 previous U18 Worlds meetings, Canada outscored Switzerland 78-21 with 12 wins and one loss. In that 3-1 Swiss upset in 2010, forward Samuel Guerra potted the winner against a Guy Carbonneau-coached team with captain Erik Gudbranson and other future NHLers such as Ryan Murray, Brett Connolly, and starting goalie Calvin Pickard.