Canada vs. Czechia
How to watch
Puck drop: 7:30 PM EST
In Canada: TSN (English,) RDS (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Live stream: TSN+, RDS Direct
Czechia has proven to be the nemesis of Team Canada at the past two tournaments, ending Canada’s two-year reign at the quarter-final stage of the event in 2024, then getting the same result to begin the playoff round a year ago. While Canada has therefore been shut out of the medals the last couple of years, the Czechs have added a couple of bronze medals to their trophy cabinet.
This year the two teams meet up on the opening day of the tournament with less at stake than those single-elimination matches, but it is still an important game as far as positioning in Group B goes. In a section that also includes Finland, losing out on points could be the difference between finishing first and ending up third.
The good news is that Canada has learned its lesson from last year when it tried to fill out a roster based on roles rather than the available players’ talent. This time they have many of the best offensive players at their disposal, several of whom were overlooked a year ago. There is goal-scoring skill through the four lines, and that might be the difference in helping Canada overcome a team it has had trouble with.
Team Canada projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #11 Tig Iginla |
#7 Michael Misa |
#22 Porter Martone |
| #9 Gavin McKenna |
#29 Michael Hage |
#28 Brady Martin |
| #21 Cole Reschny |
#26 Cole Beaudoin |
#17 Jett Luchanko |
| #24 Liam Greentree |
#8 Brauden Cootes |
#23 Sam O’Reilly |
|
#25 Caleb Desnoyers |
|
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #10 Cameron Reid |
#19 Zayne Parekh |
| #5 Carson Carels |
#4 Harrison Brunicke |
| #14 Ben Danford |
#2 Kashawn Aitcheson |
| #13 Ethan MacKenzie |
|
| Starter |
Backup |
| #30 Carter George |
#1 Jack Ivankovic |
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 |
| #21 Jiri Klima |
#25 Stepan Hoch |
#24 Adam Novotny |
| #22 Adam Titlbach |
#16 Richard Zemlicka |
#11 Matej Kubiesa |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #7 Jakub Fibigr |
#5 Adam Jiříček |
| #23 Tomas Galvas |
#3 Max Psenicka |
| #8 Matyas Man |
#9 Vladimir Dravecky |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #30 Michal Orsulak |
#1 Matyas Marik |
