"Canadian hockey is missing an identity" - Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Pronger issues strong message after Team Canada's WJC exit

Team Canada’s World Junior Championship run ended with a 4-3 loss to Czechia in the quarterfinals. Adam Jecho scored the winning goal on a power play with 39.4 seconds left. The loss marked Canada’s second-worst finish on home ice.

Team Canada's exit left several Canadian hockey icons disappointed. One such person was Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Pronger. He took to X, to talk about the current state of the team.

"I guess the next question is … where do we go from here?" Pronger wrote. "The days of countries being nervous and afraid to play Canada are gone. Swagger gone. They actually look forward to playing Canada now. IMO that needs to change. Canadian hockey is missing an identity."

The quarterfinal game started badly for Canada. Petr Sikora scored for Czechia just 43 seconds into the game. Canada’s troubles grew when Cole Beaudoin received a five-minute penalty and was ejected for kneeing. Czechia scored twice more, ending the first period with a 3-1 lead.

Canada fought back. Tanner Howe scored a short-handed goal in the first period, and Porter Martone added another in the second. Bradly Nadeau tied the game in the third period, bringing hope to Canadian fans. However, Andrew Gibson’s late penalty for kneeing led to Jecho’s decisive goal.

Coach Dave Cameron said discipline and fatigue were issues throughout the tournament.

“I think this tournament was exactly what I knew it was going to be coming in," Cameron said after Canada's loss, via The Athletic's Scott Wheeler. "It was going to be 3-4 teams that could win it, there was going to be no easy to win games, you’ve got to win those sudden death games. It just verified that that’s exactly what it is.”

However, Cameron also received harsh comments from fans for it.

Mike Commodore on Team Canada's loss to Czechia

Controversial officiating played a key role in Team Canada's loss to Czechia at the World Junior Championship. Cole Beaudoin received a five-minute penalty and was ejected for kneeing, which Dave Cameron called too harsh. Another hit on Gavin McKenna, face-first into the boards, went unpenalized.

Former NHL defenseman Mike Commodore criticized the officiating.

"Folks … seen both clips now..5 min looked dicey to me first time seeing it full speed ... replay I thought it was clean … 2 min call end of game was bogus..." Commodore wrote in his tweet on Friday."But end of day can’t leave it up to the refs..especially IIHF..gotta play better. Tough tourney for (Canada)."

This marks Canada’s second straight quarterfinal exit.