The defending champion United States can reach the final in back-to-back years for the first time in its history at the world junior hockey championship. But first it will need to get past the team that prevented it from getting a medal in 2022. Saturday's semifinals opponent is Czechia, which defeated the USA in the quarterfinals three years ago. Since then, the Americans have won a bronze (2023) and gold medal (2024). Czechia won a silver and bronze the past two years.
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It’s a great matchup between teams of competing styles, but also teams with a lot of international experience and very similar numbers so far at this tournament. This will definitely be a tough matchup.
Team USA is coming off of a first-place finish in Group A, which included an overtime loss to Finland. Czechia finished second in Group B with their only loss coming against Sweden. All of the top seeds won their quarterfinals, so we’ve got the four best teams by record still alive in this tournament.
Here’s what you need to know about Team USA and Team Czechia
Being able to spread the minutes out like that and trust your D corps is a nice luxury. Now that group gets a day to rest and see what they can do with the American attack, which will present different challenges than Canada did.
The U.S. has a team that can do a bit more east-west and will use their feet well in transition. The American D corps is just good enough at moving pucks throughout their lineup to get it to the forwards quickly. As a result, USA can get behind the defense and direct more pucks to the net from in tight.
Keeping the top line contained is one thing, but USA finally has an effective mix on its second line which has been Danny Nelson (NYI), Oliver Moore (CHI) and Brodie Ziemer (BUF), which makes every team work to get out of their zone. Nelson has been one of the more underrated players in this tournament. He’s been a major factor, especially at five-on-five when it comes to generating and getting scoring chances.
All throughout USA’s lineup, the speed factor will be a potential separating factor. But Czechia’s defense was able to manage Canada’s skill and speed with a commitment to team defense, taking away the middle of the ice and not cheating for offense.
Adam Jiricek (STL) and Jakub Dvorak (LAK) are a solid pairing who will play plenty of key minutes, while Tomas Galvas and Vojtech Husinecky will be the primary pairing to see the bulk of the ice. Galvas is a dangerous power-play weapon, too.
Even Czechia’s “third” pairing of Vojtech Port (ANA) and Jakub Fibigr (SEA) have made their presence known in this tournament. They are no pushovers and play big minutes.
Each player, one through seven on the back end has what it takes to push this American scoring attack.sadsadsadasd
Watch World Junior Championship Live Stream Online From Anywhere. No Cable or VPN Required. Onetime Payment, No hidden charge.
Click To: World Junior Championship Live Anywhere Low Price
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It’s a great matchup between teams of competing styles, but also teams with a lot of international experience and very similar numbers so far at this tournament. This will definitely be a tough matchup.
Team USA is coming off of a first-place finish in Group A, which included an overtime loss to Finland. Czechia finished second in Group B with their only loss coming against Sweden. All of the top seeds won their quarterfinals, so we’ve got the four best teams by record still alive in this tournament.
Here’s what you need to know about Team USA and Team Czechia
Team USA By The Numbers Going Into Semifinals
- Record: 4-0-1-0
- Goals For: 29 | Rank: T-1
- Goals Against: 12 | Rank T-3
- Power Play Efficiency: 7-for-21 (33.3%) | Rank: 2
- Penalty Kill Efficiency: 15-for-19 (78.95%) | Rank: 5
- Team Save Percentage: .920 | Rank: 3
Team Czechia By The Numbers Going Into Semifinals
- Record: 4-0-0-1
- Goals For: 29 | Rank T-1
- Goals Against: 12 | Rank: T-3
- Power Play Efficiency: 5-for-18 (27.8%) | Rank: 5
- Penalty Kill Efficiency: 18-for-22 (81.8%) | Rank: 4
- Team Save Percentage: .916 | Rank: 5
Key Matchups In USA-Czechia Semifinal
USA’s Speed Vs. Czechia’s Defense
USA is a fast team, probably faster than Canada, which is going to present challenges to Czechia’s defense corps, who may have been the unsung heroes of that quarterfinal win against the tournament hosts. They all played pretty well-managed minutes with not one Czech defenseman playing over 20 minutes in the game.Being able to spread the minutes out like that and trust your D corps is a nice luxury. Now that group gets a day to rest and see what they can do with the American attack, which will present different challenges than Canada did.
The U.S. has a team that can do a bit more east-west and will use their feet well in transition. The American D corps is just good enough at moving pucks throughout their lineup to get it to the forwards quickly. As a result, USA can get behind the defense and direct more pucks to the net from in tight.
Keeping the top line contained is one thing, but USA finally has an effective mix on its second line which has been Danny Nelson (NYI), Oliver Moore (CHI) and Brodie Ziemer (BUF), which makes every team work to get out of their zone. Nelson has been one of the more underrated players in this tournament. He’s been a major factor, especially at five-on-five when it comes to generating and getting scoring chances.
All throughout USA’s lineup, the speed factor will be a potential separating factor. But Czechia’s defense was able to manage Canada’s skill and speed with a commitment to team defense, taking away the middle of the ice and not cheating for offense.
Adam Jiricek (STL) and Jakub Dvorak (LAK) are a solid pairing who will play plenty of key minutes, while Tomas Galvas and Vojtech Husinecky will be the primary pairing to see the bulk of the ice. Galvas is a dangerous power-play weapon, too.
Even Czechia’s “third” pairing of Vojtech Port (ANA) and Jakub Fibigr (SEA) have made their presence known in this tournament. They are no pushovers and play big minutes.
Each player, one through seven on the back end has what it takes to push this American scoring attack.sadsadsadasd
