Day 2 of the 2026 World Juniors featured a couple of nail-biter games for two countries who are favorites to win gold. The OHL talent at this event had a quiet day after racking up a total of 16 points on Day 1. However, Czechia’s OHL stars showed up in their 7-2 win over Denmark.
After dropping their tournament-opener 7-5 to Canada, Czechia got their tournament back on track with a commanding win over the Danes. The Czechs outshot the Denmark 53-22, with Peterborough Petes’ Adam Novotny leading the charge in the shot department with 10 shots on net.
Novotny, a top draft-eligible prospect for the 2026 NHL Draft, couldn’t get one of his 10 shots past Denmark’s goaltender Anton Wilde, but he did tally up a couple of assists, one of them to his OHL counterpart, Adam Jiricek.
Jiricek led all Czech players in ice time with 25:06, which was the second highest amongst all players from Day 2 (Germany’s Carlos Handel led with 27:41). Jiricek’s goal was all created by Novotny. The Petes forward drove to the middle of the ice off the boards where his shot was stopped by Wilde, but the rebound found the stick of the Brantford defender who had driven hard to the crease.
Jiricek had an assist earlier in the period, and although he wasn’t named Player of the Game, he was more than deserving of it. The Czechs have a horse on their backend in the St. Louis Blues prospect and he has looked fantastic through two games. His Brantford teammate Adam Benak had one assist in the game.
Slovakia took care of business against Germany, beating them by a score of 4-1. OHLers Tomas Pobezal and Alex Misiak didn’t get on the scoresheet, but the Kitchener Rangers’ first-rounder in the 2024 CHL Import Draft, Tomas Chrenko had a natural hat trick in team’s victory.
Canada squeaked out a 2-1 overtime win over Latvia, but it didn’t give their fans much comfort. Current OHLers on Canada didn’t factor in on their two goals, but former Memorial Cup champion Zayne Parekh had an assist on the game-winner. Ex-Brampton Steelheads goaltender Jack Ivankovic lost to Latvia last year in a shootout. He got his redemption, making 26 saves in the win.
He didn’t record a point in the game, but London Knights’ Sam O’Reilly was named Canada’s Player of the Game in the win. His play has been noticeable at both ends of the ice, and he’s turned into a secret weapon for Canada.
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