By Matt Tidcombe/CHL
Two highly-anticipated World Juniors semi-finals will take place from Halifax later today.
Hosts Canada will look to advance to the gold medal game for the third straight year as they continue their quest for a 20th World Juniors title.
2023 World Juniors semi-finals
Czechia vs. Sweden — 2:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. PT
USA vs. Canada — 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT
The day ahead:
The first semi-final sees two Group A foes meet once again.
Czechia won the group but their lone blemish in the round-robin was a 3-2 overtime defeat to Sweden. The only team that didn’t suffer a regulation defeat in the group stages, Czechia hammered Switzerland 9-1 in their quarterfinal Monday.
The team’s 33 goals are tied for the most in the tournament, alongside Canada, while their seven goals against are the fewest as they have displayed a combination of elite scoring and tight defence.
Stanislav Svozil (Regina Pats) continues to lead all d-men in points with eight while four of Czechia’s skaters rank in the Top 10 in tournament scoring.
Svozil puts it right in Szturc’s wheelhouse 🇨🇿 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/Az301mjSdg
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) January 2, 2023
Sweden secured its semi-final berth with a 3-2 win over Finland as Victor Stjernborg scored the game-winner shorthanded with just 1:05 left in regulation.
Czechia finished fourth a year ago and have not medalled since they won bronze in 2005. Sweden hasn’t won gold since 2012 but have won bronze two of the last three years.
Canada advanced to the semis in dramatic fashion as they eliminated Slovakia 4-3 in overtime thanks to Connor Bedard’s (Regina Pats) sensational winner.
“I saw the one guy kind of make a move and I saw a lane to the net so I tried to make another move. It was kind of instinct and luckily it went in.”
On a record-setting night, more on 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 goal from Connor Bedard as 🇨🇦 advanced to the semi-finals of the #WorldJuniors.
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) January 3, 2023
Bedard leads the tournament in goals (8), assists (13) and points (21) in what has been an all-time performance with two games still to play.
Logan Stankoven (Kamloops Blazers) sits third in scoring with nine points with teammate Dylan Guenther (Edmonton Oil Kings) a spot behind.
The USA bludgeoned Germany 11-1 in their quarter after they won Group B. Tyler Boucher (Ottawa 67’s), the lone CHL skater on the roster, has three goals and four points in five games.
Canada seeks to become the first team since 2009 to repeat as World Juniors champions while the USA chase their second gold medal in three years.
Wednesday morning will also see Game 2 of the relegation round between Latvia and Austria. Latvia leads the series 1-0 after a 5-2 win Sunday.
Who to watch
Bedard has been featured here on multiple occasions, and rightfully so, but Thomas Milic (Seattle Thunderbirds) is vitally important to Canada’s success as he showed Sunday.
Milic is 3-0-0 with a 1.68 GAA and a .921 save percentage in four games. The Seattle Thunderbirds goaltender stopped 24 shots in their overtime victory against Slovakia that included an incredible double-save on Servac Petrovsky (Owen Sound Attack) in the extra frame.
The Coquitlam, B.C., native has played 70.6% of the minutes in goal for Canada at the tournament.
CHL leaders
| Name | Points | Country | CHL club |
| Connor Bedard | 21 | Canada | Regina |
| Logan Stankoven | 9 | Canada | Kamloops |
| Stanislav Svozil | 8 | Czechia | Regina |
| Jakub Brabenec | 7 | Czechia | Charlottetown |
| Dylan Guenther | 7 | Canada | Edmonon |
| Gabriel Szturc | 7 | Czechia | Kelowna |
| Filip Mesar | 6 | Slovakia | Kitchener |
| Joshua Roy | 6 | Canada | Sherbrooke |
| David Spacek | 6 | Czechia | Sherbrooke |
| Shane Wright | 6 | Canada | Kingston |
Where to watch
Both semi-finals are available to watch across all five TSN channels.
