Team Canada goes for gold at IIHF World Junior Championship in Halifax

Team Canada will take the ice Thursday night in Halifax to battle for the gold medal in front of a frenzied home crowd at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship.

Team Canada will be looking for redemption as they faceoff against Czechia, after losing 5-2 to the team in the tournament’s home opener.

“They’ve got a lot of threats on this team and Canada can not take them lightly and they’ve got to get at them fast,” said John Viveiros, host of the YouTube channel Hot Take Hockey.

“I think Canada has the chance to win the gold medal here in Halifax, and it’s going to be super cool, but Czechia is a team that will give them a good fight.”

To make it to the gold medal game, Team Canada needed a win in the semi-finals against their long-time rival Team U.S.A.

The Americans took the early 2-0 lead, but the Canadians stormed back, scoring six straight times and securing their place in the final with a 6-2 victory.

“It’s nice to see all of the fans cheering,” said hockey fan Nicole Patterson. “I never felt anything like that in Atlantic Canada hockey.”

The atmosphere and fan support during the tournament has some wondering what could be next for the city.

“I saw a thing saying, should Halifax now get an NHL team because of turnout to the tournament?” said fan Steven Marenick. “I think we need a little more population for that, but I think this region is starved for things to do and big events.”

Canada and Czechia will faceoff Thursday at 7:30 p.m. AT in the gold medal matchup.