Czech Republic – Canada ONLINE HOCKEY: Introduction to the U20 World Cup

With 19 junior championship titles, the Canadians are clearly the most successful entrants, having collected a total of 34 medals. The collection of the Czech national team was more modest; the precious metal has been waiting since 2005, four years longer for gold. During the previous championship, unusually held in August after it was postponed, the two teams even met twice. Canada won 5:1 in the basic group, 5:2 in the semifinals.

“We can’t wait for Canada, everyone wants to play a match like this, that’s without question. Nearly 80 percent of the hall’s capacity went to the preliminary matches here, it will now be completely packed. We are expecting a great atmosphere and it will be a great experience for those guys” Rulík said in an online interview with reporters.

In the Canadian team, three names will especially attract attention: Shane Wright, who has long been considered the clear number one in this year’s NHL draft, but Seattle finally joined him from fourth position, as well as other forwards Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli, who moved up to the number one and number two positions in the draft next year. “Canada’s strength is incredible, but we will face each other with courage and confidence. Just like in any other match we want to win,” assured Rulík.

However, the experienced coach also pointed out that the participation of the Czech team in the championship does not hold and falls only with the result of the opening match. “We want to give the impression to the boys that it doesn’t end with Canada, it just starts with Canada. We have four games ahead of us where we have to push ourselves to score points and get to the playoffs. This is the priority for us,” he underlined Rulik. “It is important for us to help each other more and more on the ice, to play well in the system and to improve with each substitution. We will also strive for this,” added Rulík.

“It’s the first match of the tournament, which will also be the biggest test for us. We will go through that match like any other and, of course, we want to win, even though we know it will be very difficult,” conceded defender Stanislav Svozil.