The last time the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship took place in Halifax was 20 years ago. Marc-Andre Fleury was a budding star between the pipes, and Jordin Tootoo quickly became a name that was known coast to coast across the country because of his physicality and high energy. A core memory for me during that tournament 20 years ago was just how loud the crowd was every single time Team Canada took to the ice. It didn’t matter if it was a pre-tournament game, a preliminary round game, or a medal-round game; the building was constantly rocking. Here we are 20 years later, and there’s another budding superstar; I would go as far as declaring him as a budding phenom in Connor Bedard. Bedard has appeared in 20 games for Team Canada so far over his very young career. In those 21 games, he has scored … 21 goals. Not bad, not bad at all.
The Period of “Michigans”
Early on, Czechia generated a dangerous chance as they sprung in on a semi-breakaway, but Gaudreau easily turned it aside. Canada’s best chance came shortly after as Colton Dach, the younger brother of Montreal’s Kirby Dach, surprisingly found himself all alone with time and space. Still, Suchanek made an incredible save to keep the game scoreless. Less than four minutes in, on his first shift no less, Adam Fantilli tried to come out of the gates boldly as he attempted “The Michigan,” but it was defended nicely by Spacek as he knocked it off of Fantilli’s stick. The first power play was awarded to Czechia as Zach Dean was called for slashing 5:32 into the opening frame. While Czechia wasn’t able to capitalize with the man advantage, they did look dangerous, and they generated three shots on goal. Around the midway mark of the period, Bedard sprung Brennan Othmann all alone, but the puck bounced off of his stick.
Shortly after that, Canada caught a break as Czechia appeared to score the first goal of the game. Still, it was waived off due to a goaltender interference penalty which resulted in Canada getting their first power play of the game. Canada’s lethal top power play unit wasted absolutely no time as captain Shane Wright deflected a Zellweger point shot which beat Suchanek, giving Canada a 1-0 lead and sending the building into an absolute frenzy. Olen Zellweger and Dylan Guenther with the assists on the goal. There was much anticipation as to what Canada’s goal song would be in this year’s tournament as they elected to not tell anyone. It turns out they chose to go with Heave Away by the Fables, an absolutely fantastic choice, in my opinion! Every single shift Bedard had the entire building on the edge of their seats, and rightfully so, as he also attempted to do “The Michigan” but wasn’t able to finish it off. It looked as though Canada had taken a 2-0 lead off of a goal from defenseman Brandt Clarke. Unfortunately, it was deemed offside, and the goal was called back, keeping the score 1-0. As play resumed after the review of the disallowed goal, Czechia threw a shot on goal, but it was stopped with no rebound by Gaudreau. After the whistle, Szturc hit Gaudreau in the mask with his stick which drew a crowd. There was no penalty on the play. Czechia began to generate some momentum with a couple of great shifts back to back. That resulted in the game-tying goal by David Spacek with just 2:12 remaining in the period. The assists went to Stanislav Svozil and Jakub Brabenec. Czechia wasted absolutely no time getting the goal ahead goal as Moravec fired a shot on goal from the point, and it found its way past Gaudreau just 35 seconds after the tying goal from Spacek, assisted by Adam Mechura and Marcel Marcel. Canada tried everything they could to answer back and tie it up before the first intermission, but they weren’t able to do so. Shots on goal after that electrifying 20 minutes of hockey were 12-9 in favor of Canada.
The Second Period Begins
Czechia picked up right where they left off to start the second period. It only took them 44 seconds to make it a 3-1 game as Stanislav Svozil ripped it past Gaudreau. The assists on the goal went to David Spacek and Eduard Sale. Less than a minute later, Canada responded with a goal of their own from Connor Bedard as he collected a loose puck outside of the Czechia zone, turned on the jets, got in all alone, and made absolutely no mistake with his electrifying release as he rifled it top corner making it a 3-2 game. Svozil laid an old-school hip check on Fantilli, sending him absolutely flying. Seconds after that, Canada went into the Czechia zone on the forecheck, where Zach Dean laid a very questionable hit on Cech. Not only did Dean leave his feet, but he also got his arms up to make sure he made contact with Cech’s head.
