Shannon Coulter
Canada’s National Men’s Team looks to close out the preliminary round with an undefeated record when it faces Czechia on Tuesday at the 2026 IIHF World Championship.
Last Game
A big third period led Canada to its sixth-straight victory on Sunday with a 5-1 win over Slovakia. Dylan Cozens opened the scoring in the first period. Gabriel Vilardi, John Tavares, Ryan O’Reilly and Macklin Celebrini scored in a span of 7:07 minutes in the final frame. Jet Greaves was named Player of the Game after a fantastic performance in net with 31 saves against the Slovaks.
The Czechs experienced its first regulation loss of the tournament on Monday, falling 4-1 to Norway. Jaroslav Chmelar scored the lone goal for Czechia unassisted in the first period and Dominik Pavlat made 23 saves.
Last Meeting
Let’s throw it back to 2024 when Canada locked up the top spot in Group A with a 4-3 overtime win over Czechia. Cozens opened the scoring 61 seconds into the third period before Dawson Mercer and Brandon Hagel made it a 3-1 lead for Canada. The Czechs scored twice with the extra attacker to send the game to overtime, and Cozens sealed the victory for Canada with a short-handed goal. Jordan Binnington made 19 saves between the pipes.
What to Watch
Cozens has lit the lamp for Canada in three consecutive games, tallying five points (4-1—5) throughout the tournament. This is the third Men’s Worlds for the Whitehorse product, who previously took home silver in 2022 and placed fourth in 2024. The 25-year-old has 20 goals and 29 points through 26 games in his IIHF World Championship career. On the blue line, good things happen when Evan Bouchard is on the ice. He leads Canada with a plus-11 and has a goal and four assists so far in Switzerland.
Czechia is led by 40-year-old captain, Roman Cervenka, who is the only active player to have played in more than 100 games at the IIHF World Championship (it will be his 110 th Men’s Worlds game when he plays Canada). He has two goals and four points over six games in Fribourg. Eight players from Czechia’s Olympic roster are playing at Men’s Worlds, including Vancouver Canucks defenceman Filip Hronek. The 28-year-old led the Czechs in Milan with five assists, and he currently has two assists in the preliminary round.
A Look Back
Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, the 27 meetings between the Canadians and Czechs have been split almost right down the middle, with Canada holding a narrow 15-12 advantage.
That being said, Canada has won the last nine meetings since 2013, including three semifinal matchups: Mike Smith posted a 23-save shutout in 2015, Mark Stone had a goal and an assist in 2019, and Cozens scored twice and added a helper in 2022.
All-time record: Canada leads 15-12 (2-1 in OT/SO) Canada goals: 85 Czechia goals: 77