Sparked by Herman Traff's first two World Junior goals, Sweden defeated Czechia 4-2 at TD Place Arena to claim first place in Group B on New Year's Eve. The Swedes, the only team with four straight wins, will battle Latvia in Thursday’s quarter-finals.
"It's going to be a really good game and a hard one, too," said Traff, who celebrated his 19th birthday in style. "They beat Canada, so we need to be really focused and play our game."
Taking over the game in the second period, the Juniorknorna outshot Czechia 41-30 in a spirited affair. The Czechs came in with the tournament’s most prolific offence (23 goals in three games), turbocharged by a 14-2 romp over Kazakhstan. However, this was a reality check for coach Patrik Augusta's crew after filling the net versus three less-formidable teams.
"It's tough after this game to say something, because we had so many penalties," Czech captain Eduard Sale said. "The penalties were also different in the game. So they are a great team, and they have a great power play. So we had, like, seven PK [situations], so it was too much in this game."
Czechia's quarter-final opponent depends on the outcome of the Canada-U.S. Group A finale at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The starting goalies – Czechia’s Michael Hrabal and Sweden’s Melker Thelin – had to be on their toes from the get-go. In a scoreless first period, shots favoured Sweden 16-12. There were, however, few Grade-A chances at either end.
On the power play, Traff drew first blood for coach Magnus Havelid's troops at 1:52 of the second period. Traff, a 2024 third-round pick of the New Jersey Devils, picked up a pass from Theo Lindstein in the high slot, pivoted, and flung the puck past Hrabal's blocker.
Traff doubled the Swedish lead at 7:18. Otto Stenberg cannily circled the Czech zone and put the puck on net, enabling the HV71 forward to bang in the rebound.
"The birthday boy, Herman...incredible game for him!" said Swedish captain Axel Sandin Pellikka. "So extra-happy for him."
The Czechs struck back at 11:57 on the power play. Thelin had little chance as Petr Sikora one-timed home a great cross-ice feed from Adam Jecho.
"[The pass] was quick, so the goalie couldn't move over to my side," Sikora said. "I shot quickly and it went in, so I was happy."
During the second Czech delay-of-game penalty of the night, the Swedes came within a cross bar of regaining their two-goal edge shortly after the midway point.
Felix Unger Sorum made it 3-1 at 18:17, going bar down from the right faceoff circle. At 18:47, Anton Wahlberg scored the fourth Swedish goal, going to the net to take a Felix Nilsson feed and kicking the puck up to his stick before tucking it in.
"We played like we want to play," said Sandin Pellikka. "We held our structure, played quick from the back end, and got some shots on net. It was a good second period."
In the first minute of the final stanza, Sale kept his team's hopes alive. First, the 2023 first-round pick of the Seattle Kraken drew a penalty shot when Sandin Pellikka slashed him on a partial breakaway. Second, Sale confidently cut to the backhand and scored on his attempt, cutting the deficit to 4-2. But that was as close as Czechia would get.
The physicality picked up as Sweden's Isac Hedqvist left the crowd oohing with a thunderous hit on Adam Novotny at the Czech bench. The Czechs blunted their momentum with three third-period minors. With under two minutes to play, Hrabal was pulled for a sixth attacker in a bid to narrow the gap, but it was to no avail.
Ahead of the quarter-finals, Sikora remained undaunted: "I'm confident, and our team is confident too. So we are going to show it."
Just as the Czechs have returned to medal contender status in recent years, so too the Sweden-Czechia rivalry has enjoyed a resurgence with memorable playoff battles.
In the 2022 bronze medal game in Edmonton, Sweden downed Czechia 3-1 on Jesper Wallstedt’s 27-save performance. In the 2023 semi-finals in Halifax, the Czechs took revenge with a stunning 2-1 overtime win, as David Jiricek equalized with 39 seconds left in regulation and Jiri Kulich scored the winner with 50 seconds left in sudden death.
And last year, Jonathan Lekkerimaki’s two goals powered the hosts to a 5-2 semi-final win in Gothenburg, as Sweden went on to claim silver with a 6-2 loss to the Americans and the Czechs took bronze by outscoring Finland 8-5.
