EDMONTON — They are what the Canadians thought they were. The Czech Republic — as challenging as they are dull, as dangerous as they are patient.

You’ve heard of a trap game? What Team Canada faced was a Jacque Lemaire, “Mad Trapper” special against a Czech Republic team that clogged up the ice like the ’99 New Jersey Devils.

“They put together a lot of blocked shots, and we had to find a way to get ‘em through,” Canadian forward Peyton Krebs. “We ground away each and every period. It was a lot of fun.”

Fun to play, maybe. Not much fun to watch however.

Canada slogged through a 3-0 win to set up a semi-final date with Russia on Monday, outshot 29-25 by the Czechs, the first time in the 2021 world juniors that Canada was outshot.

It wasn’t pretty, but they don’t judge these games on style points. With two first period goals that came 3:17 apart, you never thought the victory was in doubt for Canada. But still, the score was 2-0 with four minutes to play when the Czechs pulled goalie Nick Malik, and there they were, just a shot away from being a shot away.

Alas, the team that spent the night defending probably should have thought a little more about how they were going to score.

“You’re probably right,” said Canadiens draft pick Jan Mysak. “If you want to win, you have to score goals.”

Necessary Medicine

Andre Tourigny gets it.

A team must be able to play more than one way to be successful. And sometimes, you have to play the game the way the opponent dictates and not use that as an excuse to lose.

“(The Czechs) don’t have the depth of talent of other countries, but they have the heart. They play hard, and they were tough — and on our side, that was perfect,” the Canadian head coach said. “I like that we had to dig in, and we had pressure. We needed to regroup at some points, because we were frustrated … and pressing a little bit. It’s good to go through that.

“The world juniors is about adversity. Today we had adversity and we overcame it.”

It was no secret. The Czechs beat Russia in the group stage playing this way, and a team with zero first-round draft picks wasn’t going to play fire wagon hockey against an opponent with 19 first-rounders.

“We knew (the Czechs) would give us more adversity than people were expecting,” Tourigny said. “Now, it’s about how you will react to that adversity. In order to go where we want to go, we need to handle the adversity in the right way. It’s a plus for me the way the Czechs played us, and the way we had to dig in and figure it out. It’s a good thing.”

Prague Slog

When it was over, and the Czechs were exiting the bubble with a 2-3 record having beaten only Russia and Austria, head coach Karel Mlejnek wasn’t altogether sure on how his team played against Canada.

“I’m not sure if we were close or actually far (from winning),” he said after the game. “We allowed two quick goals, which put us on the back foot. However, we showed a strong mental side, contrary to the games against Sweden and the USA (7-1 and 7-0 losses). We kept fighting, trying to keep it as close as possible.”

When you are as defensive-minded as the Czechs, the problems arise when the opponent gets a lead. That happened early in this game, and although the Czech Republic generated 29 shots, they just didn’t have the touch around the net to get one past Canadian goalie Devon Levi.

“I wouldn’t say we are totally a defensive team. We don’t have a system that we don’t want to score goals,” Mlejnek said. “But Canada played really well, and they didn’t give us those chances we needed.”

Levi Stress

Historically, one of the hardest positions to play in Canadian sports is to be the goalie for our world junior team. Minutes go by without a shot. Periods where you get one, maybe two shots are a regular occurrence.

Devon Levi has lived it this Christmas, so he was quite pleased when his team allowed 12 shots in the first period on Saturday. (The Canadians only surrendered 15 shots in 60 minutes against Germany and Switzerland.)

“It was super fun to be busy in the first period,” Levi said. “It’s a different type of game right? In past games it was a bit harder to say focused. I found that in this game it was easy to have fun, and just go out and play.”

This is a kid who never played Major Junior hockey, spending last season in Junior A with the Carleton Place Canadians and fending off pucks from shooters wearing the jerseys of the Brockville Braves, the Hawkesbury Hawks and the Smiths Falls Bears.

Now, he’s two wins away from a gold medal and a spot in Canadian hockey history. He gets Team Russia on Monday.

“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” the 19-year-old said. “Every single day we come to the rink. We enjoy what we’re doing, the chemistry is there, and we’re getting’ better every day. I’m excited to see how we’re going to play in the semifinals.”

But what about all the pressure?

“I’m just super grateful to be here, that’s an honest answer,” he said. “I’m just taking every moment and savouring it. I know I’m going to be able to look back on this for the rest of my life.

“I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can.”

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