Dean was issued a five-minute match penalty and game misconduct as a result. It took a while for Czechia to get anything going on their five-minute man advantage. Still, they finally managed to restore their two-goal lead on a goal from Jaroslav Chmelar, assisted by David Jiricek. Less than a minute later, Czechia struck yet again as Matous Mensik managed to beat Gaudreau, making it a 5-2 game. Jakub Kos and Tomas Suchanek with the assists. That penalty by Zach Dean turned out to cost his team tremendously. Canada’s Roy took a punch to the head after the whistle during a scrum in front of the Czechia goal, which resulted in a Canadian power play. Canada’s power play was cut short as Nathan Gaucher was called for tripping off of a face-off. This was a very bad call; in my opinion, it was blatantly obvious that the Czechia player deliberately dived to draw the penalty.
Nonetheless, Canada found themselves on the penalty kill once again. Canada managed to come up with a massive penalty kill. Canada managed to hem Czechia in their own zone for a couple of shifts in a row, which resulted in Czechia icing the puck with a group of absolutely exhausted players on the ice, and they were unable to change as a result of the icing call. Czechia managed to weather the storm and get out of it unscathed, keeping their 5-2 lead intact. Canada threw absolutely everything at Czechia in the dying moments of the second period but full credit to Czechia, especially their goaltender Suchanek who was absolutely standing on his head, as they somehow managed to defend and hang on as the second period came to a close. Even though Canada struggled in the middle frame, Connor Bedard put on an absolute show making something happen every single time he was on the ice; what a player! Shots on goal in the second period were 12-9 in favor of Canada, exactly the same as the first period.
Third Period Comeback For Canada?
Canada came out of the gates flying to start the third period. They generated some quality shifts and chances in the opening minutes. Less than three minutes into the period, Canada was given their third power play of the game due to a tripping penalty by Czechia. Canada was unable to break through the outstanding defensive play from Czechia despite the power play looking dangerous, and the score remained 5-2. Six minutes into the period, shots were 6-1 in favor of Canada. With 11:33 to go, Fantilli was called for an offensive zone tripping minor; such a bad penalty to take, given the score of the game and the amount of time remaining in regulation. The penalty gave Czechia their sixth power play of the game. Milic made a couple of outstanding saves for Canada as the power play was coming to a close to keep it a 5-2 game. With 6:17 to go, Canada’s parade to the penalty box continued as Gaucher was called for slashing. It was Canada’s seventh penalty of the game; simply not disciplined enough. Canada managed to kill off the man advantage, but their worst enemy at this point in the game was the clock. With under four minutes to go in regulation and the score still stuck at 5-2, a Canada comeback was looking more and more impossible with each passing second. With 1:09 to go, yet another Canada penalty was called as Brandt Clarke was called for tripping. Czechia just played keep away for the remaining 1:09 as they just wanted to kill the rest of the clock, and they did just that. While it will be seen as an upset, and sure you can say that, but honestly? The better team won. Czechia played a fantastic tough, defensive-minded game, and they capitalized on their chances when they got them. Full credit to them. Shots on goal in the third period were 14-9 in favor of Canada and 38-27 overall in favor of Canada as well.
Tonight’s Three Stars (in my opinion)
1. Tomas Suchanek – 36 Saves
2. Connor Bedard – 1 Goal (11 shots on goal!)
3. Stanislav Svozil – 1 Goal 1 Assist
Canada will have the day off tomorrow, where they will have a chance to reflect on the game that was tonight. They will be back in action on Wednesday as they take on Germany!
For news and updates during the World Junior Championship be sure to follow me on Twitter @mikethefanatic!
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