Czech Republic
Finland
Czech Republic: Milota (Mařík) – Skok, Jiříček (A), Zielinski, Hlinský (C), Galvas, Fibigr, Král – Kos, Benák, Titlbach – Pohludka, Sikora, Kubiesa – Lisler, Curran, Jecho (A) – Klíma, Drančák, Humeník – Chludil.
Finland: Rimpinen (37. Saarinen) – Amhamdi (A), Nieminen, Marila, Jokinen, Välilä, Muhonen, Jalasti – Sinivuori, Suoniemi, Hemming – Vesterinen, Saarelainen (C), Paqvalin – Miettinen, Ruohonen (A), Väärälä – Heinänen, Pulkkanen, Keinänen – Teshome.
Goals and assists: 4. Titlbach (Kos), 5. Jecho (Fibigr), 31. Klíma (Hlinský), 34. Curran (Lisler), 37. Benák (Titlbach), 38. Lisler (Benák, Jiříček), 43. Titlbach, 47. Kos (Benák) – 19. Hemming (Jokinen), 44. Hemming (Välilä, Sinivuori)
Shots: 35:18
(11:5, 15:6, 9:7).
Penalties: 1:4.
PP goals: 1:1.
SH goals: 0:0.
Referees: Cabák, Mrkva – Blažek, Lederer. Attendance: 3877.
Photogallery
Report
A 10-goal game saw Czechia beat Finland by six goals and book a place in the final of the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. The Czech U18 team scored two in the first, four in the second and two more in the final period as they thrashed a strong Finnish team 8-2. The result means the home team are certain to win a medal for the first time since 2017.
The Czechs wasted no time in getting on the scoreboard of this game – Adam Titlbach scored on their first big chance just after the three-minute mark to make it 1-0, while 40 seconds later, Adam Jecho doubled his side’s lead with a nice backhand shot.
The Finns did score in the dying minutes of the first period to make it 2-1, but it was clear the Czechs were in it to win it. After the break, they came out and scored a whopping four goals in under seven minutes to make it a 6-1 game. The goal frenzy saw shots come from all angles, including a goal scored by Maxmillian Curran who wrapped the puck around the Finnish net, prompting a goalie change by the Finns.
The third period lacked the grit and push of the second, yet the 3,800 fans in the Břeclav arena seemed to enjoy the home team’s dominant play and calm puck possession. Adam Titlbach scored his second of the game, his fourth of the tournament, to make it 7-1 at 42:52, before Finnish player Emil Hemming made it 8-2 with his second goal of the game.
Ondřej Kos scored the final goal of the game at the 46-minute marker to finalise the score at 8-2.
The Czechs will battle Canada for gold in tomorrow’s final at 17:00 CEST while the Finns will make-do with a battle for third place against the USA at the same time.
Reactions
David Čermák (Czechia): We want to go as far as possible in this tournament and we want to win the tournament tomorrow. Our players were focused, we wanted to have a good start of the game and score first to calm down. The boys' self-confidence grew and it only got better with each goal. In the second period, we scored many goals and we believed that we would make it. As for the final, we lost a pre-tournament game against Canada, now we will definitely want to give it back to them. We were too scared in that match. So tomorrow we have to believe that we can play with everyone.
Marko Kauppinen (Finland): Czech players were a lot better today. The atmosphere was very good, we were ready. But it's the first such experience for most of our players. The home crowd helped the Czechs, the fans were very loud. After we scored that popwer play goal in the first period, I thought we could come back. We were trying to change some things in our game from the start of the second period. But the Czechs won all battles. It's hard to play like this. As for tomorrow, haven't won many medals at Hlinka Gretzky Cup so we have a pretty big goal to win the bronze. We gotta fix our system and the players need to get ready mentally and physically.
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