OTTAWA, ON - Canada's National Men's National Team went down to defeat 5-1 at the hands of the Czech Republic National Team Wednesday night at the Ottawa Civic Center.

Team Canada opened the scoring at 2:12 of the first period. Chris Szysky, of White City, SK, scored on assists from Jeremy Adduono, of Thunder Bay, ON, and Perry Johnson, of Edmonton, AB. The Czech Republic tied the game at 6:38 as Vaclav Kral scored the first of his four goals.

Kral scored his second goal shorthanded at 1:04 of the second period to give the Czech Republic a lead for good. Robert Jindrich added a power play goal at 9:22 to give the Czech Republic an insurance goal going into the third period. The Czech Republic added two in the third period, both by Kral to make the final score 5-1.

Canadian goaltender Aaron Schweitzer faced 38 shots while the Czech Republic goaltender Martin Prusek saw 31 shots.

The six-game series comes to a close with both teams sharing a 2-2-2 record. The Czech Republic National Team won the first ever Motorola Canada Hockey Award, as it accumulated more points in the final three games of the series.

"Although it was a disappointing finish, our guys played well during the year," said Mike Johnston, head coach of Canada's National Team. " It was a successful year with wins at the VAR Cup, the Spengler Cup and an overall record of 21-17-8."

"Tonight, the fatigue really showed for us. The Czech Republic Team had a little more depth than us with 25 skaters. I believe that this depth and their overall experience proved to be the key factors."