The Athletic has live coverage of Canada vs. Czech Republic.
The World Junior Championships were fantastic from start to finish and the semi-finals did not disappoint on Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know:
- The USA beat Canada early, but the Canadians fought back behind their draft-eligible stars Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilly and draft-eligible goalie Tomas Milic.
- Latvia won the second match of the relegation round to stay in next year’s tournament. Austria will be relegated for 2024, with Division 1A champions Norway replacing them.
- The Czechs scored in the closing seconds of the day’s first half to force overtime against the Swedes, setting the stage for Sabers prospect Jiri Kulic to score another big goal – and rematch the Canadians after their Boxing Day upset.
Athletic Instant Analysis:
David Jiricek’s excellent tournament from the Blue Jackets
The Czechs got the best out of many of their players. The unselected goalkeeper Tomas Suchanek. Defenders David Spacek (Wild) and Stanislav Svozil (Blue Jackets). The line of Jakub Brabenec (Golden Knights), Jaroslav Chmelar (Rangers) and Gabriel Sztruc (2023 overager). And obviously Kulich.
But they don’t get to the gold medal game without a great performance from their best player, David Jiriček, and he did it again against Sweden, hitting that shot with just 38 seconds left to tie the game. He can do anything at this level. — Wheeler
It wasn’t just Bedard’s show for Canada
Bedard’s first-period goal sparked the Canadians’ comeback, but he didn’t really play a ton as Canada killed a pair of penalties in the second and then tried to hang on to the lead in the third. Against Slovakia, he was rolled through the boards every other shift. On Wednesday, they leaned heavily on their much-discussed — and thus far not particularly productive — bottom six. Nathan Gauche (Ducks) and Zack Ostapchuk (Senators) were asked to play a lot of defense and chased them on the forecheck.
Owen Beck (Canadiens) replaced Reid Schaefer (Oilers) on the fourth line and provided energy and physicality. Caedan Bankier (Wild) was effective. Joshua Roy (Canadiens) was great. And Brand Clarke (Kings) stepped up to the plate to score a huge goal from the backend, in addition to huge nights from Fantilly (2023) and Milic. They will need all these guys to repeat their performance against the Czechs tomorrow. — Wheeler
Milich steals the semi-final show
In an uncertain goaltending duel between 17-year-old Trey Augustin and the undrafted Milic, Milic stole the show. He made a number of high-difficulty saves and consistently thwarted the USA attack, which was arguably more dangerous than Canada throughout the match. Canada needed saves to win this tournament, and it looked like they found the guy who could make those stops. I’m not sure if he’s an NHL draft pick, but there’s no doubt he’s an excellent junior goaltender. — Pronman
Fantilly steps up in an important spot
Fantilly, a projected top-3 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, played well at times in this tournament, but he also disappointed and saw his role diminish. He made his best play at a crucial moment. He had one huge goal and assist and seemed to make things happen when he was there for the 11 minutes of ice time he got. — Pronman
Required reading
(Photo: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty)
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