Hockey Canada picks up the pieces after 2nd-straight quarterfinal exit at world junior championship

Hockey Canada executive Scott Salmond says “the buck stops” with him.

The country’s men’s under-20 team was eliminated from the world junior hockey championship in the quarterfinals for a second-straight year Thursday.

Salmond, the program’s senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations, added he’s “incredibly disappointed” and “apologetic” after Canada lost 4-3 to Czechia.

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The defeat came after the country was eliminated at the same stage 12 months ago by the same opponent.

A lack of scoring and discipline issues plagued Canada in the nation’s capital.

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The hockey powerhouse scored a paltry 13 goals in five games — just two more than lowly Kazakhstan — thanks to a tournament-worst 6.34 shooting percentage. Canada was also by far the most penalized team at the event and was short-handed 27 times.