By Matt Tidcombe/CHL
After four exhilarating quarterfinals, the Final Four are set.
Canada will face the USA while Czechia will battle Sweden Wednesday in Halifax.
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
About yesterday:
On a day that started and finished in dramatic fashion, it was Sweden who came out on top in the day’s first quarterfinal as Victor Stjernborg scored the game-winner shorthanded with just 1:05 left in regulation.
In Halifax, Switzerland took a 1-0 lead 22 seconds into their game against Czechia courtesy of Louis Robin (Val-d’Or Foreurs) before the Group A winners rattled off nine straight goals to comprehensively reach the semis for the second straight year.
Marcel Marcel (Gatineau Olympiques) and Gabriel Szturc (Kelowna Rockets) each scored twice while Jakub Brabenec (Charlottetown Islanders) and Stanislav Svozil (Regina Pats) both tallied two assists. Tomas Suchanec (Tri-City Americans) stopped 17 shots and incredibly had another assist to take his tournament total to four.
Tomas Suchanek has the same amount of wins (4) as he does assists 🤯 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/gcqtKODJQ6
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) January 2, 2023
Back in Moncton, the USA made quick of Germany as they cruised to an 11-1 win. Tyler Boucher (Ottawa 67’s) had an assist while Andrew Oke (Saginaw Spirit) made his tournament debut in the third period and stopped seven of eight shots. The lone shot to beat him came off of the stick of Luca Hauf (Edmonton Oil Kings) late in the third period.
The final contest of the day saw Canada book its spot in the semi-finals as Connor Bedard scored the overtime winner to give the hosts a 4-3 win over Slovakia. Bedard had three points (2G, 1A), Dylan Guenther (Edmonton Oil Kings) and Zack Ostapchuk (Vancouver Giants) also scored while Thomas Milic (Seattle Thunderbirds) made 24 saves.
CONNOR BEDARD‼️🤯🤩 #WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/OXxld7npTt
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) January 3, 2023
Robert Baco (Moose Jaw Warriors) had one of Slovakia’s goals while Filip Mesar (Kitchener Rangers), Servac Petrovsky (Owen Sound Attack) and Peter Repcik (Charlottetown Islanders) all had one assist.
In the relegation round, Latvia took a 1-0 series lead as they beat Austria 5-2. Bogdans Hodass (Medicine Hat Tigers) had two points (1G, 1A) while Niks Fenenko (Baie-Comeau Drakkar), Anri Ravinskis (Blainville-Boisbriand Armada) and Sandis Vilmanis (Sarnia Sting) all had an assist. Vinzenz Rohrer (Ottawa 67’s) found the back of the net for Austria.
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 |
