Canada tops Finland to claim bronze at world junior hockey championship; Sweden wins gold

Zayne Parekh didn't have much interest in the high-water mark he had just surpassed.

Despite registering the most points ever by a Canadian defenceman at a world junior hockey championship, the 19-year-old felt he hadn't done enough.

The Calgary Flames blueliner then closed his tournament with an apology.

Parekh had a goal and an assist to set a new record for points by a blueliner from Canada at an under-20 men's showcase with 13 as the country salvaged a bronze medal thanks to a 6-3 victory over Finland on Monday.

"Not too much," he said when asked what he thought of passing the previous mark of 12 points previously held by Bryan McCabe (1995) and Alex Pietrangelo (2008). "It's just disappointing we didn't come away with gold. That's the ultimate goal."

Parekh also walked back comments made New Year's Day on his comfort level speaking with the media — and if it was based off what he had seen from other athletes?

"I think it's more watching NHL guys be robots and not having any personality," Parekh said Thursday. "I think you need some personality, and it's the best way to grow the game. I don't want to come in here and be a robot. When I'm in Calgary, I definitely have a lot of guys that are telling me to give really simple answers.

"But here I could kind of do what I want."

Parekh concluded his Monday scrum with a mea culpa after subsequently not being made available to reporters until the world juniors concluded.

"I think some things got spun out of proportion, probably worded things wrongly," said the Nobleton, Ont., product. "But obviously it wasn't my intent in the words I said, and I sincerely apologize to the Flames organization and my teammates.

"At the end of the day, that's not acceptable and that can't happen."

Gavin McKenna scored and added three assists against Finland for Canada, which was bounced by Czech Republic less than 24 hours earlier in the semifinals. Sam O'Reilly, with two, Braeden Cootes and Porter Martone provided the rest of the offence. Carter George made 32 saves.

Michael Hage had four assists to finish with a tournament-high 15 points. McKenna was second with 14, while Parekh was one back in third.

Canada was left heartbroken after falling 6-4 on Sunday — the third straight year the Czechs have crushed the country's gold-medal dreams following quarterfinal exits in both 2024 and 2025.