Jason La Rose
GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. CZECHIA (FEB. 18)
It’s time to play win-or-go-home hockey as Canada’s Men’s Olympic Team gets its playoff round underway Wednesday at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games with a quarterfinal matchup against Czechia.
Last Game
Canada closed out a perfect preliminary round Sunday with a 10-2 win over France, clinching the No. 1 overall seed for the playoffs in the process. Macklin Celebrini scored a pair of goals and added an assist, and Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Mark Stone chipped in with a goal and two helpers apiece. In all, nine Canadians scored and 15 recorded at least a point in the victory.
Czechia punched its ticket to the quarterfinals by outlasting Denmark 3-2 in a qualification game Tuesday. Roman Cervenka, the Czechs’ 40-year-old captain, led the way with a goal and an assist as the two teams combined to score all five goals in a span of 11:33 in the second period. Lukas Dostal stopped 24 of 26 in the Czech goal, including all 12 he faced as the Danes pushed for the equalizer in the third period.
Last Meeting
The Canadians and Czechs opened Group A prelim play six days ago in Milan, with Canada earning a comfortable 5-0 win. Celebrini got the scoring started, McDavid had three assists (the first of his three-consecutive three-point efforts) and Jordan Binnington was perfect to record a 26-save shutout.
What to Watch
Let’s put the focus on two players who aren’t strangers to the spotlight. Despite being youngest player on the Team Canada roster, Celebrini has been spectacular. His four goals have him tied for the tournament lead with Nick Olesen of Denmark and Tim Stützle of Germany, and he became the first NHLer to score a penalty-shot goal against the French. But none of this should come as a surprise; the Vancouver product—who won’t turn 20 until the middle of June—sits fourth in NHL scoring with 81 points (28-53—81) in 55 games. One of the three players he trails? That would be McDavid. The NHL scoring leader (34-62—96 in 58 GP) has carried his red-hot play (60 points in 31 games since Dec. 4) to Milan; McDavid leads the tournament with nine points in three games, has already set the record for points by a Canadian NHLer at the Olympics (surpassing Jonathan Toews, who had eight in Vancouver) and is chasing down a couple of other all-time marks: points in one tournament by an NHLer (Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu each had 11 in 2006) and assists by a Canadian (Bob Attersley and Fred Etcher each had 12 in 1960). He has some work to do to set the modern-day Canadian record for points—Etcher finished with 21 in Squaw Valley.
Martin Necas has done the heavy lifting offensively for the Czechs, posting three goals and four assists through four games—meaning he has been involved in seven of the 12 goals Czechia has scored in Milan. And his goals have been timely. Necas opened the scoring in wins over France and Denmark, and scored the game-tying marker with 2:06 left to get the Czechs an important point in an overtime loss to Switzerland. The 27-year-old has been terrific for the Colorado Avalanche this season; he has 62 points (22-40—62) in 55 games, putting him within striking distance of his career high (83 in 2024-25 with Carolina/Colorado). And who will get the call between the pipes? Will the Czechs go back-to-back with Dostal after his stellar effort against the Danes? Will it be Dan Vladar, who stopped nine of 12 in the win over France? Or will they go off the board and give the start to Karel Vejmelka, who has been lights out with the Utah Mammoth this season (27-16, 2.58 GAA, .903 SV%) but has yet to see the ice in Milan?
A Look Back
Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Canada and Czechia have faced off seven times at the Olympic Winter Games, with the Canadians winning four (with one tie).
The first meeting was in the quarterfinals at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer, when Paul Kariya scored the overtime winner to send Canada to the semis, and both Czech victories came in shootouts (including the 1998 semifinals, but we don’t talk about that one…).
All-time record: Canada leads 4-2-1 (1-2 in OT/SO) Canada goals: 23 Czechia goals: 16