Should Team Canada be the favorites to win the World Junior Championship? Czechia remained undefeated at the World Junior Championship today defeating Slovakia 4-2. Brampton Steelheads' forward Adam Zidlicky and Brantford Bulldogs' defender Adam Jiricek picked up assists in the contest. Prior to joining Czechia's World Junior Championship team, Zidlicky was in the middle of his most productive OHL season. In 27 games for Brampton, the 19-year-old forward has 26 points. He is easily on pace to beat his previous high of 29 points in a single OHL season. This is Jiricek's first year in the OHL. The St. Louis Blues' [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/] prospect has three points in six games played for the Brantford Bulldogs. Neither Zidlicky nor Jiricek had points in the previous two games. This is somewhat surprising given that the game against Kazakhstan ended in a 14-2 blowout in favor of Czechia. [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz_9Kh_9CBM[/embed] Czechia took the lead in the first period on a shorthanded rush that resulted in a Vojtech Hradec slamming home the pass. Their second goal of the period came in transition. Zidlicky forced a turnover and chipped the puck up to Adam Jecho who sprang Pavel Simek for a breakaway goal. In both cases, Czechia used their speed to win in transition capitalizing on Slovakia's mistakes. Halfway through the second period, Peter Cisar brought Slovakia back within one on a shot from the point. Minutes later, Jiricek's long pass up ice started another two-on-one opportunity that resulted in Eduard Sale restoring Czechia's two-goal lead. Sale picked up his second goal of the game in the third to make it 4-1 before St. Louis Blues' prospect Dalibor Dvorsky scored for Slovakia making the final score 4-2. It was another strong game for Czechia who have wins against Kazakhstan, Switzerland and Slovakia. Their counter-punching style focuses on creating odd-man rushes as a result of turnovers. Although Brampton Steelheads defender Jakub Fibigr failed to record a point in this game, he had four assists against Kazakhstan and is tied for the tournament lead in assists with Cole Hutson. The highly skilled Czech roster features 14 NHL prospects. Interestingly, four of the prospects belong to the St. Louis Blues. Czechia knocked Canada out of the tournament last year on their way to a third-place finish and a bronze medal. With the win over Slovakia, Czechia has all but assured themselves an appearance in the quarterfinals of this year's tournament. Their final game of the round-robin is a tilt against fellow undefeated team Sweden. The winner of the game will take the top spot in Group B. The contest takes place at 5:00 p.m. EST on New Year's Eve. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
