It's been a tough go for defenseman Adam Jiricek in the past year. The St. Louis Blues prospect, No. 16 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, has had his share of lengthy injuries to last a lifetime. 2024 first-round pick returned Friday, has been shelved with lower-body injury From his right knee injury at the 2024 World Junior Championship [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/players/adam-jiricek-always-felt-st-louis-would-be-his-destination] to another long stint with a lower-body injury that sidelined the 18-year-old most recently for over a month, he returned with a bang for Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League last week. He scored the Bulldogs' eighth and ninth goals of a 10-1 thrashing of Quinton Burns (Blues 2023 third-round pick), who was tossed from the game 3:21 in for a check from behind, and the Kingston Frontenacs on Sunday: Jiricek was injured Nov. 6 on an open ice his against Guelph but returned on Friday and had an assist in his first game in five weeks: Jiricek, who has two goals and an assist in six games with Brantford, will take a hiatus to compete in this year's WJC after being named to Czechia's squad, along with fellow Blues prospects Adam Jecho (2024, third round), Ondrej Kos (2024 third round), and Jakub Stancl (2023 fourth round): * Juraj Pekarcik remains hot -- The 2023 third-round pick, expected to be on Slovakia's WJC roster, continues his hot scoring pace with four points (one goal, three assists) this week, including a goal and an assist on Saturday in Moncton's 7-2 win over Cape Breton in QMJHL play: Pekarcik, now up to 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 29 games this season, has set himself up for a strong showing for Slovakia with nine points (four goals, five assists) in six games this month for the Wildcats. * Keep up to date as the World Junior Championship will commence in Ottawa from Dec. 26-Jan. 5, 2025 and the Blues will have a number of prospects competing for various countries.
