With their gold medal dreams all but dashed in Sunday's semifinal at the world juniors, tempers began to flare on the Canadian side.
Following a late penalty on Canada's Cole Reschny and a resulting lead-padding empty-netter by Czechia, several Canadian players were seen yelling at the referees.
That included top draft prospect Gavin McKenna, who received a two-minute penalty and game misconduct for abuse of officials.
The penalty ultimately had no effect on the final score, as it came with just 26 seconds remaining, but capped what has been a frustrating matchup for Canada at the world juniors.
The 6-4 loss marked the third straight year Czechia has knocked it out of the running for a gold medal.
McKenna ended the game with an assist and an even rating in 19:35 of ice time. He also totalled 14 penalty minutes — 12 of which were accumulated on the unsportsmanlike conduct ruling.
"Letting your country down sucks," the 18-year-old forward said after the game, per Joshua Clipperton of the Canadian Press.
McKenna was also on the Canada squad in 2025, which was eliminated by Czechia in the quarterfinals. In that tournament, the Penn State standout managed just one goal in five games.
If there's any silver lining for Canada, it's that it will get a chance to play for a medal this go 'round after a strong round-robin performance.
The bronze medal game will go Monday against Finland.
