Canada opens bid at 3rd straight world juniors title with victory over Finland

Mathis Rousseau was passed over in consecutive NHL drafts.

Owen Allard didn't hear his name last June.

Macklin Celebrini, meanwhile, is expected to go No. 1 in 2024.

Three players with very different career trajectories were key in Canada's victory to open the world junior hockey championship Tuesday.

Rousseau made 24 saves, including an outrageous glove stop in the first period, while Allard and Celebrini both found the back of the net in the country's 5-2 victory over Finland.

"Unbelievable," said Rousseau, a native of Boisbriand, Que. "Growing up you see world juniors, it's something big. And now I'm here. Make a great save for the team and then we won.

"Makes the moment even more special."

Nate Danielson added a goal and an assist before Matthew Poitras and Maveric Lamoureux scored into the empty net. Lamoureux also had an assist for a two-point performance at the annual under-20 tournament.

"Surreal experience," Allard said. "Seeing the Canadian fans is just something special, something I've never experienced before."

Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and Jere Lassila replied for Finland. Niklas Kokko made 26 stops.

Canada, the two-time defending gold medallist looking for its first three-peat since 2009, has just one returning player from the 2023 event in Halifax.

Canada is minus five players currently in the professional ranks, including Connor Bedard, while defenceman Tristan Luneau, who played six games with the Anaheim Ducks this season, made the roster before having to be hospitalized with a viral infection.

"Some nerves ... I mean, how could there not?" Canada head coach Alan Letang said. "It was pretty quiet before the game."

The North Americans opened the scoring with 3:36 left in the first when Lamoureux fired a shot that went in off Danielson.