The 2025 World Juniors kicks off on Boxing Day in Ottawa, and while the host nation should ultimately prevail in their tourney opener, Eric Rosales also predicts goals to come at a premium.
After a forgettable 5th-place finish a year ago, Team Canada’s quest for a gold medal at the World Junior Hockey Championships kicks off Boxing Day in Group A action against Finland.
My Finland vs. Canada predictions expect the Canadians to take some time to fully round into form, which could result in a low-scoring affair against a defensive-minded Finnish side.
Find out more in my free betting picks for Thursday, December 26, with the puck-drop set for 7:30 p.m. EST in Ottawa.
Odds courtesy of bet365 as of 12-25.
My best bet: Under 6.5 (-112 at bet365)
Finland finds themselves in the pre-anointed Group of Death, as Group A also features the defending champion Americans and Team Canada.
While they don’t have a standout blue-chipper, Finland boasts a blueline with five NHL-drafted players, led by Minnesota pick Aron Kiviharju. They’ll be expected to support an always exceptional goalie factory. This year, Petteri Rimpinen appears to have the inside track to start, with Kim Saarinen (Seattle) and Noa Vali also on the roster.
Up front, San Jose draftee Kasper Halttunen had three goals and four points in Finland’s two tune-ups against Slovakia and the USA. Jesse Kiiskinen (Detroit) is also expected to provide offense, while Konsta Helenius is a two-way center who will play a big role.
Meanwhile, Canada enters the tournament with a perfect 3-0 exhibition slate, having outscored Sweden, Switzerland, and Czechia 14-5 over three games of pre-tournament action. Plenty of eyes will also be on 17-year-old forward Gavin McKenna, who is projected to be the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
While Canada boasts an upper hand in talent, Finland will likely keep the game-script conservative. The last thing Tomi Lamsa’s club wants to do is get into a shootout with the Canadians.
Although there will be juice and excitement in the building for Canada, there’s no blowout coming.
Under 6.5
Easton Cowan anytime goal
One of only four Team Canada returnees from last year, Easton Cowan tallied four goals and five points in last year’s tournament.
He opened pre-tournament play with a hat-trick against the Swedes, and the chemistry on the top line with Calum Ritchie and Bradly Nadeau has been evident from the start. As a trio, they’ve tallied 15 points over three exhibition games.
You could also slide McKenna in this SGP instead for the same juice — he notched a pair of goals in the final tune-up against Czechia.
Canada is 27-9-6 all-time against Finland at the World Juniors.
Not intended for use in MA.
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Eric has been involved in sports media in many different capacities since graduating from journalism school in 1999, back when getting your own column in a newspaper was still considered a thing. He doubled down and graduated from broadcast journalism school five years later, which led to a move to Toronto and a career with The Sports Network (TSN). From behind-the-scenes production work, he moved into the digital realm, where he had his own hoops column (At the Buzzer), while regularly live streaming and chatting with fans during broadcasts as the character known as LeBlog James. He was also a key contributor to TSN and CTV’s Olympic programming during the 2012 London Games.
Eric eventually found his way into the sports betting field in 2016 and has been a mainstay ever since. He was tagged on Twitter as a Top 10 NBA sharp during the 2021 season and has been interviewed about basketball and his handicapping process on shows from Vancouver to India. Eric is now a jack-of-all-sports at Covers, where his predictions span the alphabet soup: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, F1, WNBA, Euro, and Copa.
When making picks, he focuses on finding value first and foremost, and ensuring readers have all the information they need to make an informed choice.
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