Czech’s Start WJAC With Big Win Over Canada West

Canada West already finds themselves trailing at the 2017 World Junior A Challenge, dropping the first game against the Czech Republic on Sunday to kick off the tournament.

The Canadians struggled out of the gate, surrendering two goals before the game really had kicked in to full steam. At 8:15, Lukas Rousek finished off a good power play cycle by sending a quick shot past Mitch Adamyk, scoring just seconds before the end of the first man advantage.

Just over a minute later, the Czech’s took advantage of their momentum and made it 2-0. This time, David Kofroň completed a nice passing situation and found an open slot, doubling the Czech’s lead early in the battle.

Relentless offensive pressure by the Canadians would lead to their first goal of the game early in the second. Ethan De Jong would be the beneficiary after sneaking in front of the net and turning Ross Armour’s pass into a goal, with De Jong getting credit with Canada’s first goal of the tournament.

Canada wouldn’t follow up their offense with further goals. Instead, at 10:29, Tomas Havranek scored from the wing, beating Adamyk with a solid wrister to give the visiting nation the two-goal lead again.

Adamyk’s night would end early with another Czech goal with five minutes to go. Jachym Kondelik would get the second power play goal of the match, summoning Zach Rose to complete the game.

An incredible lone-man effort by defenceman Jonny Tychonick would lead to Canada’s second goal of the game. The Penticton Vees star went end to end without any real pressure, picking up his own rebound to make it 4-2 with half a period still to go in the game. The goal didn’t change much, however, as an empty netter late in the battle secured the 5-2 victory for the Czech’s, starting the tournament off in style.

The Czech’s won’t get much time to rest before they take on the United States at 3:30 PM AST, while Canada West will wait until Tuesday before facing off against the Americans.

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