Canada vs. Czechia (8:30 ET) — For the third straight year at World Juniors, Canada and Czechia will meet after the preliminary-round stage with Czechia celebrating quarterfinal-round wins in 2024 (3-2) and 2025 (4-3). Canada did earn a 7-5 win against Czechia in the prelims and will look to duplicate that result, following a 7-1 win against Slovakia in the quarterfinals on Friday. “It was a wide-open hockey game,” Canada coach Dale Hunter said of the Dec. 26 game. “Both coaches didn’t script it that way, but it happens in a game sometimes. We know each other a little bit better now because we played them already. So it’ll be a good game.” Canada has outscored the opposition 32-12 in five straight wins, leads the tournament in power-play percentage (47.0; 8-for-17) and is second in penalty killing percentage (91.6; 11-for-12). Six players have three or more goals, including forwards Brady Martin (Nashville Predators) and Porter Martone (Philadelphia Flyers), and defenseman Zayne Parekh (Calgary Flames), each tied for the team lead with four goals. Left wing Gavin McKenna, the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 Draft, has nine points (three goals, six assists) and is averaging 16:45 of ice time. Goalie Jack Ivankovic (Predators), the likely starter, is 2-0 with a 0.99 GAA and .952 save percentage in two games for Canada, which last won a gold medal in 2023. “It’s gold medal or nothing and I’m really excited,” Martone said. “We got our hands full. We’re going to have a tough opponent in Czechia but we’re ready for the challenge.”
Czechia has medaled three straight years, winning silver in 2023, and bronze in 2024 and 2025 and seeks gold for the first time since winning back-to-back in 2000 and 2001. The country ranks fourth on the power play (31.6 percent; 6-for-19) and third on the penalty kill (75.0 percent; 12-for-16). Defenseman Adam Jiricek (St. Louis Blues) has scored in four straight games (four goals) and forward Vojtech Cihar (Los Angeles Kings) leads the team with nine points (two goals, seven assists). “I still think we can be more dangerous from the blue line,” Czechia coach Patrik Augusta said. “We have very creative defensemen, they can make plays, but I wish they were shooting more and they were getting the pucks on the net. I think our power play and penalty kill can get better so there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
