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Former Edmonton Oilers defenceman Ladislav Smid behind the bench for Czechia at 2025 World Juniors

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Czechia coach Ladislav Smid and Robert Reichel are co-coaches at the world junior hockey tournament.

Smid played in three straight world junior tournaments 35 years ago ( 1988-1990 ) He was on three straight Czechia world junior teams ( 2004, 2005 and 2006 ), starting as a 17-year-old , and still looking like he could still play but left the NHL at 30 because of neck and other injuries to head back to the Czech league.

Smid 's first world junior was an eye-opener when he was just 17 years old .

Team Canada was arguably the best team ever for Canada ( only one close was in 1995 in Alberta ) Adam Jiricek , the Bluesfirst -round pick in 2024 and brother of David , who was traded a few weeks ago from Columbus to Minnesota , has been hurt.