GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. SWITZERLAND (DEC. 22)

It’s that time of year again! Canada’s National Junior Team continues its pre-tournament schedule Friday when it travels to Ängelholm to face off against Switzerland ahead of the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Last Game

Canada is coming off an 8-0 exhibition victory over Denmark’s U25 team on Tuesday. Three players — Fraser Minten (2-1—3) Macklin Celebrini (1-2—3) and Jordan Dumais (1-2—3) — had three-point efforts, while Denton Mateychuk added a pair of goals as Canada outshot the Danish side 40-15.

Last Meeting

The last time the Canadians and Swiss faced off was during pre-tournament action in Moncton last year. Canada came away with a 6-0 victory in a game that saw Shane Wright score twice, Connor Bedard chip in with a trio of assists and Thomas Milic stop all 19 shots he faced.

The last official tournament meeting came in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Juniors in Edmonton; Logan Stankoven had two goals and an assist, Tyson Foerster added one of each and Canada rode a four-goal first period to a 6-3 win and a spot in the semifinals.

What to Watch

With Owen Beck being the lone returnee, Canada’s National Junior Team looks vastly different from the side that won gold in Halifax. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything to get excited about. No, far from it. This year’s squad features 10 first-round NHL picks — Oliver Bonk, Easton Cowan, Nate Danielson, Conor Geekie, Maveric Lamoureux, Denton Mateychuk, Tanner Molendyk, Matthew Savoie, and Matthew Wood — along with current NHLers Tristan Luneau (Anaheim) and late addition Matthew Poitras (Boston). However, all eyes will certainly be on 17-year-old sensation Macklin Celebrini, the projected first-overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft who has put up 25 points in 15 games with Boston University.

The Swiss have few familiar faces to CHL fans, including defenceman and Anaheim Ducks prospect Rodwin Dionicio (Saginaw, OHL), goaltender Ewan Huet (Regina, WHL) – the son of longtime NHL netminder Cristobal Huet, who represented France at the 1995 World Juniors (Division B) – and forwards Leo Braillard (Lethbridge, WHL) and Miles Müller (Moncton, QMJHL). There are potentially five players back from the team that lost to Czechia in the quarterfinals and finished seventh in the Maritimes – Dionicio, Müller, Alessio Beglieri, Nick Meile and Jonas Taibel,

A Look Back

Since their initial encounter in 1980, Canada has never lost to the Swiss in their head-to-head history, winning all 25 meetings, with 24 of them coming in regulation.

There have been two semifinal showdowns – in 2002, Steve Ott had two goals and an assist and Pascal Leclaire posted a 35-save shutout in a 4-0 Canadian win, while Taylor Hall scored twice in a 6-1 victory in 2010.

All-time record: Canada leads 25-0-0 (1-0 in OT)
Canada goals: 160
Switzerland goals: 43