GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. FINLAND (JAN. 14)

Medals are on the line Sunday as Canada’s National Women's Under-18 Team battles Finland for bronze to close out the 2024 IIHF U18 Women’s World Championship.

Last Game

Canada fell 4-2 to Czechia in a tight Saturday semifinal. Chloe Primerano got Canada within a goal in the second period, Stryker Zablocki tied it early in the third and Canada outshot the Czechs 47-12, but the Canadians missed out on the gold medal game for just the second time in tournament history.

The Finns were downed by the United States by the same 4-2 score in their semifinal. Tinja Tapani and Nelly Andersson scored second-period goals to keep it close and Kerttu Kuja-Halkola made 40 saves for the Finns, who are in search of their second bronze medal in the last three years, and fourth overall.

Last Meeting

Canada finished the preliminary round by shutting out Finland 10-0 on Tuesday to earn top spot in Group A. Primerano and Caitlin Kraemer scored seven seconds apart in the first period—tying the tournament record for fastest two goals—to give the Canadians a 2-0 lead. Sienna D’Alessandro, Reese Logan and Primerano added goals in the middle frame before Canada exploded for a five-goal third period. Primerano became the first defender to record a hat trick at U18 Women’s Worlds and Kraemer completed one of her own. Hannah Clark made seven saves for the shutout.

What to Watch

Primerano continues to impress her first world championship. With her power-play goal in the semifinals, the North Vancouver, B.C., product is now tied for the most points by a defender at one U18 Women’s Worlds (a record set by Canadian blue-liner Brigette Lacquette in 2010). The 17-year-old is the tournament’s leading scorer with six goals and seven assists in five games.

Third in tournament scoring, Emma Ekoluoma has been terrific for the Finns. She scored back-to-back hat tricks to start the tournament and has 10 points (7-3—10) in five games. The 17-year-old has been terrific with Kärpät in the Naisten Liiga, the top women’s league in Finland, recording 12 goals and 22 points in 23 games.

A Look Back

This will be the 15th meeting between the Canadians and Finns at U18 Women’s Worlds, and as the Finnish program continues to improve, the games have become much closer in recent years.

In their first-ever meeting at the inaugural world championship in Calgary in 2008, Canada got five points each from Laura Fortino (1-4—5) and Natalie Spooner (0-5—5) and a hat trick from Marie-Philip Poulin in a 17-0 win, still the most goals scored in one game by a Canadian team at the tournament.

But Finland handed Canada a 2-0 loss in the opening game of the 2022 tournament, before Jade Iginla and Madison Chantler helped Canada secure a 2-1 win in the semifinals, and it took an overtime winner from Alex Law to give Canada a 3-2 semifinal win last year.

All-time record: Canada leads 13-1 (1-0 in OT)
Canada goals: 84
Finland goals: 8