Johnson, Canada go for gold Saturday at World Juniors

If you're looking for some high-level hockey to fill your summer days, the IIHF's rescheduled World Junior Championship has been a great way to whet your appetite for what's to come this fall.
The annual tournament featuring the world's best players under the age of 20, with future NHL stars on many of the squads, was moved from December to August because of COVID. It has now moved on to the medal games, with all CBJ first-round pick Kent Johnson going for a gold medal Saturday.
Since the winter event, another player in the tournament has joined the Blue Jackets family, as the team's top pick in the 2022 draft, Czech defenseman David Jiricek, is taking part as an assistant captain for his home country. Johnson also returned to the event wearing an "A" for Team Canada, while Jiricek has two fellow CBJ draft picks as teammates in forward Martin Rysavy and defenseman Stanislav Svozil. (A fourth representative is on the Czechia roster as well in goalie Pavel Cajan, who signed a contract with AHL Cleveland this summer.)
You can read more about the Jackets taking part here
, and those involved have put together impressive performances at the event.

Saturday's Medal Matchups

Gold medal game: Canada (Johnson) vs. Finland, 8 p.m.
Bronze medal game: Czechia (Jiricek, Svozil, Rysavy) vs. Sweden, 4 p.m.

CBJ Prospect Stats

Kent Johnson, Canada: 5 GP, 2-6-8, +7, 35 SOG, 16:31 TOI
David Jiricek, Czechia: 6 GP, 0-2-2, -3, 10 SOG, 21:02 TOI
Stanislav Svozil, Czechia: 5 GP, 1-3-4, +2, 10 SOG, 19:54 TOI
Martin Rysavy, Czechia: 6 GP, 2-0-2, -4, 10 SOG, 15:07 TOI
Pavel Cajan, Czechia (Cleveland Monsters): 1 GP, 3.00 GAA, .889 save percentage

Highlights And More

Friday, Aug. 19
They say the biggest players show up in big games, and Johnson did just that in Canada's 5-2 win over Czechia in a World Juniors semifinal Friday afternoon.
The CBJ first-round pick was positively dominant in a three-point outing that included a goal and two assists that helped pushed the home team within one win of a gold medal. Johnson got Canada on the board then had the primary assists on two more tallies in the second period as the squad built a 4-0 lead then withstood a Czechia rally in the final frame.
Johnson continues to lead the tournament in shots on goal, adding five more to his total, and skated 19:24 on the way to being named Canada's best player in the game.

On the Czechia side, Jiricek and Svozil each had assists, including a blast from the point from Jiricek that was tipped home by Michal Gut to make it 4-2 that at one point looked like Jiricek's first goal of the tournament.
Everything ends Saturday now, as Canada takes on a battle-tested Finland team while Czechia faces Sweden for bronze.
Wednesday, Aug. 17
All four of the CBJ draft picks at the event moved on from the quarterfinals -- home Canada in expected fashion while Czechia posted a bit of a surprise result.
The United States team won the 2021 event and cruised through pool play, but Czechia scored twice in the second period to break a 1-1 tie and then held on for a 4-2 win to advance to the semifinals Wednesday night. It led to a raucous celebration for the Czechs, who last beat Team USA in 2011 and last won a WJC medal in 2005.

Jiricek posted his first assist of the tournament in the win, while Svozil did take a kneeing penalty in the third period that led to his ejection.
Canada, meanwhile, opened up a 4-2 lead in the opening period against Switzerland and brought it home to post a 6-3 victory. Johnson had an assist on the empty-net goal to stay on a point-per-game pace in the tournament plus five more shots on goal to keep his team lead.
Canada and Czechia battle for a spot in the gold medal game Friday afternoon.
Monday, Aug. 15
Pool play is over, and Canada is right where it's expected to be -- undefeated and with a gold medal squarely in its sights.
Johnson and his countrymen completed a perfect 4-0 run through Group A play Monday with a 6-3 win over Finland, a squad thought to be the Canadians' biggest challenge at the group stage. It wasn't much of a challenge on the scoreboard, though, as Canada led 3-1 after a period and 5-1 at one point on the way to the win.
It wasn't total domination as Finland did have its chances, but it did allow Canada to finish atop the group with a 27-7 edge in goal differential heading into the quarterfinals Wednesday. Johnson had an assist but was otherwise kept off the scoresheet despite eight shots on goal, giving him a team-high 25 shots to this point.
Maybe the first-round pick will be a little less snakebitten in Wednesday's semifinal vs. Switzerland, while Czechia will take on unbeaten Team USA.
Sunday, Aug. 14
Svozil missed Saturday's Czechia game vs. Canada and returned in style against Latvia on Sunday, posting a goal and an assist. Unfortunately for Czechia, that was about the only good news of the night, as the Latvians scored the last three goals to turn a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 victory.
Svozil assisted on Michal Gut's first-period tally and then tied the score at 2 in the second period, corralling a loose puck and putting a nifty backhander into the net for his first tally of the tournament.

