Unlike overmatched Japan, Czechs present stiffer challenge to Canada at U18 women's hockey worlds

The Canadians aren't taking the Czech Republic lightly.

It was a talented Czech team that stunned the Canadian women's Under-18 team in the semifinals of last year's world championship, the first time the European country beat the Canadians or made a semifinal at the annual tournament.

It was a possible sign that the rest of the world is catching up, and a spot in Sunday's final for Canada can't be seen as a guarantee — bad news for a talented Canadian team, but good news for women's hockey.

This year's Canadian team, with five returning players from the 2024 squad, once again need to get past the Czech Republic to compete for gold. The semifinal game is set for 11:30 a.m. ET on Saturday in Vantaa, Finland, with the winner playing in the gold-medal game at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday.

The Canadians shut out the Czechs 5-0 in the preliminary round, thanks to two goals from Saskatchewan's Stryker Zablocki, one of the returning members of the team that lost in 2024 and a force in this tournament for Canada. The forward, who is committed to play at Northeastern University, is second on the team in scoring, having registered nine points in four games.

Then, the Canadians crushed Japan in the quarterfinals by a whopping 17-0.

"Facing [the Czech Republic] again in the semis, we know what to expect," forward Caileigh Tiller, who had two goals and three assists against Japan, said after the game. "We know they'll play a big, physical game, so we just have to be ready for that and make sure we win all the battles."

In the first two preliminary-round games, Canada seemed to start out slow, spending more time looking for the perfect shot than charging to the net. It wasn't until later in both of those games that Canada started to look dominant.

That carried into a win over the Czech Republic to close out the preliminary round, and Thursday's drubbing of Japan in the quarterfinals.

Head coach Vicky Sunohara has shuffled her forward lines throughout the tournament, spreading out ice time across the lineup, with the goal of trying not to deplete players' energy ahead of the weekend.

The result has been a balanced attack: every single skater on the Canadian roster has at least a point after four games.

But the top line of Maxine Cimoroni, Sara Manness and Hayley McDonald has stayed together throughout the tournament. Combined, they put up 24 points in four games.

"I think for as good as we were offensively, there are still things to work on," Cimoroni said after the win over Japan. "It was just good to build confidence going into the semis against [the Czech Republic] where it will be a different game, but still a good game and a good step moving forward."

Captain Chloe Primerano, meanwhile, became the top-scoring defender in tournament history earlier this week. She had 24 career points going into Saturday's semifinal game.