Their rosters didn’t look like much on paper, but Team USA and Team Canada have reached the final four at the 2021 World Hockey Championship in Riga, Latvia. They’ll go head-to-head in Saturday’s first semifinal game, vying for the opportunity to play for gold.
The United States team punched its ticket on Thursday with a 6-1 quarterfinal win over Slovakia. The Americans opened the tournament with a 2-1 loss to the defending champions from Finland, but have since won seven games in a row.
The Canadians have bounced back after a very slow start, when they scored just two goals in their first three games. They opened with a 2-0 shutout loss to the tournament hosts, marking the first time that Latvia had ever beaten Canada at the World Championship. Three days later, after Canada was humbled in a 5-1 loss to team USA, Germany also earned its first-ever win over the Canadians, by a score of 3-1.
