Predicting Czechia's Women's World Junior Roster

Czechia is one of the top women's hockey nations in the world, and if there was a women's World Junior Championship, their roster would be among the strongest.

Czechia has shown incredible growth at all levels of competition in recent years. Back-to-back bronze medals at the World Championship tournament, and a chance to play in a horizontal pool system at the U-18 level moving forward, and Czechia continues to look like a nation on the rise.

If discussions of an IIHF women's World Junior Championship come to fruition, Czechia would immediately be a contender to medal. They could field a top line of players who all represented  Czechia at the senior national level in Adela Sapovalivova, Tereza Plosova, and Tereza Pistekova.

So while the men's World Junior rosters begin to take shape across the globe, here's a look at what Czechia's women's World Junior roster this year could have looked like if there were an event.

Forwards

Headlining this group are senior national team members Adela Sapovalivova (2006), Tereza Plosova (2006), and Tereza Pistekova (2005), who could all return next year as well. Sapovalivova is scoring at a point per game pace with MoDo in the SDHL, and Plosova, who plays for Djurgardens and recently committed to Minnesota isn't far behind. Pistekova is off to a strong start in Naisten Liiga scoring close to a point per game for HPK, as is Barbora Jurickova (2006), another lock for their lineup. A year younger than most, Linda Vocetkova (2007) is also playing in the SDHL with Djurgardens. Also playing in Naisten Liiga, who would certainly find their way onto a U-20 Team Czechia is Magdaléna Felcmanová (2007). Playing at home in Czechia are another group of strong contenders for this team, including most of the 18- and 19-year-old forwards for this team. Playing side-by-side on HC Příbram, Lucie Gruntova (2004) and Barbora Bartakova (2004) are currently one-two in scoring in Czechia's top women's league. Both are scoring over three points per game. Also having a strong enough season to earn a roster spot from Czechia's top league is Dominika Malicka (2005) who plays HC Falcons Sokol Karviná. The final lock for Czechia's forward group is Anezka Cabelova (2006) who is playing for the highly vaulted RINK Academa in Kelowna. Other forwards who could fill the final roster spots include Karolina Skorepova (2006), Natalie Brichova (2005), Anna Jirina Pavlasova (2004), who is playing NCAA DIII hockey for SUNY-Canton, Petra Matejova (2005), and Barbora Proskova (2007). Rising star Adela Pankova (2008) is another to watch, as is fellow 2008 born forward Tereza Gildainova.

Defence

On the blueline, the centerpiece for Czechia would be Andrea Trnkova (2004), who is off to a spectacular rookie campaign with RPI in the NCAA, not only defensively, but also contributing offensively. She played for Czechia's senior national team at the 2023 Worlds winning bronze. The next two in on Czechia's blueline would likely be Eliska Hotova (2005) and Beata Narovcova (2005), along with Anna Vanickova (2005),  who are playing regular minutes for TPS and HPK respectively in Naisten Liiga. Big defender Karolina Veverkova (2004) is scoring more than point per game in Czechia's top league, and her 5-foot-10 frame would be welcomed on the blueline, while Lucie Velinska (2006) is gaining valuable time playing with Balmoral Hall in Canada. Tereza Maskova (2004) who plays for Northwood School could factor in, fighting for the final roster spot with the likes of Veronika Hujova (2007), Klaudie Slavickova (2006), Johanna Tischler (2008), and Aneta Paroubkova (2008).

Goalies

In net, this would be all Michaela Hesova (2005). The Bishop Kearney Selects netminder has backstopped Czechia at U-18 competitions, and was her country's third goalie at the World Championships this year. She's committed to play NCAA hockey for Dartmouth. Daniela Novakova (2007) is likely the leading contender for the backup role.