Czechmate

It was a sight that not many dressed in red and white expected to see, but the celebration from the Czechia women was pure, ecstatic joy after they captured a 2-1 overtime win over Canada as the Canadians' defence of their FISU gold medal fell just short. That's not to say that the Canadians didn't play well enough to win - they did - but Czechia's Julie Pejsova was a wall in her net while the plucky Czechia women in front of her blocked shots, jumped on opportunities, and found just enough offence to be crowned as champions for their first time in just their second FISU women's ice hockey event!

Before we get to the champions, though, the silver medal-winning Canadian squad played this tournament extremely well through every game including the final. It isn't often that a team can outshoot their opponents 52-16 and only record one goal, but that happened to Canada today. On any other day, the effort shown today would have won them the game with ease thanks to the chances seen, but Czechia's netminder Julie Pejsova was otherworldly today. That's how the puck bounces sometimes in big games where it's winner-takes-all, but the Canadian women shouldn't hang their heads for any reason.

The Canadians showed a little bit of everything in their effort to defend gold as they scored goals, played some solid defence, got great goaltending, and were gritty when they had to be. If there was one area where the team may look back and wish things were different, it would be their power-play as the Canadians failed to score with the extra attacker throughout the entire tournament. Beyond that baffling stat, I'm proud of each and every one of the women who wore the Canada logo in Torino, and my hope is they are too because they were excellent ambassadors in Italy.

Well done, ladies, and thank you for giving up a few U SPORTS games to represent your country so well on the international stage!

To the victors, though, go the spoils, and Czechia's win today is more proof that what the Czechs are doing in their country to promote, develop, and encourage girls to play hockey is working. While no one will put their senior national women's team on the same level of Canada or the US just yet, Czechia's U18 programs have produced medal winners at the U18 Women's World Championship, and we'r enow seeing those girls moving into post-secondary education where they're taking their talents to professional teams in Europe while representing their country internationally at FISU Universiades.

Anna Vanickova scored the winning goal with 3:39 left in the first overtime period, and that set off the celebration. Vanickova has played for HPK in Finland's Auroraliiga and for HC Baník Příbram in Czechia's Women's Extraliga, but she also has been a member of the Czechia U18 women's team for a couple of years. While she attends the University of West Bohemia, it's pretty clear she's been on Czechia's international radar for a long time.

Czechia's other scorer in the game was Barbora Bartakova, and she's played a pile of international games for her country at the U16 and U18 levels. The 20 year-old forward has graduated to the pro game with HC Baník Příbram in Czechia's Women's Extraliga, but she's showing that she needa a bigger stage. In three seasons with Příbram, Bartakova has scored 53 goals and 91 assists in 37 games - that's nearly four points per game in the country's highest league! She was the leading goal scorer and the leading scorer at this year's Universiade, and the University of Economics student is one of those players who will continue to push Czechia higher if she continues playing hockey once her university studies are complete.

The star of today's game, Julie Pejsova, is also a star netminder with HC Baník Příbram, and the 21 year-old showed the world why the Czechs should be feared in years to come. Pejsova made 51 stops in the victory today, and at least a dozen were of the elite goaltending variety. Despite being enrolled in the Centre for Higher Education Studies, she still has time to play professionally where she has a 0.60 GAA in eight games with Příbram. She also has a pile of international experience thanks to her play at the U16 and U18 levels, and she may be one of the best netminders not playing in the NCAA right now.

"I had a lot of saves, but every game I'm trying to give my girls a chance to win," Pejsova said after the game. "I think I've done that today. It doesn’t matter if I have five or 100 saves, I just want to win the game. We know each other for ten years, maybe more, and we played together for our whole lives. I love them so much, and I've done that for them. After a second place in the European cup, I told them 'One day we are going to win something big'."

Add in the likes of twin sisters Alexandra and Sandra Halounova, Hana Haasova, and Patricie Skorpikova, and Czechia's university-aged women are poised to be big players for Czechia in the near future. The Czechs won bronze in 2023 at Lake Placid, and they've now added a gold medal in their second appearance at the FISU games. Czechia's not just a competitor at future FISU women's hockey events, but they should be gold medal considered a favorite alongside the likes of Canada and Japan!

Seeing another country emerge as a legitimate gold medallist is good for the game in a number of ways, and we're seeing Czechia's growth as a women's hockey nation on a number of fronts. This should help their senior women's program as players mature and replace veterans, and it couldn't come at a better time with the Olympics just over a year away. Could the Czechs win in Italy again?

It's not hard to imagine that they could, and a few of the players we saw with FISU gold medals around their necks could be in the Czechia lineup when the Olympics begin next February. The Czechs have something special with their women's hockey program, and Julie Pejsova may have identified what makes them special when she said, "We are not the fastest, and probably not the most skilled or the best team either. But we Czechs always find a way to win, it doesn't matter against who."

Canada would certainly agree with that assessment today.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!