Crickard, Canada win U18 gold

IIHF

Travis Crickard and Team Canada are under-18 world champions – again.

Canada defeated Sweden 7-0 in the gold medal game of the IIHF U18 Men's World Championship on Saturday in Frisco, Texas. It's the second straight under-18 title for Canada.

Crickard, the head coach and general manager of the Saint John Sea Dogs, was an associate coach with this year's squad. Crickard was an assistant on last year's team, working under Gardiner MacDougall.

BACK-TO-BACK 🥇

Congratulations to #SJSeaDogs Head Coach & GM Travis Crickard on winning gold for the second straight year with 🇨🇦 at the IIHF U18 Men's World Championships!#GoDogsGo | #U18MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/rF8Kzp6skm

— Saint John Sea Dogs (@SJSeaDogs) May 4, 2025

Canada went 4-0 in the preliminary round. Their biggest challenge came in the quarterfinals when they needed overtime to defeat Czechia 3-2. Canada rebounded with a 4-0 victory over Slovakia in the semifinals and then hammered Sweden in the gold medal match.

Canada and Sweden were expected to meet in the gold medal game. The United States won bronze, defeating Slovakia 4-3 in overtime.

There were four QMJHL players on Team Canada: Lucas Beckman (Baie-Comeau), Alex Huang (Chicoutimi Sagueneens), Xavier Villeneuve (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada) and Liam Kilfoil (Halifax Mooseheads). Sea Dogs defenseman Cameron Chartrand played in pre-tournament games but was not registered for the event.

This tournament, viewed as a mini world juniors, is expected to be held in North America more frequently moving forward.

A few other news and notes from Saturday...

• Mathieu Joseph (St. Louis Blues) is the lone Sea Dogs alumnus remaining in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Blues take on the Winnipeg Jets in Game 7 on Sunday night. Thomas Chabot (Ottawa Senators), Matthew Highmore (Ottawa Senators) and Charlie Coyle (Colorado Avalanche) have all been eliminated.
• It was a rough night for former Sea Dogs forward Dawson Theede and the Halifax Thunderbirds, who fell 16-7 to the Saskatchewan Rush at Scotiabank Centre on Saturday night. The Rush lead the best-of-three National Lacrosse League semifinal playoff series 1-0 with the rest of the series taking place in Saskatoon next weekend. Theede had two goals and an assist in the loss.
• In the ECHL playoffs, Kelly Bent posted 14 minutes in penalties (cross checking and the roughing that followed) in the Orlando Solar Bears' 6-2 loss to the Florida Everblades on Saturday. Florida leads the series 2-0.
• Matt Murphy had an assist and was a +2 in the Fort Wayne Komets' 6-1 win over the Toledo Walleye on Saturday. The series is now tied 1-1.
• Game 6 of the QMJHL semifinal series between the Rimouski Oceanic and Shawinigan Cataractes takes place Sunday. The Oceanic lead the series 3-2.