Czechs and USA meet in U18 Final
With an overtime win the Czechs advance to the Final for the first time ever while the United States beat Sweden 4:1.
In the first Semifinal the score was tight for 2 periods before the
Americans executed their game and scored two unanswered goals in period 3.
Captain Gustav Franzen scored the opening goal after 3 minutes but only
32 seconds later Auston Matthews tied the game. Ryan Hitchcock delivered
the 2nd goal for the Americans in period two. Sweden was unable to
answer when Dylan Larkin in the 49th minute and Jack Eichel with an
empty netter in the last minute of the game handed the Swedes their only second loss and qualified for the Final for the 10th time.
Game two of the day between the Czech Republic and Canada looked like
the Eastern Europeans would run down the Canucks as Michael Spacek
after just a minute and 15 second opened the score and his colleagues
Jakub Vrana in the 28th minute and just 5 minutes later Jiri Smejkal
made it 3:0. But the Canadians hadn't given up yet. 35 minutes were
played as Matt Barzal started a catch up race, scoring the first goal
for Canada. Joseph Hicketts scored the second goal just 5 minutes into
the third period and Daniel Audette shot the game tying goal just 7
minutes before the end of regulation. An overtime (and eventual
Shootout) would have to decide the second Finalist. David Pastrnak was
benched with 2 minutes played but a time out by Canadian Head Coach
Kevin Dineen wasn't fruitful and so the game went on when in the 67th
minute David Kase scored the unassisted game winning goal. With that,
the Czech Republic qualify for the U18 Final for the first time in
History and will play the Record World Champion USA who lead the table with 7 Gold
medals, followed by Russia and Canada with 3 Gold each.
A reason that Canada wasn't able to step forward today and in the
history of the U18 in general may be that many Junior Leagues in Canada
are in their Playoffs and therefore can't provide a Team with their
strongest athletes. But this shouldn't diminish the performance by the
Czechs who've played an enormous Tournament, winning all games, except
for their loss the States in the preliminary round with 3:0.
Canada and Sweden will meet in the Bronze medal game in the afternoon and the Czechs will play USA in the Gold medal game in the evening.
Meanwhile Germany won their second game against Denmark and will remain
in the Elite Group while Denmark will change seats with promoted Team
Latvia.
- Continental Cup Group A: day 3 recap
- Changes in Tre Kronor’s coaching staff for February tournaments
- Slovak Extraliga started with an exciting round
- Continental Cup Group A: day 2 recap
- Continental Cup Group A: day1 recap
- Czech league opens with Sparta win
- Baltic Hockey League Downsizes – 2024/25 Season Preview
- First win for Unia and first loss for ZSC
- 28 Sep 2024 |
Rens Aberson
(F)
- 28 Sep 2024 |
Rasmus Nousiainen
(F)
- 28 Sep 2024 |
Jesse Juhola
(F)
- 28 Sep 2024 |
Kalle Keinonen
(D)
- 28 Sep 2024 |
Gleb Artsatbanov
(G)
- 28 Sep 2024 |
Judd Blackwater
(F)
- 28 Sep 2024 |
Anton Mylläri
(D)
Current events
External links
Czech Rep.: Tipsport extraliga | 1.liga | 2.liga
Slovakia: Tipsport Extraliga | 1.liga
Sweden: SHL | HockeyAllsvenskan
Other: EBEL | Belarus | Croatia | Denmark | Estonia | France | Great Britain | Iceland | Italy | Latvia | Lithuania | MOL-liga | Norway | Poland | Romania | Serbia | Slovenia | Spain | NHL | AHL |
Changes in Tre Kronor’s coaching staff for February tournaments
February 2025 will be a crucial month for Swedish hockey, with the national team participating in both the Beijer Hockey Games in Stockholm and the NHL 4 Nations Face-off. As part of the preparations, the Swedish Ice Hockey Association has announced ... Read more»