The Czech juniors have been waiting for World Championship gold since 2001, when they defended their title in Moscow after winning in Skelleftea. Three years ago in Halifax, still under current national team coach Radim Rulik, they lost to Canada 3-2 in overtime in the final.
Augusta’s teams have taken on the role of avengers. The Czechs knocked out Canada in the quarter-finals in Gothenburg the following year, and again last year at the same stage in Ottawa. In this tournament, they lost to Canada 7-5 in the group stage in Minneapolis, but in Sunday’s semi-final in St. Paul, they got their revenge with a 6-4 win.
"The players were fantastic from the first minute to the last. They went for it. The team was ready even before the game started - I could feel a huge energy from them. It really reminded me of last year’s quarter-final against Canada. Only this time, the guys were even louder and more fired up," Augusta told hokej.cz.
His team played an open game against the 20-time champions of the previous 49 tournaments and caused them problems from the start with aggressive forechecking.
"You can’t just defend against them - you have to play their style of hockey. It’s not about sitting back and hoping to hold on. That won’t work. You could see it on their power play - Canada’s attack is just incredible. We had to beat them with their own weapons," Augusta said.
Canada scored two of their four goals on the power play and, as the best team in the tournament with the man advantage, improved their success rate to 50%: 10 goals from 20 opportunities.
"Of course, we warned the players not to give the referees a chance to call penalties. But it’s junior hockey - you saw a few tactical mistakes out there. We had a bad line change, they messed up a face-off. That’s part of youth hockey, but I’m proud of how the guys handled it," Augusta commented.
In the 39th minute, with the score tied at 2-2 after a repeated Canadian penalty shot that Michael Hage failed to convert, Augusta had a discussion with Swedish referee Alexander Osterberg, who officiated the game alongside American Rocco Stachowiak.
"I had a bit of a confrontation there. He told me I was yelling at him. He was right - I shouldn’t have. But I needed to stand up for our team a little. In my opinion, there were two missed calls on their side, but I don’t want to comment further," Augusta said.
He didn’t want to complain about the referees’ performance.
"It’s not easy for the officials, and they definitely didn’t influence the outcome. I just felt I needed to help the team a bit by taking the pressure off them, because the players were starting to get vocal and involved. I wanted them to focus more on the game and leave the rest to me," Augusta added.
During the game, he tried to keep emotions in check. "It’s never over until the final buzzer. We kept reminding the players to keep a cool head and not let themselves get provoked, because we have another game ahead," Augusta said.
Maxmilian Curran, Adam Titlbach, and Adam Benak all scored their first goals of the tournament to help secure the win. The game-winning goal scorer, Tomas Poletin, and Vojtech Cihar, who scored twice, joined defenseman Adam Jiricek as the team’s top scorers in the tournament. Goalie Michal Orsulak contributed with 20 saves.
"Today, from the goalie to the thirteenth forward to the guys in the stands, everyone came together as a team. That’s something really special. I know I might say this at every World Championship, but it’s not something you see every day. I think this group has come a long way to truly become a team. I believe they’ll show it again tomorrow," Augusta concluded.
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