2026 U-18 World Championship: Ripa, Murnieks highlight top standouts from Day 5

The final two-game preliminary round day at the U-18 World Championship in Slovakia didn’t feature the closest action we’ve ever seen.

It started with Czechia pummeling Denmark 9-1, with the game not being particularly close. Norway, meanwhile, needed to beat Latvia to keep its quarterfinal hopes alive, but allowed two goals early and never could keep up in an 8-1 defeat.

Here’s a look at the top performers on Sunday:

Czechia 9, Denmark 1

Czechia has regained the top spot in Group B heading into the final day of round-robin action after beating Denmark 9-1.

Denmark will play Sweden to decide who gets third place in Group B. If Denmark beats Sweden in regulation and Germany wins in any form against the United States on Monday, Sweden will be the Group B representative heading to the relegation game.

The first period wasn’t a great one if you’re a fan of goalies. A total of three goals were scored on eight shots in the first, with Michal Sebesta and David Huk scoring on the first two shots of the game. Lucas Althof managed to tally one for the Danes to keep it close, setting up what could have been an interesting final 40 minutes.

Instead, the Czechs dominated the rest of the way, scoring three times in the third to put it out of reach. David Sedlacek would score twice, while Josef Holejsovsky would register his first of the tournament, to make it a 5-1 game. Dominik Ripa scored twice, while Sebesta and Matej Tomanek added one each in the third period to finish things off

Czechia

#18 Ondrej Ruml, D: Ruml was a generation machine on the point today. He had two assists, although the second one probably would have been a goal on his own without the tip in front of the crease. Ruml had been a bit quieter than I expected to start the tournament, but it felt like he was the team’s top blueliner today. He made some smart decisions to get the puck out of the zone and also battled hard along the boards, too.

#20 Dominik Řípa, RW: Řípa is an undersized forward, but he makes up for it with a tremendous work ethic. He’s always out there chasing after pucks and getting into the dirty areas, and it paid off with an assist on the opening goal and then scored twice himself in the third. Řípa has had a good tournament, with three points in four games. It’s especially impressive given his general lack of production the past two years. He might be too small to get a sniff from an NHL team at 5-foot-10 (especially with a lack of high-end traits elsewhere), but he has been a perfect fit for the Czechs this year.

#22 David Huk, C: Czechia’s fourth line center was busy today. He scored the second goal of the game on Czechia’s second shot. He then had a shot ring off two posts and bounce on the line before eventually becoming the 5-1 marker. Huk plays with a ton of energy, and he’s not afraid to get aggressive. He has been one of Czechia’s better players over the past week.

#27 Lukas Sedlacek, LW: Sedlacek was everywhere around the crease today. He scored the 3-1 goal early in the second and then jammed in Huk’s original attempt to make it 5-1. He continuously overpowered the Danish defenders around the crease, giving them too much to deal with around the net.

Denmark

#23 Andreas Klove Mogensen, RW: It’s easy to appreciate a guy who works as hard as Klove does. The mid-sized forward is one of the fastest players on the Danish team, always chasing after pucks and forcing turnovers. He nearly scored in the opening period after forcing the Czech goaltender into a mistake. He has had an excellent tournament overall, serving as one of the better two-way players.

Latvia 7, Norway 1

Norway is off to the relegation game next week after a crushing 7-1 loss to Latvia to close out the day.

Norway will play either Germany, Denmark or Sweden in the first game of the day on Wednesday morning.

Norway found themselves in deep water early, allowing two goals 21 seconds apart in the first period after Magnuss Avotins and Davids Tarvids found success. Avotins scored his second of the day shorthanded early in the second period, with Martins Klaucans scoring twice to put the game fully out of reach.

Stefans Rots would tally the 6-0 goal for Latvia – an excellent play on the penalty kill. Jonas Gulbrandsen would answer back about 10 minutes later to give Norway some life, but Oskars Luks and Olivers Murnieks scored one each to cap off the night.

Latvia

#8 Martins Klaucāns, C: It’s hard to beat a two-goal, three-point game. His two goals back-to-back in the second period proved to be an absolute back-breaker for Norway, who simply couldn’t keep up the rest of the way. Klaucāns had a modest 11 points for Sherbrooke this season, but seemed to be shot out of a cannon today. I thought he had a decent World Juniors, but he’s much more in his element as an aggressive forward in front of the net.

#14 Olivers Murnieks, C: Murnieks is doing everything possible to salvage his draft stock. He had a pair of assists and scored with four minutes to go to make it 7-1. He’s a smart, two-way forward who can be an absolute workhorse at a level like this. He’s built strong, and can outwork a ton of guys at this level. Scouts are worried he doesn’t have the raw skill to be anything more than a fourth-line forward. Regardless, I liked him today.

#24 Magnuss Avotins, LW: Avotins scored twice today, including shorthanded early in the second period. The Blackfalds Bulldogs forward is known more for his raw physical strength, but he was everywhere today as he found open space consistently. I liked him around the net, in particular – he doesn’t give up.

Norway

#4 Jesper Juntti, D: It was hard to feel good about anyone on the Norwegian squad, but I thought Juntti was solid. He had an assist on the lone goal today, and he blocked a bunch of shots along the way. I thought he played a defensively responsible game, even if he couldn’t avoid being caved in.

2026 IIHF U-18 Men’s World Championship Round Robin Standings

Group A

Rank	Team	GP	Points
1.	Finland	3	8
2.	Slovakia	3	7
3.	Canada	3	6
4.	Latvia	3	3
5.	Norway	4	0

Group B

Rank	Team	GP	Points
1.	Czechia	4	9
2.	USA	3	7
3.	Sweden	3	3
4.	Denmark	3	3
5.	Germany	3	2

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2026 IIHF U-18 Men’s World Championship Round Robin Schedule

Date	Time (ET)	Matchup	Location
Mon. April 27	6:00 AM	Denmark vs. Sweden	Bratislava
	8:00 AM	Finland vs. Canada	Trenčín
	10:00 AM	USA vs. Germany	Bratislava
	12:00 PM	Latvia vs. Slovakia	Trenčín