‘We let them win the first one’: Czechia’s Necas on Olympic rematch against Canada

Maybe there is an underlying confidence brewing with one of the European underdogs.

When speaking to the media after Czechia’s hard-fought 3-2 win over Denmark in the playoff qualifiers at the 2026 Winter Olympics, forward Martin Necas was asked about the impending rematch with Canada in the quarterfinals.

“We let them win the first one because we knew we were not going to win two in a row against Canada,” Necas said.

It’s a strong statement from a player on a team that suffered a rather embarrassing loss to Canada less than a week ago. The Canadians made a statement in their opening game of the tournament last Thursday, shutting out Czechia with a 5-0 victory. Canada outshot Czechia 36-26 in the game, with stars like Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini finding the back of the net.

Both teams went in different directions for the rest of the preliminary round. Canada went on to beat Switzerland and France with relative ease, posting the best goal differential in the group stage, scoring 18 goals while only giving up three. Czechia’s lone win came against the French, before losing to the Swiss in overtime on Sunday, resulting in a third-place finish in Group A.

Necas has been a big part of helping Czechia reach the quarterfinals. He has scored goals in each of the past three games, including against the Danes on Tuesday, becoming the first Czech player to accomplish the feat in the NHL era. Now, he looks to push his team to the semifinals for the first time since PyeongChang in 2018, and the first time with NHL participation since the 2006 Turin Games, the last time the Olympics were held in Italy.

It certainly won’t be easy. Despite having a number of quality NHLers, including David Pastrnak, Canada’s deep roster has been tough to slow down in the opening days of the tournament.

Canada and Czechia will face off in Milan on Wednesday, with puck drop scheduled for 10:40 a.m. ET.