What challenge does Czechia pose in Olympic men’s hockey rematch against Canada?
Canada vs. Czechia. Truly, one of the best rivalries in hockey right now.
Most of that stems from the World Juniors, where Czechia has eliminated Canada from gold-medal contention three years in a row. Sure, Canada could claim they’d have a better shot had Macklin Celebrini not been in the NHL the past two years (and he scored against the Czechs in the Olympics already). But when the games really matter, Czechia has had Canada’s number there.
Canada easily won the opening Olympic game between the two teams 5-0. Canada has since gone on to post a perfect record, with France, of all teams, being the only squad to score more than a goal against them. Czechia would go on to beat France themselves, but would lose in a heartbreaking fashion to Switzerland in the final round-robin game.
Fortunately, they bounced back to beat Denmark 3-2 on Tuesday, thrusting them into a 10:40 AM ET fight against Canada on Wednesday.
Canada hasn’t lost to the Czechs in men’s senior national team action since the 2018 Winter Games. Canada edged the Czechs 4-3 in their most recent World Championship matchup in 2024, but Czechia still won gold on home ice. You’d have to go all the way back to 2010 to find Czechia’s last win outside of that.
Czechia’s offense was, to put it lightly, inconsequential in the first game. The team barely made it to the slot, and they were clearly much slower than the Canadians. Since then, Martin Nečas has been a man on a mission. Filip Chlapik and David Pastrnak have also looked quite solid. We haven’t seen a massive blowout game from Pasta yet, but the puck generally ends up in the attacking zone when he’s on the ice. Not to mention, Filip Hronek has been a playdriver from the point in the past few games, too.
One issue for Czechia is the lack of scoring depth. Ondrej Palat has been inconsequential. Dominik Kubalik was a healthy scratch against the Swiss. Ondrej Kase and Tomas Hertl – both of whom have played top-six minutes – are still seeking their first points. It can’t be just Nečas and Pastrnak leading the charge every single shift. By all accounts, it’s been a highly disappointing effort from a team many pegged as a legitimate medal contender heading in.
Czechia’s special teams have been a disaster. They’re near the bottom on both the power play and the penalty kill, while Canada’s power play is the best in the tournament.
Defensively, the Czechs entered the playoff round with the fourth fewest shots against. But goaltending has let the Czechs down: they had the worst team save percentage heading into the playoffs at 84.42. Given that Lukas Dostal was a difference-maker in 2024 when the Czechs won the World Championship, that’s shocking. Fortunately for the Czechs, Dostal played his best game on Tuesday – if he can channel that energy against Canada, watch out.
But Canada can’t take Czechia lightly. Not one bit.
Czechia has looked a bit more aggressive, especially defensively. They get a bunch of shots on net, too. But they need more than just a handful of guys getting the job done. Since the opening game, Czechia has looked a lot more cohesive.
Czechia is also more battle-tested. Canada hasn’t had to deal with much adversity beyond Josh Morrissey getting hurt in the opener. Czechia, meanwhile, had to grind away to beat the Danes after grinding away in a loss to Switzerland. This team knows how to deal with tight games at this point, something Canada hasn’t. For the Canadians, all three games have been completely one-sided, and it awarded them an extra day off.
There isn’t a world where Czechia enters this game as the favorite to win. They aren’t better than Canada in any measurable metric. But we also rarely see a team steamroll an opponent twice in a tournament. Heck, Canada beat Czechia in the World Junior opener back in December, only to lose when it mattered most a week later.
Canada can’t get cocky. Czechia has had more opportunities to learn how to deal with adversity as a group. You never need motivation to win a big hockey game. But you know the Czechs are going to be amped up to get revenge after a dreadful first meeting between the two teams. Remember how we said Pastrnak hasn’t blown the doors off anyone yet? Or how Hertl hasn’t registered a point? The last thing Canada needs is for either of them to open up the floodgates.
You’ve got skill vs. a will to win. NHL superstars vs. a veteran group less than two years removed from winning a World Championship. Expect a tighter game this time around, one where Czechia puts up a more significant fight than one last Thursday.
PRESENTED BY DAILY FACEOFF’S OLYMPIC COVERAGE
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