As far as the Red Deer Rebels are concerned the gold medal game matchup at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup couldn’t have worked out better.
Rebels forward Ollie Josephson will look to win gold for Team Canada meanwhile their opponents Team Czechia will battle for the title with Rebels import prospect Samuel Drancak.
The Canadians took down their American neighbours 7-2 on Friday afternoon in the semi-finals in Slovakia. Josephson recorded his third point of the tournament with an assist on Canada’s sixth goal of the game off the stick of Berkly Catton.
Down 2-1 in the second period, Canada scored six straight unanswered goals to propel themselves to the championship game.
“Our nervous excitement showed early in the first period. We talked before the game about [the rivalry], I think every kid dreams about playing in the Canada-U.S. matchup, especially with the opportunity to win a gold medal on the line,” said Canada head coach Alan Letang in a media release.
“I liked our second period a lot better; we were able to get into our depth and roll all four lines.”
Czechia made lightwork of Finland blowing them out in Breclav, Czechia by 8-2.
Drancak, who was selected 54th overall by the Rebels in this year’s CHL Import Draft, didn’t record a point in the semi-final and has one goal in four games.
Canada and Czechia will face off in the gold medal game on Saturday at 9 a.m. mountain time in Czechia.
The Canadians will look to defend their crown after winning gold over Sweden in the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Red Deer.
“Czechia is a good team; they are structured and sound defensively, so we will have to earn our scoring chances tomorrow. The fans are probably going to be crazy; it is going to be a great experience for us to persevere and come out with the victory.”
