2022 World Junior Hockey Championship: Czechia vs. Canada — Lineups, start time, and TV schedule

Czechia vs. Canada

How to watch

Puck drop: 7:00 PM EST / 4:00 PM PST
In Canada: TSN (English,) RDS (French)
In the United States: NHL Network
Live stream: TSN Direct, RDS Direct

After a scare on Thursday when a player entered the COVID protocol and a pre-tournament game needed to be cancelled, we are now officially under way in the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship. In the third game of the opening day, Canada steps on the ice to take on the newly monikered Czechia.

Canada had a chance to play on the ice in Edmonton, grabbing a 6-4 win when they played Russia, an opponent they won’t face in the round-robin portion of the event. Standout players that game were Mason McTavish, whose smooth hands created two goals, and 16=year-old forward Connor Bedard, who made his case to be moved higher up the lineup with a goal of his own.

The Czechs enter this contest with no game action since they arrived in Alberta, because it was their opponent for Thursday’s game that was dealing with the COVID issues. They get dropped right into the fire versus a team from Canada that wants to get off on the right foot after settling for silver on home ice last year, but has a crowd cheering them on this time around.

Their captain, Montreal Canadiens prospect Jan Mysak, clearly understood the difficulty of the assignment, and was working hard yesterday in practice to prepare. He’ll be the go-to forward for the coaching staff in the game, and wants to be as prepared as possible.

In the much weaker of the two groups of five teams, there’s the possibility that Canada could take some opponents lightly looking ahead to the playoff round. That’s the mindset Mysak and his teammates will be hoping to pounce on, and they’ll need a great start to make that happen.

Team Czechia projected lineup

Team Canada projected lineup