Czech players Tomáš Poletín, Václav Nestrášil and Vojtěch Čihař reacted to their 7-5 loss to Canada in the IIHF World Junior Championship opener. They felt Canada's exuberant goal celebrations were excessive for a single tournament game.
In the most anticipated game on the opening day of the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, Canada defeated Czechia 7-5. It was a game that saw plenty of offense, not so much defense, and a lot of gamesmanship that comes with players that have become familiar with each other over the past few years.
After the game, Czech forwards Tomáš Poletín, Václav Nestrášil and Vojtěch Čihař shared their thoughts on the game.
“The Canadians really wanted to beat us – the rivalry between us is huge,” said Čihař, who led the Czech offense with a goal and two assists. “We didn’t want to lose either, but unfortunately that’s what happened.”
With the Canadians leading 1-0 in the first period, Poletín tied it with a nice deflection in front of the net, deftly tipping Adam Benák’s chest-high shot past Canadian goalie Carter George for his first of two goals in the game. He then motioned toward the Canadian bench on the fly-by, setting a precedent that lasted all game.
“That’s part of the game,” said Poletín, an 18-year-old New York Islanders prospect. “I tried to get under their skin, but there was nothing big behind it. I try to play like that and I know the Canadians don’t like it at all.”
The post-goal antics reached a head after Porter Martone’s empty-net goal with exactly one minute to play. Skating past the Czech bench, the Canadian captain gave Czech forward Adam Novotný a pat on the backside and drew a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“The celebrations? Sorry, but that was a bit too much. They celebrated as if they’d won the entire tournament,” said Nestrášil, who had two assists playing on a line with Čihař and captain Petr Sikora. “But that’s good for us – it shows that we’re a good team and they want to beat us. If the Canadians celebrate like this against the Czechs, that’s a good sign for our hockey. If someone had told us that five years ago, we would have just stared with our mouths open to see what was happening.
“In the end, Canada’s quality came through,” Nestrášil continued. “They gave everything they had. Unfortunately, we gave them too many chances, which was the deciding factor. We have to learn from this for the next games. But we played well; we held our own.”
“Unfortunately, we gave up four goals in the third period, which decided the whole game,” said Čihař.
However, the Los Angeles Kings prospect added, "If we can be positive after any defeat, it’s this one.”