photo: © IIHF / Tim Austen
Cole Reschny is a Canadian hero this evening.
The forward scored the tying goal and then, in overtime, got the game winner as Canada survived a back-and-forth affair and defeated Czechia 3-2 in the extra period to move on at the 2025 IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship.
"It’s special. To be here, play in this tournament and wear this jersey and have my country on my chest, it’s huge," said Reschny. "To get that goal is very special and something that I’m going to remember. But we’re moving forward now and I’m excited about that."
Canada will now compete in the semifinals, while Czechia has been eliminated, despite an all-world effort from goaltender Frantisek Poletin, who faced 40 shots.
The game was an instant classic, with the Czechs leading 1-0 and 2-1 but Canada rallying for the win.
The overtime saw both teams exchange Grade A scoring chances, with Czechia's Radim Mrtka stopped by Jack Ivankovic on a breakaway and Keaton Verhoeff being denied on a breakaway for Canada.
"I was feeling really good in the net today. All the guys were feeling much better than the games before," said Poletin. "We all played much, much better than previous games but it didn’t happen at the end and that’s hockey. You’ve got to learn from it. It sucks now but we have to learn from it and take the good things from it."
The Czechs had a key penalty kill in the second half of the third, a huge part of the game as Canada entered this one with the top powerplay in the tournament.
Moments later, Cameron Schmidt of Canada went on the penalty kill as took a high-sticking minor but Canada killed it off.
Czechia opened the scoring at 6:06 into the first. Radim Mrtka made a nice move around Xavier Villeneuve and then passed to David Rozsival, who made a move around Ivankovic and tucked the puck in for the icebreaker.
Ivankovic had to come up with three huge saves during a Czech powerplay around the nine-minute mark. First, Vladimir Dravecky took a snapshot from the slot, which was turned away by Ivankovic. The goalie wasn’t able to control the rebound and the Czechs pounced, with Matous Kucharcik and Vojtech Cihar getting great looks in close but Ivankovic shutting the door.
Lev Katzin had a fantastic chance with just under five minutes to play but Poletin held a strong position, stopped the puck and didn’t give up a rebound.
Smith tied it up with 20 seconds left on a seeing-eye shot from the point. Brady Martin forced Mrtka to turn the puck over with a heavy forecheck and then Martin went to the net and screened Poletin, allowing Smith’s shot to sneak in on the blocker side.
"That’s my game as a forechecker," said Martin. "I just went after (the Czech player), stripped the puck and turned it over. And then Smith made a nice shot from the point. It was a good goal."
Poletin came up big a few times on Canada’s first powerplay of the game early in the second including back-to-back saves on Keaton Verhoeff, who loaded up for a pair of one-timers on his off side.
Czechia took the lead less than five minutes left in the second. Ivankovic saved the initial shot from Adam Benak but the puck sat on top of the goalie’s pad and Benak swatted it in.
But, again, Canada tied it up, with Martin hitting a streaking Reschny, who came down main street and found a way to beat Poletin.
Czechia head coach David Cermak elected to go with Frantisek Poletin in net after Poletin relieved Michal Orsulak during Czechia’s 7-3 loss to Sweden in the final game of the preliminary round for both teams. Poletin allowed four goals on 32 shots and Cermak felt he earned the net for the quarterfinal game against Canada.
"We had the meeting with the coaches and they told me (on Tuesday)," said Poletin. "I think I had a pretty good game against Sweden and I was hoping I could get in this game."
Ivankovic, meanwhile, has been Canada’s man in net for the majority of this tournament and entered Wednesday’s game with a sparkling 1.50 goals against average and 0.948 save percentage, leading the way in both categories at U18s.
Canada will await the result of the United States-Latvia game to find out who it will face in the semis. Martin says an off day on Thursday is much needed before Canada takes the ice again on Friday, with a berth in the gold medal final on the line.
"I think we’ll do some studying on the other team but I think I’ll have a relaxed day and rest the body and maybe watch some NHL hockey," said Martin.
