World junior experience thrills Petr

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This article was published 15/01/2025 (246 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dominik Petr had a pretty good idea that the world junior championship would be a great experience.

He simply had no idea how well it would turn out.

The 19-year-old Brandon Wheat Kings forward, who was in Western Hockey League action last night against the Victoria Royals in a game that ended after deadline, won a bronze medal with Czechia at the tournament in Ottawa.

“It was unreal,” Petr said. “It was always a dream to play at the tournament and I was lucky enough to play there. Especially with that medal. Everything around it was really special and I’m glad I could have this experience.”

Petr flew out to Ottawa from Winnipeg on Dec. 10 for the Czech camp, which had 15 forwards, eight defencemen and three goalies.

The 19-year-old forward has played on Czech national teams since the 2021-22 season when he was U16, skating in two world championships and two Hlinka Gretzky Cups.

Petr knew all but a couple of the young players who made the team, and had a chance to get acquainted with the newcomers pretty quickly during the event.

“I knew all of them since U16,” Petr said. “It’s always special to get together and play hockey with them. It’s not just about the hockey, we’re really good friends away from the rink so it was pretty special.”

His father is longtime coach Jakub Petr, who has spent the last two decades with Czech’s national team players at the U18 and U20 levels as he worked with HC Vítkovice.

The soft-spoken Petr, who speaks excellent English, enjoyed chance to converse in Czech during the event.

“Especially when you play in Canada, it was something special to do during the year,” Petr said. “It was nice to speak our own language again.”

Petr’s aunt, uncle and two cousins came to Canada for the tournament, and he was able to spend some time after games and on days off.

During the round-robin, Czechia beat Switzerland 5-2 on Dec. 26, pounded Kazakhstan 14-2 on Dec. 28, topped Slovakia 4-2 on Dec. 29, fell 4-2 to Sweden on Dec. 31.

In the quarterfinals, Czechia broke Canadian hearts when Edmonton Oil Kings forward Adam Jecho scored with 40 seconds remaining to beat Canada 4-3 on Jan. 2.

“I was so happy, especially with those guys, with arms around my neck and a medal around my neck singing that anthem. It’s the nicest song for a Czech guy to hear in a Canadian rink. It was special.”– Dominik Petr

“It was unreal, especially that game against Canada in front of 18,000 people,” Petr said. “It was loud and a great experience.”

In the semifinals, Czechia fell 4-1 to the eventual champion United States on Jan. 4.

That set up a bronze-medal matchup with Sweden.

“Right after the loss against the U.S., we were pumped and excited to play the next day,” Petr said. “We knew we were going to win. That was our only mentality, to get the bronze medal and we did. We got lucky in the shootout and we got it.”

During the game, Jakub Stancl gave Czechia the lead in the first period but Sweden’s David Edstrom tied it nine minutes later. It happened again in the second period when Eduard Sale put Czechia up 2-1, but Edstrom scored again six minutes to knot it 2-2.

After a scoreless third period and overtime, the game went to a shootout, and when Sale scored his second goal, Czechia won 3-2. Petr said the chance to receive a medal and hear his country’s national anthem were incredible.

“It’s hard to explain,” Petr said. “I can’t describe it, honestly. I was so happy, especially with those guys, with arms around my neck and a medal around my neck singing that anthem. It’s the nicest song for a Czech guy to hear in a Canadian rink. It was special.”

Petr, who wore No. 20, had an assist and two penalty minutes in six games.

He was among seven WHL players on the roster, which had a total of 12 Canadian Hockey League players. He said it should help his game moving forward.

“Probably a lot,” Petr said. “I honestly didn’t play a big role on the team but I had some time on the ice. I’m 100 per cent coming back confident. I want to help the team again.”

Even while he was having his own adventure, he didn’t lose track of what he left behind. He made a point of keeping up with his Wheat Kings teammates from afar.

“I was watching every game, at least a period, every time, and the scoresheet,” Petr said. “I was in touch with pretty much everybody every day so I knew what was going on. The guys did a pretty good job.”

He returned to the lineup in Brandon’s 6-3 loss to the Portland Winterhawks on Friday, and had an assist in a 4-2 loss to the Calgary Hitmen on Sunday. The six-foot-two, 165-pound left shot has eight goals, 19 assists and 27 points in 25 games this year.

The product of Ostrava, Czechia was originally selected by the Wheat Kings with the 18th overall pick in the 2023 Canadian Hockey League import draft and is in his second season with the team.

In 67 regular season games last season, he had 17 goals and 28 assists with 16 penalty minutes, and in four playoff games he had a goal and a pair of assists.

He’s clearly made another home in Brandon, and was looking forward to the West Coast trip when he was asked about it last week.

“It’s big time the best event of the year,” Petr said. “Honestly, you can spend lots of time with your teammates, who are basically your second family.”

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