U18 Men’s Worlds Recap – Canada 8, Czechia 3

Matthew Wood led the offence with a hat trick as Canada defeated Czechia to close out preliminary-round action.

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PORRENTRUY, Switzerland – Matthew Wood (Nanaimo, B.C./University of Connecticut, HE) scored a hat trick to lead the offence as Canada’s National Men’s Under-18 Team defeated Czechia 8-3 to close out preliminary-round play Tuesday at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship.

• Colby Barlow (Orillia, Ont./Owen Sound, OHL), Ty Halaburda (Victoria, B.C./Vancouver, WHL) and Porter Martone (Peterborough, Ont./Mississauga, OHL) added a goal and an assist each.
• Lukas Dragicevic (Richmond, B.C./Tri-City, WHL) and Nick Lardis (Oakville, Ont./Hamilton, OHL) also scored.
• Macklin Celebrini (Vancouver, B.C./Chicago, USHL), Caden Price (Saskatoon, Sask./Kelowna, WHL) and Calum Ritchie (Oakville, Ont./Oshawa, OHL) added two assists each.
• Berkly Catton (Saskatoon, Sask./Spokane, WHL), Andrew Cristall (Burnaby, B.C./Kelowna, WHL), Riley Heidt (Saskatoon, Sask./Prince George, WHL), Tanner Howe (Prince Albert, Sask./Regina, WHL) and Alex Pharand (Sudbury, Ont./Sudbury, OHL) recorded an assist apiece.
• Twelve of the 13 Canadian forwards recorded points.
• Carson Bjarnason (Carberry, Man./Brandon, WHL) turned aside 23 shots.
• Canada outshot Czechia 45-26.

Next Game:

Canada vs. Switzerland (quarterfinal) – Thursday, April 27 (11:30 a.m. ET/8:30 a.m. PT)

TSN and RDS, Hockey Canada’s official broadcast partners, are broadcasting all Team Canada games at the 2023 IIHF U18 World Championship. Please check local listings for details.

Quotes:

“When you come over and only have a short period of time with new guys, we knew the chemistry might not be there right from the start. We knew if we worked hard the chemistry would come and we could do something in this tournament. We have been preaching from the outset to just get better each day and if we do the little things, it will come. Guys have been great about doing what we’ve asked and to just follow the plan and we are getting better.”

“We know it’s going to be a boisterous crowd facing Switzerland. We earned this finishing second in our pool, we have the matchup and we just have to be prepared like we have been.”

• Head coach Jeff Truitt (Rosetown, Sask.) on the team’s progression and the quarterfinals

“I think our whole line [Wood-Celebrini-Ritchie] had a great game tonight. We moved the puck well and it’s nice for our line to keep rolling as a unit. Seeing the puck go in the net is a huge confidence booster not just for me, but our whole team as we look ahead to the quarterfinals.”

• Wood on the offence and seven points from his line

“I thought we played a hard 60 minutes today. Bjarny (Carson Bjarnason) was the backbone from the outset, especially when we ran into a bit of penalty trouble. He made some big saves and kept us in it until our offence could get going.”

• Barlow on goaltending being a key to success

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