St. Paul, Minn. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Of the four Buffalo Sabres prospects competing at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship in Minnesota, only defenseman Radim Mrtka (Czechia) is set to compete for a medal at this year's tournament.
Mrtka and the Czechs were able to punch their ticket to the semifinal round of the tournament on Friday with a 6-2 win over Switzerland in Minneapolis at 3M Arena at Mariucci, home of the University at Minnesota Golden Gophers.
To start the tournament, Mrtka was unavailable for Czechia due to an injury suffered just before the first game. However, the 6-foot-6, 218-pound defenseman was able to get into game action for the first time against Finland in Czechia's third game of the tournament.
In his three games played, to this point, the Sabres' first-round pick (9th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft has gone pointless, but has registered four shots on goal, two penalty minutes and a plus-3 rating, while averaging 17:30 of ice-time.
Czechia is hoping to medal for a fourth-straight World Juniors tournament, but are hoping to make it back to the Gold Medal Game for the first time since 2023, where they settled for a silver medal after an overtime loss to Canada.
It will be Canada that Czechia is matched up with in the semifinal round, which will be their second matchup of this tournament. Both teams met to start the tournament back on Dec. 26, with Canada winning in a thrilling back-and-forth affair, 7-5, in Minneapolis.
Canada ended up earning the top spot in Group B for the tournament, while Czechia finished as the second team with their only loss coming to the Canadians.
Meanwhile, Canada will be looking to exact some revenge on Czechia after they were eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the World Juniors on home soil last year in Ottawa.
As for Brodie Ziemer, Adam Kleber and Luke Osburn with the United States, their hopes of a three-peat at this tournament were dashed on Friday at the hands of Finland on Friday at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, home of the Minnesota Wild.
While holding a 2-1 lead in the third period, the Americans collapsed defensively, surrendering two goals in 55 seconds to give the Finns a 3-2 lead with 6:22 remaining in regulation.
Despite the deficit, the U.S. managed to get the game-tying goal late from Ryker Lee (Nashville Predators), who finished off a great feed from James Hagens (Boston Bruins) from behind the Finnish net.
However, just 2:11 into the overtime period, it was Arttu Valila finding some open space to the left of the U.S. net and firing a shot past goalie Nick Kempf (Washington Capitals), who just overcommitted to the shot to his left.
Ziemer finished this year's tournament with a goal and five assists for six points in five games played, and ended up being named one of the Best Three Players for the United States in the tournament. He also registered 12 shots on goal, a plus-2 rating and averaged 18:19 of ice-time playing on the Americans' top line mostly with Hagens and Will Horcoff (Pittsburgh Penguins).
On the back end, Kleber was heavily relied upon by the U.S. as a solid defensive presence and minutes-eating defender, finishing his tournament with an assist, four shots on goal and a plus-5 rating, while averaging a team-high 22:13 of ice-time in five games.
As for Osburn, he was a key piece to the Americans' middle pairing with Chase Reid (2026 NHL Draft), while getting some quality time on the second power play unit. He finished his tournament pointless in five games, but managed to produce nine shots on goal and a minus-1 rating, while averaging 21:47 of ice-time.
With Finland's win over the Americans, they exact some revenge for last year's World Juniors tournament, where the U.S. beat the Finns in the Gold Medal Game to go back-to-back at the tournament for the first time.
Up next for Finland is a matchup with Sweden in the semifinal round, who finished as the top team in Group A of the tournament.
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