It will be exciting to see what the medal round holds in store for both nations at the 2025 World Juniors.
"It's going to be a really good game and a hard one, too," said Traff, who celebrated his 19th birthday in style. "They beat Canada, so we need to be really focused and play our game."
Taking over the game in the second period, the Juniorknorna outshot Czechia 41-30 in a spirited affair. The Czechs came in with the tournament’s most prolific offence (23 goals in three games), turbocharged by a 14-2 romp over Kazakhstan. However, this was a reality check for coach Patrik Augusta's crew after filling the net versus three less-formidable teams.
"It's tough after this game to say something, because we had so many penalties," Czech captain Eduard Sale said. "The penalties were also different in the game. So they are a great team, and they have a great power play. So we had, like, seven PK [situations], so it was too much in this game."
Czechia's quarter-final opponent depends on the outcome of the Canada-U.S. Group A finale at the Canadian Tire Centre.
The starting goalies – Czechia’s Michael Hrabal and Sweden’s Melker Thelin – had to be on their toes from the get-go. In a scoreless first period, shots favoured Sweden 16-12. There were, however, few Grade-A chances at either end.
On the power play, Traff drew first blood for coach Magnus Havelid's troops at 1:52 of the second period. Traff, a 2024 third-round pick of the New Jersey Devils, picked up a pass from Theo Lindstein in the high slot, pivoted, and flung the puck past Hrabal's blocker.
Traff doubled the Swedish lead at 7:18. Otto Stenberg cannily circled the Czech zone and put the puck on net, enabling the HV71 forward to bang in the rebound.
"The birthday boy, Herman...incredible game for him!" said Swedish captain Axel Sandin Pellikka. "So extra-happy for him."
The Czechs struck back at 11:57 on the power play. Thelin had little chance as Petr Sikora one-timed home a great cross-ice feed from Adam Jecho.
"[The pass] was quick, so the goalie couldn't move over to my side," Sikora said. "I shot quickly and it went in, so I was happy."
During the second Czech delay-of-game penalty of the night, the Swedes came within a cross bar of regaining their two-goal edge shortly after the midway point.
Felix Unger Sorum made it 3-1 at 18:17, going bar down from the right faceoff circle. At 18:47, Anton Wahlberg scored the fourth Swedish goal, going to the net to take a Felix Nilsson feed and kicking the puck up to his stick before tucking it in.
"We played like we want to play," said Sandin Pellikka. "We held our structure, played quick from the back end, and got some shots on net. It was a good second period."
In the first minute of the final stanza, Sale kept his team's hopes alive. First, the 2023 first-round pick of the Seattle Kraken drew a penalty shot when Sandin Pellikka slashed him on a partial breakaway. Second, Sale confidently cut to the backhand and scored on his attempt, cutting the deficit to 4-2. But that was as close as Czechia would get.
The physicality picked up as Sweden's Isac Hedqvist left the crowd oohing with a thunderous hit on Adam Novotny at the Czech bench. The Czechs blunted their momentum with three third-period minors. With under two minutes to play, Hrabal was pulled for a sixth attacker in a bid to narrow the gap, but it was to no avail.
Ahead of the quarter-finals, Sikora remained undaunted: "I'm confident, and our team is confident too. So we are going to show it."
Just as the Czechs have returned to medal contender status in recent years, so too the Sweden-Czechia rivalry has enjoyed a resurgence with memorable playoff battles.
In the 2022 bronze medal game in Edmonton, Sweden downed Czechia 3-1 on Jesper Wallstedt’s 27-save performance. In the 2023 semi-finals in Halifax, the Czechs took revenge with a stunning 2-1 overtime win, as David Jiricek equalized with 39 seconds left in regulation and Jiri Kulich scored the winner with 50 seconds left in sudden death.
And last year, Jonathan Lekkerimaki’s two goals powered the hosts to a 5-2 semi-final win in Gothenburg, as Sweden went on to claim silver with a 6-2 loss to the Americans and the Czechs took bronze by outscoring Finland 8-5.
It will be exciting to see what the medal round holds in store for both nations at the 2025 World Juniors.
Sweden vs Czechia - 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship