SMEJKAL’S HAT TRICK PUNCHES CZECHS INTO SEMI-FINALS AFTER LOPSIDED WIN OVER BANFF

CALGARY, Alta. – Jiri Smejkal scored a hat trick and added an assist and Michal Kovaík scored two goals and one assist as seven different players had multi-point games for the Czech Republic in a 9-1 win over the Banff Hockey Academy in Prep Division play at the World Sport School Challenge on Sunday. The win moved the Czechs to 3-0 after the preliminary round, while Banff drops to 0-3.

The Czechs did most of the damage in the opening period, scoring six times to give them a 6-0 lead after 20 minutes. Smejkal opened the scoring and added another goal; Kovaík also scored a pair of goals, while Lukáš Vopelka and Petr Tejral added singles for the Czechs.

Banff got into penalty trouble in the second period, taking seven straight penalties in the frame, however the Czechs would only add one more goal to their already large lead, as Pavel Jenys notched his third goal of the WSSC to make it 7-0 through two periods.

J.P. Gingras got Banff on the board in the third period but the Czechs got two of their own as Smejkal finished off the hat-trick with his fifth goal of the WSSC and Milan Švarc added a single, making it a 9-1 final for the Czechs.

The Czechs will have Monday off to rest-up and watch the quarter-finals at the WSSC, as they wait to see who they will face in the semi-finals on Tuesday, while Banff will play in the first Prep Division quarter-final game on Monday against an undetermined third seeded team.