2026 World Juniors Notebook: Day 1

On the first day of preliminary round play at the 2026 World Junior Championship, five of Utah’s prospects were in action. Below is a recap of today’s games with Mammoth prospects!

Finland 6, Denmark 2

FIN: Väisänen

Finland started off their preliminary round with a 6-2 win over Denmark. Finland had 43 shots on goal in the win and held Denmark to 10 total shots through 60 minutes.

Veeti Väisänen played 15:52 in the win and had two shots on goal. Finland’s next game is December 28 against Latvia. Game time is 2:30 p.m. MT.

Canada 7, Czechia 5

CZE: Hoch, Pšenička; CAN: Beaudoin, Desnoyers, Iginla

It was a high scoring affair between Czechia and Canada with 12 total goals. However, a last-minute tally led Canada to its first win of the preliminary round, 7-5. The Mammoth had a total of five players playing in the primetime game, three for Canada and two for Czechia.

For Canada, Tij Iginla scored in the third period, had four shots on goal, and played 17:14 in the win.

Cole Beaudoin had an assist on Porter Martone’s goal in the final minute of regulation. He played 16:46 and two shots on goal. Caleb Desnoyers played 12:26, had an assist on Zayne Parekh’s second period tally, and the forward had one shot on goal.

For Czechia, Max Pšenička had an assist on Tomas Poletin’s goal in the first period. He played 19:12 against Canada. Stepan Hoch played 13:20 and had one shot on goal.

Canada’s next game is tomorrow versus Latvia at 2:30 p.m. MT. Czechia will face Denmark tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m. MT.

For a full primer on the World Junior Championship, *click here*! Check back tomorrow for a recap from the second day of the tournament.