Canada defeated Finland 8-1 to win the bronze medal at the 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Women’s World Championship, with tournament leading scorer Chloe Primerano setting a record with two goals and one assist.
Primerano, who scored 16 points (8+8=16), set a new record for single tournament points by a defender. Additionally, the 17-year-old prodigy has the second-highest total in U18 Women’s World Championship history, surpassing USA’s Kendall Coyne Schofield (15 points in 2009) and Canada’s Jessica Campbell (15 points in 2010). Recorded the score. America’s Amanda Kessel (19 points, 2009) is the all-time leader.
Caitlin Kremer and Abby Stonehouse also played well on Sunday with two goals each. The only previous bronze medal for a Canadian was in 2018.
The Canadians outscored Finland 52-12, leaving no doubt about the result. The Finns simply ran out of gas in the match against Canada, where they won their first bronze medal in World War 18. The Finn has won bronze three times (2011, 2019 and 2022), but no other medals.
Kramer scored 10 goals for the second year in a row, just one shy of U.S. forward Haley Scarpa’s single-tournament record (11 in 2012). Kremer, Stonehouse’s teammate with the Waterloo Kitchener Rangers, also set Canada’s all-time record for goals (20) in two U18 women’s world championships. She is two goals behind all-time leader Coyne Schofield, who scored 22 goals in three competitions (2008-2010).
Mackenzie Alexander had a goal and an assist, and Maxine Simononi also scored for Canada.
Finland’s leading scorer, Emma Ekoluoma, responded with her eighth goal of the tournament.
After suffering an unprecedented 4-2 defeat to the Czech Republic in the semi-finals, coach Tara Watchoon needed to refocus her players. This ended Canada’s reign as two-time defending champions.
Laia Stewart found the back of the net as Canada’s No. 1 goalie, Hannah Clarke, missed the semi-final with an injury. Finland’s Kertu Kuja Halkola made his sixth start.
Canada defeated Finland 10-0 in the preliminary round, and this game was not much different.
Alexander scored the first goal at 4:54. She used her speed in the neutral zone to steal the puck from Primerano, cut high and fire a shot past Kuja Halkola’s blocker.
Primerano’s assist moved him past Bridget Luckett (2+11=13, 2010) for the most points by a defender.
Canada took control early with strong puck movement, keeping Finland in their own zone. Stonehouse extended Canada’s lead to two points at the 12:19 mark with a poorly angled shot that hit defender Nellie Anderson’s stick.
Seconds after Canada’s first power play ended, Stonehouse pounced on a spilled puck and beat Kuja Halkola through his glove to make it 3-0 at 18:22. Shots in the first period were 21-4 in Canada’s favor.
Just 1:45 into the second period, Kremer found the back of the net after a great feed from Alexander. Jessica McKinnon’s shot bounced off Simonoli’s skate and the lucky bounce made it 5-0.
Kremer, defenseless in front of the Finnish net, scored on a power play at 11:17 with a great pass from below the goal line from striker Zablocki to make it 6-0.
Ten seconds after Jessica Pellerin’s potential goal was nullified by a kicking motion, Finland’s Emi Loponen had the misfortune of being sent off on a stretcher after colliding with Pickenhagen along the sideboards. The Canadian was given boarding as a minor for this play.
Primerano scored Canada’s seventh goal on a short shot at 18:15 on a rush of laser attacks.
Primerano scored in the third period to take an 8-0 lead at 10:56. Ecoluoma was mobbed by his teammates after stopping Stewart’s shutout victory at 11:44. That was a small consolation.
For the second year in a row, the Finns have drawn a tough match for the bronze medal. In 2023, they lost 5-0 to the United States in Ostersund, Sweden.
Finland has only beaten Canada once, at the U18 Women’s World Championship. Goaltender Emilia Kirco made 40 saves in a 2-0 victory to open the 2022 tournament in Madison, Wisconsin.