Czechia's Jan Mysak attempts to play the puck while battling Canada's Mason McTavish on 26 December 2021.
photo: Andrea Cardin / HHOF-IIHF Images
Funnily enough, there is only one matchup here in Edmonton this summer that replicates one from the December tournament – Canada vs. Czechia. This is the result of one change: Russia out and Latvia in. In order to make the groups fairer after this substitution, the IIHF re-seeded the ten participants, and that resulted in new groups. Canada and Czechia are the only two nations that stayed in their same group.
Today’s game will have plenty of similarities, and also plenty of changes, so let’s take a look at what happened on Boxing Day 2021, when Canada rallied for a 6-3 win, and what to expect from today’s matinee.
Coach, Canada: Dave Cameron was behind the bench last year, and he’s back to try to finish the job.
Coach, Czechia: Radim Rulik took over for Karel Mlejnek just a short while ago and will try to help Czechia earn its first World Junior medal since – incredibly – 2005 (bronze).
Starting goalie Canada: Dylan Garand got the nod from Cameron and stopped 14 of 17 shots for the victory. Garand is on the team now as well, but Cameron hasn’t announced a starter just yet.
Starting goalie Czechia: Jakub Malek played the full 60 but allowed six goals and took the loss. He isn’t one of the three goalies in Edmonton now, so Rulik will have to play one of Jan Bednar (backup to Malek last December), Pavel Cajan, or Tomas Suchanek.
First goal: Mason McTavish opened the scoring for Canada last time, an unassisted tally at 4:00. He’s not only back with Team Canada; he’s the captain, taking over for Kaiden Guhle.
Tie game: Michal Gut tied the game for Czechia less than four minutes later. He’s back again this time ‘round as well.
Go-ahead goal: Pavel Novak gave Czechia a 2-1 lead on a power play at 11:32, but he won’t be here. Over the summer he learned of an “oncological disease” that will prevent him from playing for an undetermined length of time, but hopefully he’ll be back at some point healthy and ready to resume his career.
Doubling the lead: Defender Stanislav Svozil gave the Czechs a 3-1 lead less than a minute later. He was named the team’s Best Player of the game, logging 20:53 of ice time and was an even player in the +/- despite the score. He’s back and ready to avenge last year’s defeat.
At this point, Canada’s quick start was a thing of the past and coach Cameron wasn’t liking what he was seeing. He called a timeout to settle the team down, and the brief respite paid immediate dividends. Owen Power scored just 23 seconds later to make it a 3-2 game. The hulking defender was drafted 1st overall by Buffalo in 2021, and made his NHL debut last season. As a result, he is now focused on the Sabres and isn’t in Edmonton, leaving a big gap on the blue line that will be filled in by committee rather than one player.
And before the end of the period, Canada had tied the wildly entertaining opening 20 minutes, 3-3, thanks to a Donovan Sebrango goal at 19:31. Drafted by Detroit in 2020, he has played with the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids the past two seasons and is back in the line-up with Team Canada again now.
The second period belonged to Power after Czechia took three penalties in quick succession which gave Canada back-to-back five-on-three situations. Power scored at 8:50 with a two-player advantage and then again 85 seconds later on another similar power play. Canada finished the scoring midway through the third on an Olen Zellweger goal. We know Zellweger is back because he scored again in the team’s opening 5-2 win over Latvia Wednesday night.
In all, Power finished with three goals and a game-high six shots, and his 21:48 of ice time led all players as well. He was named Canada’s Best Player.
Jan Mysak was the captain for Czechia last year, as he is now. He led all teammates with 21:26 of ice time. They were limited to just 17 shots, and no player had more than two.
Although there were only six minors called in the game, four went to Czechia and three were in quick succession. The moral of the story is, don’t give Canada’s power play a chance to alter the outcome of the game.
Today’s game will have plenty of similarities, and also plenty of changes, so let’s take a look at what happened on Boxing Day 2021, when Canada rallied for a 6-3 win, and what to expect from today’s matinee.
Coach, Canada: Dave Cameron was behind the bench last year, and he’s back to try to finish the job.
Coach, Czechia: Radim Rulik took over for Karel Mlejnek just a short while ago and will try to help Czechia earn its first World Junior medal since – incredibly – 2005 (bronze).
Starting goalie Canada: Dylan Garand got the nod from Cameron and stopped 14 of 17 shots for the victory. Garand is on the team now as well, but Cameron hasn’t announced a starter just yet.
Starting goalie Czechia: Jakub Malek played the full 60 but allowed six goals and took the loss. He isn’t one of the three goalies in Edmonton now, so Rulik will have to play one of Jan Bednar (backup to Malek last December), Pavel Cajan, or Tomas Suchanek.
First goal: Mason McTavish opened the scoring for Canada last time, an unassisted tally at 4:00. He’s not only back with Team Canada; he’s the captain, taking over for Kaiden Guhle.
Tie game: Michal Gut tied the game for Czechia less than four minutes later. He’s back again this time ‘round as well.
Go-ahead goal: Pavel Novak gave Czechia a 2-1 lead on a power play at 11:32, but he won’t be here. Over the summer he learned of an “oncological disease” that will prevent him from playing for an undetermined length of time, but hopefully he’ll be back at some point healthy and ready to resume his career.
Doubling the lead: Defender Stanislav Svozil gave the Czechs a 3-1 lead less than a minute later. He was named the team’s Best Player of the game, logging 20:53 of ice time and was an even player in the +/- despite the score. He’s back and ready to avenge last year’s defeat.
At this point, Canada’s quick start was a thing of the past and coach Cameron wasn’t liking what he was seeing. He called a timeout to settle the team down, and the brief respite paid immediate dividends. Owen Power scored just 23 seconds later to make it a 3-2 game. The hulking defender was drafted 1st overall by Buffalo in 2021, and made his NHL debut last season. As a result, he is now focused on the Sabres and isn’t in Edmonton, leaving a big gap on the blue line that will be filled in by committee rather than one player.
And before the end of the period, Canada had tied the wildly entertaining opening 20 minutes, 3-3, thanks to a Donovan Sebrango goal at 19:31. Drafted by Detroit in 2020, he has played with the Red Wings’ AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids the past two seasons and is back in the line-up with Team Canada again now.
The second period belonged to Power after Czechia took three penalties in quick succession which gave Canada back-to-back five-on-three situations. Power scored at 8:50 with a two-player advantage and then again 85 seconds later on another similar power play. Canada finished the scoring midway through the third on an Olen Zellweger goal. We know Zellweger is back because he scored again in the team’s opening 5-2 win over Latvia Wednesday night.
In all, Power finished with three goals and a game-high six shots, and his 21:48 of ice time led all players as well. He was named Canada’s Best Player.
Jan Mysak was the captain for Czechia last year, as he is now. He led all teammates with 21:26 of ice time. They were limited to just 17 shots, and no player had more than two.
Although there were only six minors called in the game, four went to Czechia and three were in quick succession. The moral of the story is, don’t give Canada’s power play a chance to alter the outcome of the game.