Unfortunately, things went downhill for the Czechs from there as Latvia earned its first win at the World Juniors since January 2012 and its first-ever preliinary round victory (one can only imagine how excited Elvis Merzlikins, who was the backup goalie on that 2012 team, was Sunday evening).
Latvia's win moved the squad into third in Group A and clinched its advancement into the quarterfinals, which take place Wednesday. Czechia finished fourth in the group and will take on the undefeated Team USA in the quarters, while Slovakia -- which was missing big names like top NHL draft picks Juraj Slafkovsky and Simon Nemec -- was eliminated.
Saturday, Aug. 13
Well, there it is.
Johnson had scored impressive goals at the junior level in the BCHL and at the University of Michigan, tallies that showed the skill that made him the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.
But for everyone who was waiting for the CBJ forward to do something spectacular on a huge stage, something the hockey world simply cannot ignore, something to excite you for the Blue Jackets' future, there it was Saturday night.
Johnson broke open Canada's 5-1 win over Czechia late in the first period when he scored a lacrosse-style goal -- aka the Michigan, fitting given his choice of colleges -- that left just everyone in amazement at his smooth yet stunning abilities.

The 'Michigan goal' -- so named because Michigan forward Mike Legg scored it during an NCAA tournament game in 1996 -- has been pulled off only a handful of times in NHL history, twice by Carolina forward Andrei Svechnikov and then done last year by Anaheim's Trevor Zegras, who also made a similar play to pass the puck to Sonny Milano for a goal this past season.
Johnson told reporters he's been able to pull off the trick since he was 14 years old, and he did score a similar goal for Trail of the BCHL in his younger days.

Johnson also had a primary assist in the game and finished with nine shots on goal.
On the Czechia side, the squad was without CBJ third-round pick Svozil in the game, but Rysavy did notch his second goal in three games at the tournament with this shorthanded score.

Each team has one game left in pool play before the quarterfinals take place Wednesday.
Thursday, Aug. 11
A busy day for CBJ prospects at the World Juniors resulted in a big win and a tight loss.
Canada had little trouble in its second game of the tournament, with the offense kicking into high gear in an 11-1 drubbing of Slovakia. Anaheim Ducks forward Mason McTavish led the way with four goals and six points as the home team took a 4-0 lead in the first and never looked back. Johnson posted his first point of the tournament with this helper, but the Canadians didn't need much more offensively from the talented CBJ forward.

In the opening game of the day -- and perhaps the best game of the tournament thus far -- the CBJ-heavy Czechia squad battled one of the pre-tournament favorites, Finland, to a 3-3 draw before the Leijonat won the shootout to take the extra point.
Jiricek led Czechia in minutes played with 25:41, including 8:27 of the taut third period and a full 2:42 of overtime, while Svozil added 21:57 of action as the two alternate captains helped lead the Czechia blue line.
All teams with CBJ ties are off Friday, as Canada now has two wins in two games to top Group A and Czechia a win and a shootout loss to place third behind the Finns.
Wednesday, Aug. 10
Canada's tournament kicked off with a workmanlike 5-2 victory over Latvia, moving the home team to a 21-1-0 record in WJC openers since the year 2000.
Johnson was kept off the scoresheet but did show off his skills at times, including on this dangle and pass that led to a scoring chance for teammate Lukas Cormier.

Johnson played on the team's second line and was on the top power-play unit.
Canada's first goal was scored by Connor Bedard, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft.
Tuesday, Aug. 9
The tournament kicked off with the CBJ-heavy Czechia team hosting rival Slovakia, and the Czechs got their tournament off to a good start with a 5-4 win in Group A play.
Czechia was rampant throughout the game with a 52-29 edge in shots on goal -- including 25 shots on goal in the second period -- but didn't put away the win until Gabriel Szturc's goal with 1:50 to play broke a 4-4 tie.
Martin Rysavy was the lone CBJ prospect to get a goal, slamming home a cross-crease feed to get the Czechs on the board. Jackets first-round pick David Jiricek had an assist and was chosen as Czechia's star of the match, while Svozil led the team in ice time with 21:45 played.

It was a big win for Czechia, which is still to face tough contests in Group A play vs. Canada and Finland.