Blue Jackets prospects leading way for Czechia at World Juniors

Over the last 10 years, exactly three teams have won the IIHF World Junior Championship. Canada has four victories in the annual tournament matching the top Under-20 players in the world, while the United States and Finland have three wins apiece.
But is it time for a new country to lay claim to the best young hockey talent in the world?
If it's a Czechia team that has advanced to the gold medal game of this year's event, it will be led by Blue Jackets.

CBJ first-round pick David Jiricek does it all on the blue line for the Czechs, who defeated Sweden by a 2-1 score in overtime Wednesday to reach the final. Meanwhile, third-round pick Stanislav Svozil is the team captain and is tied for the team lead in points, and seventh-round pick Martin Rysavy is a key piece of the bottom six for the squad.
It would be a big accomplishment for Czechia to win it all -- in fact, the country hasn't been in a gold medal game since winning it all back-to-back in 2000 and '01 -- but the team's furious comeback, paced by Jiricek's goal in the final minute, against Sweden has guaranteed the country a medal for the first time since bronze in 2005.
The Czechs opened the tournament with a solid 5-2 win over host Canada, then had no trouble with a 9-0 win over Austria. The lone loss was a 3-2 overtime setback to Sweden in which the Czechs had a sizable shot advantage, then the team finished the round robin with an 8-1 thrashing of Germany.
The good times didn't stop in the quarterfinal round Monday, as Czechia shrugged off a goal allowed on the first shift of the game and roared back to post the 9-1 win over Switzerland. Jiricek had a goal and assist, while Svozil had two more primary assists in the contest.
The semifinal rematch was one to remember, as Sweden kept the Czechs' impressive offense in check for most of the game. But Czechia got a late offensive zone faceoff, and Jiricek ripped a one-timer into the net before racing to his team's bench for a wild celebration.

Jiri Kulich then won the game in the final minute of overtime, setting up a gold medal game Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. on NHL Network against Canada, which posted a 6-2 win over Team USA in the other semifinal.
And as we said, the Czechs are led by Blue Jackets players. Jiricek, who has skated in two games with Columbus this year and is playing at a point-per-game pace in the AHL at age 19 after being chosen sixth overall in this summer's draft, has a 3-4-7 line in six games, is plus-9 and is skating 19:09 per game.

Svozil, meanwhile, is also in his third World Juniors at age 19 and is wearing the "C" on his sweater. His experience and poise on the puck have been huge for Czechia, as the 2021 draftee has posted a 1-7-8 line to tie for the Czech lead in scoring, including posting a goal and an assist in the win over Canada and adding three assists in the victory over Austria. Svozil, who has 32 assists and 37 points in 28 games this year with Regina of the WHL, leads Czechia defensemen with 19:33 played per game and is tied for second in the tournament in assists and fifth in points.

Rysavy, who is in his second WJC after being chosen by the Blue Jackets in the 2021 draft, has a 1-2-3 line after having scored in the round robin finale against Germany. Rysavy, who has three goals over his two WJC appearances, is playing an average of 13:47 per game. He has a 2-9-11 line in 21 games this year with Moose Jaw of the WHL.

The Czech squad features 11 NHL draft picks that are in the everyday lineup, including 2022 first-round pick Kulich (Buffalo), 2022 second-round pick Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas), and 2022 fifth-rounder David Spacek (Minnesota), who is tied for the team lead with eight points and is the son of former CBJ defenseman Jaroslav Spacek.