CANADA ADVANCES TO WORLD JUNIOR GOLD MEDAL GAME

EDMONTON – Canadian goalie Dylan Garand has long been awaiting this golden opportunity.

More than 18 months after losing to the U.S. in the finals at the 2021 world junior hockey championship, he once again has a chance to help Canada capture the tournament’s top prize.

“It’s exciting to be at this moment now. But the hardest work is ahead,” Garand said Friday after backstopping his team to a 5-2 semifinal win over Czechia, the country commonly known as the Czech Republic.

“We’ve got to do the right things here, get the right rest, recovery and be ready to go.”

Canada (6-0-0) will face Finland (5-1-0) in Saturday’s gold-medal matchup after Finland blanked Sweden 1-0 in semifinal action.

Garand stopped 31-of-33 shots on Friday, and one longtime teammate believes he has more to give heading into the tournament’s ultimate bout.

“He’s been steady and solid all the way through. He’s just so focused and ready to go every game,” said Logan Stankoven, who’s played three seasons with Garand for the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Hockey League.

Stankoven had a goal and an assist in the semifinal, and was one of seven players to hit the scoresheet for Canada.

Kent Johnson had a goal and two assists while Connor Bedard, Mason McTavish and Joshua Roy also scored and Olen Zellweger added three helpers.

Goalie Tomas Suchanek made 22 saves for Czechia (2-3-1) before being replaced by Pavel Cajan to start the third period. Cajan stopped eight shots in relief.

Sweden will face Czechia in the bronze-medal game on Saturday.

NOTES: Canada was playing without forward Ridly Greig, who suffered an apparent shoulder injury early in the quarterfinal win over Switzerland. Riley Kidney slotted back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for four straight games. … Canada beat Czechia 5-1 in the preliminary round. … Czechia has not won a medal at the world juniors since 2005 when they took home bronze.

(Canadian Press/Photo: Hockey Canada)