Jason La Rose
Canada’s National Men's Under-18 Team looks for a quick bounce back when it returns to the ice Thursday to take on Latvia as preliminary-round play continues at the 2026 IIHF U18 Men’s World Championship.
Last Game
Canada dropped its tournament opener Wednesday, falling 2-1 to host Slovakia. Mathis Preston scored the lone Canadian goal, tying the game on the power play late in the second period, but the Slovaks converted on a penalty shot in the third period to leave Canada with its first opening-game loss since 2023.
The Latvians last played Sunday, closing out their pre-tournament schedule with an 8-1 loss to Sweden in Bratislava. Martin Klaucans provided the offence, scoring shorthanded midway through the second period to briefly tie the game, but the Swedes scored the game’s final seven goals.
Last Meeting
The most recent clash between Canada and Latvia came in the preliminary round a year ago in Texas, a 7-1 Canadian win. Canada spread around the scoring, with six different players netting goals and 12 recording at least a point. Ryan Roobroeck scored twice, and Alessandro Di Iorio, Lev Katzin and Xavier Villeneuve contributed a goal and an assist apiece for the Canadians, who led by two goals after one period and by five after two.
What to Watch
Carter Esler made his first appearance a little earlier than previous planned, coming into a 1-1 game against the Slovaks when Gavin Betts departed with an apparent lower-body injury. The Okotoks, Alberta, product was terrific between the pipes with the Spokane Chiefs this season, ranking eighth among all Western Hockey League goaltenders in goals-against average (2.80) and 12th in save percentage (.903) while posting a league-leading five shutouts. Esler is also no stranger to international competition; he turned in a 2.58 GAA across four appearances at the 2024 Youth Olympics, backstopped Canada Red to silver at the 2024 U17 World Challenge and won his lone start in Canada’s bronze medal effort at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
The Latvians are not short on experience; eight players are back from the team that lost to the United States a year ago in Texas—Avotins, Klaucans, Laugalis, Murnieks, Obuks, Plumins, Reidzans and Rutkis. Klaucans (with the Sherbrooke Phoenix) and Murnieks (with the Saint John Sea Dogs) both spent their seasons in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, and both saw the ice at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship—Klaucans earned an assist in five games, while Murnieks added a goal and three helpers. Murnieks also cracked the final NHL Central Scouting rankings for the NHL Draft, coming in 98th among North American skaters.
A Look Back
Canada has an unblemished 8-0 record against Latvia at U18 Men’s Worlds, outscoring the Eastern European nation 47-13.
The teams played one of the wildest games in tournament history in 2015; the Canadians trailed 3-2 after 20 minutes before scoring six times unanswered in the second period to take control, and there were six goals in a span of 6:49 in the third as Canada earned a frenetic 11-6 victory.
All-time record: Canada leads 8-0 Canada goals: 47 Latvia goals: 13