Canada defeats Sweden to win repeat gold at U18 IIHF Men's World Championship
By Scott Wheeler, Corey Pronman and Max Bultman
FRISCO, Texas — Canada has repeated as the IIHF Under-18 World Champions for the first time ever, defeating Sweden 7-0 Saturday night to secure the 2025 title.
In a much-anticipated gold medal game between two teams loaded with top prospects in both the 2025 and 2026 NHL Draft classes, Canada blitzed Sweden in the first period, taking an early 2-0 lead on 20 shots in the first frame, grabbing an early lead and never looking back.
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It started with Canadian defenseman Xavier Villeneuve, who opened the scoring just 4:06 into the game by capitalizing on a Sweden turnover and wiring a shot from the top of the circle. Then, Canada forward Brady Martin made his presence felt on his team's next two goals, first scoring off a slick pass from Cole Reschny at the top of the crease, and then screening Sweden goalie Love Harenstam on Jackson Smith's goal from the point to make it 3-0 early in the second period.
Brady Martin with a beauty! 🚨
Un but de toute beauté de Brady Martin! 🚨#U18MensWorlds | #MondialMasculinM18pic.twitter.com/xKmKef3jnZ
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) May 4, 2025
Canada pushed it to 4-0 later in the period on an Ethan Czata rush goal, and from there the rout was on. Martin added a highlight-reel tally to run it to 5-0 by the end of the second period. Sweden made a change in net after two periods, taking out Harenstam for Måns Goos, but Canada quickly got to Goos too, with forward Braeden Cootes striking just 1:12 into the third. Forward Jack Nesbitt rounded out the scoring later in the third for Canada.
Canada goaltender Jack Ivankovic stopped all 28 shots he faced, securing shutouts in both the semifinal and gold medal game.
Despite the nation's incredible hockey history and pedigree, Canada had previously won the World U18 Championship (which began in 1999) just five times, and never before in consecutive seasons. That may be due in part to the event's overlap with the Canadian Hockey League — encompassing all three major junior leagues — playoffs, taking some of the top talent in the age group out of Team Canada's player pool.
Even this year, top 2025 NHL Draft prospect Caleb Desnoyers was not available due to his QMJHL playoff run with Moncton, 2026 draft eligible Gavin McKenna is still in the WHL playoffs with Medicine Hat, and fellow top prospects in the 2007 birth year Michael Misa and Matthew Schaefer — both 2025 eligibles — were not available to Team Canada due to injury.
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But in a strong class for the group, it didn't matter. Canada finished a perfect 7-0 in the tournament, racing through pool play with a tournament-best plus-24 goal differential, and then punctuated the event with a strong showing in the medal round that also included a 4-0 shutout of Slovakia in the semifinal.
Canadian goaltender Jack Ivankovic was already the first and only goalie to ever win gold at all three of the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, and U18 Worlds. When he won gold at the latter, he was the third-stringer. Now he has two golds at U18 Worlds and he can say he was the goaltender of record at all three major tournaments.
JACK IVANKOVIC!!! 🤯#U18MensWorlds | #MondialMasculinM18pic.twitter.com/4qYG0bhOuB
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) May 4, 2025
How about this for international pedigree at 17 years old (he doesn't turn 18 for another two and a half weeks):
2023 U17s: 5-3-0, .923 SV%
2024 Hlinka: 4-0-0, .967 SV%
2025 World Juniors: 0-0-1, .923 SV%
2025 U18s: 6-0-0, .961
He looked like he was in a different class than the rest of the goalies at this year's U18s. He's still eligible to play for Canada at both the 2026 and 2027 World Juniors as well. — Scott Wheeler
Canada's tournament has had ups and downs, including a nail-biter vs. Czechia in the quarterfinals, and an unconvincing win over a lackluster Finland team. They have had their consistent standouts all tournament: Forwards Cole Reschny, Brady Martin and Braeden Cootes, alongside defenseman Keaton Verhoeff and their goalie Ivankovic, but the depth of their team was a major issue. They were not getting secondary scoring or consistent puck possession from the down parts of their lineup.
That changed in the medal round and especially in the final game against Sweden. They were rolling four lines, and many of the down-lineup forwards had their best game of the tournament in terms of chance generation and controlling the play. The story of the 2025 NHL Draft and possibly the 2026 draft will be the strength of the CHL and Canadian crop of talent, and it was on display in the medal round this weekend. — Corey Pronman
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The result Saturday certainly sours things, but Sweden had an impressive tournament, both individually and as a team. Their 4-3 win over the United States in Friday's semifinal was a highly competitive and exciting game, ultimately decided by a pair of Swedish goals midway through the third period. 2026 draft eligible Viggo Bjorck had three points in that game, and fellow 2026 eligible Ivar Stenberg (the younger brother of St. Louis Blues prospect Otto Stenberg) was one of the best players at the tournament.
On top of that, defenseman Sascha Boumedienne set the tournament record for points by a defenseman with 14, and forward Filip Ekberg won tournament MVP honors with 10 goals and 18 points in seven games, the most points ever by a Swede at the event.
That said, it was a quieter-than-hoped week for top 2025 draft-eligible forward Anton Frondell, who finished with three points in five games — although he did play some of his best hockey of the event early in the gold medal game, before it got out of hand. — Max Bultman
F: Brady Martin (CAN)
F: Filip Ekberg (SWE)
F: Ivar Stenberg (SWE)
D: Sascha Boumedienne (SWE)
D: Drew Schock (USA)
G: Jack Ivankovic (CAN)
MVP: Filip Ekberg (SWE)
Best G: Jack Ivankovic (CAN)
Best D: Sascha Boumedienne (SWE)
Best F: Filip Ekberg (SWE)
Pronman's All-Star & MVP Ballot
MVP: Ivar Stenberg (SWE)
F: Ivar Stenberg (SWE)
F: Filip Ekberg (SWE)
F: Brady Martin (CAN)
D: Sascha Boumedienne (SWE)
D: Keaton Verhoeff (CAN)
G: Jack Ivankovic (CAN)
Wheeler's All-Star & MVP Ballot
MVP: Jack Ivankovic (CAN)
F: Ivar Stenberg (SWE)
F: Brady Martin (CAN)
F: Filip Ekberg (SWE)
D: Sascha Boumedienne (SWE)
D: Drew Schock (USA)
G: Jack Ivankovic (CAN)
Bultman's All-Star & MVP Ballot
MVP: Filip Ekberg (SWE)
F: Filip Ekberg (SWE)
F: Ivar Stenberg (SWE)
F: Brady Martin (CAN)
D: Sascha Boumedienne (SWE)
D: Drew Schock (USA)
G: Jack Ivankovic (CAN)
(Top photo of Jack Ivankovic (left) and Brady Martin (right): Micheline Veluvolu / Courtesy of IIHF)
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