HALIFAX –
Jaroslav Chemeler and Matous Mensik scored 33 seconds apart in a five-minute power game as the Czechs beat Canada 5-2 in the opening match for both nations at Monday’s world youth hockey championships. .
Stanislav Svozil and David Spacek each scored a goal and an assist, and David Moravec provided the rest of the attack for the weaker team Czechia, the nation commonly known as the Czech Republic.
Tomas Suchanek brilliantly made 36 saves after a structured and determined group.
Shane Wright, with one goal and one assist, and Connor Bedard respond for Canada. Benjamin Gaudreau conceded five goals from 17 shots before being replaced by Thomas Milic in the second half. Milic finished with 10 saves for the tournament favorites unexpectedly wobbled, who lost to the Czechs for the first time in 3,285 days.
Sweden beat Austria 11-0 in another Group A match.
Seeking a 20th gold medal after a home win in Edmonton this past summer, Canada has suffered only its second loss in 24 encounters with the Czechs at the men’s under-20 showcase since 1994, with the only defeat. The other most came from the penalty shootout in the 2013 qualifying round.
Down 3-2 in the second half on Monday, Canada collapsed after striker Zach Dean was penalized one game for an illegal header.
As Dean took an early shower, Chemeler fired a long shot from Gaudreau’s doorstep at 8:14 before Mensik fired from a tight angle shortly after to end a forgettable night for a net hunter.
Canada pushed on as time went on, but Suchanek was there to deny Brennan Othmann in a frantic power play before Wright hit the post in the meantime.
The Canadians played strength early in the third inning, but failed to connect, and the quietly confident Czechs have kept their cool since then to an unlikely win.
First “normal” World Youth Championship since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — 2021 plays in a bubble before the 2022 event is postponed for eight months — fans inside the Scotiabank Center Boiling is ready from the falling ball.
Tournament organizers had several early opportunities, including Adam Fantilli’s effort at “The Michigan” that was thwarted by Spacek, before taking the lead with a power play.
After the Czechs were whistled for keeper intervention in a situation where the ball went into Gaudreau’s net, Wright swooped in with Olen Zellweger’s finish to score the world’s first teenager’s goal. captaincy of Canada.
Bedard then had Canada’s second attempt at completing “The Michigan” – in which a player picked up the ball on his bat behind the net and tried to tuck it upstairs – before the goal hit. Brandt Clarke’s 2-0 scoreline was ruined by offside.
That seems to invigorate Czechia.
Spacek scored in a backdoor play, where he caught Fantilli sleeping in defense before Moravec’s eyeball 35 seconds later gave the Czechs a 2-1 lead in 20 minutes.
Svozil gave the Czechs a two-point lead in 44 seconds after a break when he had too much space to shoot, but Bedard responded 45 seconds later with a swing to ignite the red shirt crowd. Maritime hosts the World Youth Championship for the first time in 20 years.
But Dean’s strike on defender Ales Cech resulted in a five-minute penalty, extending the Czechs’ lead to three and leaving Canada with plenty of questions.
WEIGHT
The first world youth Canadian target song to be played on the East Coast in 20 years was “Heave Away” by The Fables, a Celtic rock band from St. John’s, NL
TRAVEL
Czech guard David Jiricek’s gear did not arrive in Halifax until Monday afternoon due to the winter storm that battered central and eastern Canada last week.
The 6th pick at the 2022 NHL draft – property of the Columbus Blue Jackets and member of AHL’s Cleveland Monsters – was supposed to join his teammates Friday at Halifax, but did not leave Toronto for up to 48 hours later.
Jiricek was on the ice for his team’s morning skating session — in borrowed gear — and was a game-time decision until his luggage was delivered from the airport to the gym. fight.
NEXT
Canada: Faces Germany on Wednesday.
Czechia: Meet Austria on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on December 26, 2022.
