National Post Sports

The IIHF World Hockey Championship ended in agony once again for Canada.

“It’s deja vu,” general manager Kevin Lowe said after a 4-3 quarter-final loss to Slovakia on Thursday.

It’s the first time in history Canada has made an early exit from the tournament on three straight occasions. The country also suffered quarter-final losses in 2010 and 2011.

“It hurts like hell right now,” said captain Ryan Getzlaf. “I feel like I let the guys down. To be in a hard-fought game like that and play the tournament we did and lose in that fashion, it’s not easy to swallow as a group.

“The guys worked way too hard to be delivered something like that.”