Despite pre-tournament hype that pegged them as a dark-horse pick to do damage at the 2026 Olympics, Czechia has faltered in virtually every game and now faces a tougher path toward Olympic gold. Can they rebound and make it to the podium?
As the round-robin portion of the 2026 Olympic men’s hockey tournament draws to a close, a few things are readily apparent.
For starters, the teams we thought would be the most dominant – Team Canada and Team USA – are looking like they deserve to be the co-favorites to win the gold medal.
However, one team that many observers pegged as a dark-horse team to make noise in the competition has not lived up to expectations. That's Team Czechia.
The Czechs finished the round-robin with just one win in three games – a 6-3 win over France. Czechia got steamrolled by the Canadians in a 5-0 rout in their first game, and then fell to Switzerland team in a 4-3 overtime decision in the Czechs’ final group game on Sunday.
There’s still a chance Czechia puts together a strong 60-minute effort in their quarterfinal game. However, the loss to the Swiss team puts the Czechs on a much tougher road to get to the Olympic podium.
If the stars line up as some expect, Czechia is headed for a showdown with the Canadians for the second time in this tournament. And that will be very bad news for a Czech team that couldn’t manage to produce even a single goal against Canada in their round-robin game.
It would be one thing if the Czechs lost while showing the plucky determination we’ve seen from them in other best-on-best tournaments, including the IIHF World Junior Championship and the 2024 World Championship. But there hasn’t been any of that spirit for Czechia thus far, and they very much look like a team that could go out meekly in these Olympic Games.
Martin Necas (Katie Stratman-Imagn Images)You indeed need your best players to be your best players, but that hasn’t been the case for the Czechs in the Games. Star right winger David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins hasn’t been bad per se, with one goal and three points in three games, but you also can’t say he’s dominated.
Colorado Avalanche star right winger Martin Necas has been Czechia’s top player with two goals and five points, and while contributions from Necas help the Czechs’ bottom line, they need more from just about every member of their roster.
Czech goalie Lukas Dostal of the Anaheim Ducks hasn’t been the reason his team has lost two out of three games. But at the same time, Dostal’s save percentage of .862 and goals-against average of 4.47 through Czechia’s first two games were some of the worst numbers of any Olympic netminder.
Dostal gave his team a chance to win the game against the Swiss, but he couldn’t stand on his head long enough to prevent Switzerland from winning the contest. And when he goes up against a tougher team in the quarterfinal, Dostal won’t have the benefit of playing behind a tough defense-minded group of Czech players.
Anything can happen in these Olympic Games, so not all is completely lost for Czechia. However, they certainly haven't been meeting the expectations that were set going into the tournament, even if the Czechs were a long shot to win gold.
Czechia need to solve what ails them in a hurry, because the team hasn't shown signs of being a podium contender.
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