Semifinal #2: Canada vs. Czechia
How to watch
Puck drop: 8:30 PM EST / 5:30 PM PST
In Canada: TSN (English,) RDS (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Live stream: TSN+, RDS Direct
In the second semifinal of the 2026 World Juniors, the two teams that finished first and second in Group B will meet up for the second time in the tournament. There’s more on the line this time around than in the opening game for both teams back on December 26.
Canada got to this game with a very easy win over Slovakia in the quarters, a match in which they scored five goals in the first period and sailed to a 7-1 win. Things weren’t a great deal more difficult for Czechia, which claimed a 6-2 victory over Switzerland.
With those low-pressure results and a day off on Saturday, the teams are as fresh as possible for this game that will determine which nation plays for gold. Surely it won’t be a 7-5 game like the first one between the teams, but these are two of the three highest-scoring squads in the tournament, and no lead will be safe.
Team Canada projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #9 Gavin McKenna |
#29 Michael Hage |
#28 Brady Martin |
| #11 Tig Iginla |
#7 Michael Misa |
#22 Porter Martone |
| #25 Caleb Desnoyers |
#26 Cole Beaudoin |
#23 Sam O’Reilly |
| #17 Jett Luchanko |
#21 Cole Reschny |
#8 Braeden Cootes |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #10 Cameron Reid |
#19 Zayne Parekh |
| #13 Ethan MacKenzie |
#4 Harrison Brunicke |
| #2 Kashawn Aitcheson |
#14 Ben Danford |
| #5 Carson Carels |
#20 Keaton Verhoeff |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #1 Jack Ivankovic |
#30 Carter George |
Team Czechia projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #15 Vojtech Cihar |
#17 Petr Sikora |
#14 Vaclav Nestrasil |
| #18 Tomas Poletin |
#12 Maxmilian Curran |
#20 Adam Benák |
| #24 Adam Novotny |
#25 Stepan Hoch |
#19 Dany Chludil |
| #11 Matej Kubiesa |
#29 Samuel Drancak |
#21 Jiri Klima |
|
#22 Adam Titlbach |
|
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #7 Jakub Fibigr |
#5 Adam Jiříček |
| #23 Tomas Galvas |
#6 Radim Mrtka |
| #8 Matyas Man |
#3 Max Psenicka |
| #9 Vladimir Dravecky |
|
| Starter |
Backup |
| #30 Michal Orsulak |
#1 Matyas Marik |
