Those are all good questions, and as I tend to do for almost every World Junior tournament, I had predicted this team would win gold and thought it had a roster that could roll over opponents like we’re accustomed to. But that was wrong, and that’s on me for misevaluating the team.

The fingers are wagging every which way after Canada’s 4-3 loss to Czechia in the world junior hockey championship in Ottawa on Thursday, a second debilitating quarterfinal elimination in as many years for the perennial contenders and frequent favourites.

Canada was eliminated by Czechia in the quarterfinals of the world junior hockey championship for the second straight year. The country failed to finish in the top-4 at the event in consecutive years for the first time since the early 1980s.

Finland has a ton of momentum after beating Sweden in the world juniors semifinal, but an early loss to Canada was crucial to their run as well.

The defending champion United States beat Czechia 4-1 on Saturday night to advance to the world junior hockey championship game against Finland.