Canada surprisingly reached its 27th World Championship title at the Ice Hockey World Championship in Riga. The selection from the ice hockey homeland without major NHL stars, who lost 3–1 to the German national team in the group stage and advanced to the knockout rounds only with their help, continued 4–2 in the first semi-final (1:1, 1:1). 0, 2:1) against the United States.

Brandon Pirie (3rd) gave Canada an early lead. Colin Blackwell (18th) equalized for the Americans, who had previously won seven games in a row. Andrew Mangiapen made the initial decision of his tournament with six and seven goals (25./41.). Another hit by the Canadian by Adam Heinrich (31st) was rejected due to offside after video evidence. Sasha Chmelevsky (44.) again shortened for the United States. Justin Danford sealed Canada’s victory with 23 seconds.

Canada’s historically poor start to the World Cup

The opponent in the final on Sunday (7.15 pm, TV: Sport1) will be decided in the second semi-final on Saturday (5.15 pm, TV: Sport1) between defending champions Finland and the selection of the German Ice Hockey Federation (DEB). Canada, which started the tournament with three losses for the first time in World Cup history, beat gold favorites Russia 2-1 in the quarterfinals after extra time.