Martin Necas drops confident joke ahead of Olympics quarterfinal vs Canada

Czechia defeated Denmark 3-2 on Tuesday, advancing to the Olympics quarterfinal to face Canada. It will be the second matchup between Czechia and Canada during the tournament, with the Canadians winning the first matchup 5-0. Czechia star Martin Necas dropped a confident joke about their chances in the quarterfinals at the Olympics.

“We let them win the first one because we knew we were not going to win two in a row against Canada,” Necas said, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com.

While Necas is joking, Canada made it look like every other team was trying to lose in the round robin. They outscored their opponents 20-3 in the three-game round robin, earning the top seed in the elimination bracket. Czechia won just one game in the round robin, beating France and losing to Switzerland in overtime.

Necas has been outstanding so far in the Olympics. Amid a career year with the Colorado Avalanche, Necas has seven points in four games. That leads Czechia, with only David Pastrnak reaching four points on the team. Necas has 22 goals and 40 assists in 52 games for the Avalanche this year, so this production was expected in Milan.

Czechia now faces an uphill battle against a star-studded Canadian team. But fans back in Canada may be nervous seeing that Czech flag on the other side. In the World Junior Championship, the Czechs have eliminated the Canadians in three consecutive seasons.

But that will not have any practical impact on Wednesday’s matchup. With Jordan Binnington playing well again, the Canadians have looked unstoppable in the Olympics. Czechia, meanwhile, has not gotten the goaltending it expected out of Anaheim Ducks starter Lukas Dostal. He played on Tuesday, pointing the arrow toward Karel Vajmelka or Dan Vladar against Canada.

Can Necas, Pastrnak, and Czechia pull off the upset of the tournament? Or will Canada keep rolling on Tuesday?

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