skip navigation

Gameday: Team USA Faces the Czech Republic

By USA Hockey, 12/09/19, 8:00AM EST

Share

Puck drops at 9:00 p.m. ET in second WJAC matchup

DAWSON CREEK, British Columbia – The U.S. Junior Select Team continues World Junior A Challenge play against the Czech Republic tonight at 9:00 p.m. E.T. The game will be played at Encana Events Centre in Dawson Creek, British Columbia. Live streaming for tonight’s game can be found here.

Today’s Opponent: Czech Republic

The U.S. Junior Select Team is 2-0-2-0 (W-OTW-L-OTL) in its last four meetings with the Czech Republic at the World Junior A Challenge. Team USA last defeated the Czech Republic at the 2018 World Junior A Challenge, 4-2. This was the first time since 2015 that the U.S. had topped the Czech Republic in the tournament.

The U.S. has won five of the last seven World Junior A Challenges, while the Czech Republic has one top-three finish, a third-place finish in 2017.

2023 WJAC

Team USA holds a 1-0-0-0 (W-OTW-L-OTL) record in the tournament after topping Canada West by a score of 3-2 in Saturday night’s game, and the Czech Republic earned their first victory after defeating Russia in overtime on Sunday.

Game One Recap:

In a meeting between the tournament’s last two gold medalists, multi-point performances from Brendan Brisson (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and Sean Farrell (Hopkinton, Mass.) led the U.S. Junior Select Team to a 1-0-0-0 (W-OTW-L-OTL) start in the preliminary round of the 2019 World Junior A Challenge, beating Canada West 3-2 on Saturday.

Full recap here.

U.S. Roster

Coach’s Corner:

Anthony Noreen (Kearney, Neb.) is the head coach of the 2019 U.S. Junior Select Team after serving as head coach at the 2018 World Junior A Challenge and as an assistant coach at the 2017 and 2013 World Junior A Challenges. Last year, he led the U.S. Junior Select Team to a first-place finish over Russia.

Currently in his third season as head coach for the USHL's Tri-City Storm, Noreen led the Storm last season to a 43-10-3-1 (W-L-OTL-SOL) regular-season record and the program’s first Anderson Cup­, awarded to the USHL team with the best regular-season record, since 2004.

Mark Abalan (Sioux City, Iowa), Shane Fukushima (Waterloo, Iowa) and David Wilkie (Omaha, Neb.) will join Noreen as assistants. Mark Boxer (Colorado Springs, Colo.), USA Hockey’s director of junior hockey, is serving as general manager.


U.S. Schedule

Date Opponent/Round Result Location Broadcast/Streaming U.S. Player of the Game
Thur., Dec. 5 Canada East
Pre-Tournament
W, 6-0
Chetwynd Rec Centre
Chetwynd, B.C.
Live Stream
Sat., Dec. 7 Canada West
Preliminary
W, 3-2
Encana Events Centre
Dawson Creek, B.C.
Live Stream
Brendan Brisson
Mon., Dec. 9 Czech Republic
Preliminary
OTW, 5-4
Encana Events Centre
Dawson Creek, B.C.
Live Stream
Gunnarwolfe Fontaine
Wed., Dec. 11 Canada East
Preliminary
W, 7-3 North Peace Arena
Fort St. John, B.C.
No Stream Brendan Brisson
Fri., Dec. 13 Russia
Preliminary
W, 7-2 Encana Events Centre
Dawson Creek, B.C.
Live Stream
Josh Lopina
Sat., Dec. 14 Canada East
Semifinals
SOL, 1-2
Encana Events Centre
Dawson Creek, B.C.
Live Stream
Logan Stein
Sun., Dec. 15 Czech Republic
Third-Place Game
OTW, 2-1
Encana Events Centre
Dawson Creek, B.C.
TSN Ethan Haider

More WJAC News