The forward scored the tying goal and then, in overtime, got the game winner as Canada survived a back-and-forth affair and defeated Czechia 3-2 in the extra period to move on at the 2025 IIHF World Men's Under-18 Championship.
"It’s special. To be here, play in this tournament and wear this jersey and have my country on my chest, it’s huge," said Reschny. "To get that goal is very special and something that I’m going to remember. But we’re moving forward now and I’m excited about that."
Canada will now compete in the semifinals, while Czechia has been eliminated, despite an all-world effort from goaltender Frantisek Poletin, who faced 40 shots.
The game was an instant classic, with the Czechs leading 1-0 and 2-1 but Canada rallying for the win.
The overtime saw both teams exchange Grade A scoring chances, with Czechia's Radim Mrtka stopped by Jack Ivankovic on a breakaway and Keaton Verhoeff being denied on a breakaway for Canada.
"I was feeling really good in the net today. All the guys were feeling much better than the games before," said Poletin. "We all played much, much better than previous games but it didn’t happen at the end and that’s hockey. You’ve got to learn from it. It sucks now but we have to learn from it and take the good things from it."
The Czechs had a key penalty kill in the second half of the third, a huge part of the game as Canada entered this one with the top powerplay in the tournament.
Moments later, Cameron Schmidt of Canada went on the penalty kill as took a high-sticking minor but Canada killed it off.
Czechia opened the scoring at 6:06 into the first. Radim Mrtka made a nice move around Xavier Villeneuve and then passed to David Rozsival, who made a move around Ivankovic and tucked the puck in for the icebreaker.
Ivankovic had to come up with three huge saves during a Czech powerplay around the nine-minute mark. First, Vladimir Dravecky took a snapshot from the slot, which was turned away by Ivankovic. The goalie wasn’t able to control the rebound and the Czechs pounced, with Matous Kucharcik and Vojtech Cihar getting great looks in close but Ivankovic shutting the door.
Lev Katzin had a fantastic chance with just under five minutes to play but Poletin held a strong position, stopped the puck and didn’t give up a rebound.
Smith tied it up with 20 seconds left on a seeing-eye shot from the point. Brady Martin forced Mrtka to turn the puck over with a heavy forecheck and then Martin went to the net and screened Poletin, allowing Smith’s shot to sneak in on the blocker side.
"That’s my game as a forechecker," said Martin. "I just went after (the Czech player), stripped the puck and turned it over. And then Smith made a nice shot from the point. It was a good goal."
Poletin came up big a few times on Canada’s first powerplay of the game early in the second including back-to-back saves on Keaton Verhoeff, who loaded up for a pair of one-timers on his off side.
Czechia took the lead less than five minutes left in the second. Ivankovic saved the initial shot from Adam Benak but the puck sat on top of the goalie’s pad and Benak swatted it in.
But, again, Canada tied it up, with Martin hitting a streaking Reschny, who came down main street and found a way to beat Poletin.
Czechia head coach David Cermak elected to go with Frantisek Poletin in net after Poletin relieved Michal Orsulak during Czechia’s 7-3 loss to Sweden in the final game of the preliminary round for both teams. Poletin allowed four goals on 32 shots and Cermak felt he earned the net for the quarterfinal game against Canada.
"We had the meeting with the coaches and they told me (on Tuesday)," said Poletin. "I think I had a pretty good game against Sweden and I was hoping I could get in this game."
Ivankovic, meanwhile, has been Canada’s man in net for the majority of this tournament and entered Wednesday’s game with a sparkling 1.50 goals against average and 0.948 save percentage, leading the way in both categories at U18s.
Canada will await the result of the United States-Latvia game to find out who it will face in the semis. Martin says an off day on Thursday is much needed before Canada takes the ice again on Friday, with a berth in the gold medal final on the line.
"I think we’ll do some studying on the other team but I think I’ll have a relaxed day and rest the body and maybe watch some NHL hockey," said Martin.
Canada v. Czechia - QF#3 - 2025 IIHF U18 Men's World Championship
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