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MINNEAPOLIS — Another Canada–Czechia showdown delivered exactly what this rivalry has come to promise in recent years.
In a rematch of the teams’ quarterfinal battles from each of the previous two years, Canada pulled out a wild 7–5 victory to headline opening day at the 2026 world junior hockey championship.
Canada and Czechia were even through a back-and-forth opening period, with Canada carrying a 2–1 edge into intermission.
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Brady Martin opened the scoring and later set up Michael Hage, while Tomas Poletin answered for Czechia with a deflection.
Czechia pushed the pace in the second period, firing 11 shots and flipping the game. Vojtech Cihar tied it early, Petr Sikora put the Czechs ahead, and Zayne Parekh’s point shot late in the period pulled Canada even again.
The lid came off in the third period. Parekh struck on the power play before Poletin matched him minutes later. Goals from Tij Iginla and Ethan MacKenzie briefly gave Canada breathing room, but Tomas Galvas cut the lead to one. Porter Martone sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute.
Zayne Parekh’s offensive brilliance
Parekh’s absence was possibly the biggest snub of last year’s world junior team, and once Matthew Schaefer went down with an injury, the team struggled to create any offence from the back end for the rest of the tournament.
The 19-year-old Calgary Flames defenceman seems to have solved that issue, as he displayed wizardry with the puck on his stick in the offensive zone. It led to him scoring Canada’s third and fourth goals, crucial to their comeback when it looked like Czechia might pull away in the second period.
“He was really good,” coach Dale Hunter said. “Moved well, shot well.”
Parekh skated alongside Cameron Reid and logged 22:27 of ice time, leading all Canadian skaters by a considerable margin.
The smooth-skating defenceman admitted he was struck by cold and flu symptoms in the morning and struggled to get himself out of bed.
“I was feeling really under the weather, but I pumped some electrolytes into me, some meds, and felt great,” he said.
Short-term memory
Blame it on the long walk from their locker room, but Canada did not get off to the start it wanted in the first period.
Yes, Martin scored the opening goal and helped Canada to a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission, but defensively, the team bled quality chances.
Canada goaltender Carter George made his best saves of the night early in the contest to hide some of his defenders’ miscues.
A pair of Czechia goals to kick off the middle period could have spelled doom, but Canada’s response deserves credit.
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Parekh came up with a pair of tallies, and even after Czechia’s Poletin tied the game once again in the third period, Canada roared back with snipes from Iginla and MacKenzie, showcasing the team’s vastly improved scoring depth compared to last year’s roster.
Iginla is expected to score for Canada, but some help from a more unlikely source like MacKenzie is certainly welcomed.
Defensive gaffes
As potent as Canada was offensively, its defence was a cause for concern. Not every defender looked as comfortable in his skates as Parekh did.
Net-front battles were frequently lost to Czechia’s aggressive forwards, and Grade-A chances against George were commonplace, directly leading to several goals against.
“It’s the turnovers,” Hunter said. “We gotta correct that.”
JDuench@postmedia.com
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