Tobias Pitka at the 2026 World Junior Championship

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January 2, 2026 – Quarterfinals

Canada stormed out to a 5-0 lead after the first period and skated to a dominant 7-1 win over Slovakia in the last quarter-finals match of the day. Slovakia has now been eliminated from the tournament.

“They scored that first goal and our whole bench went down, and then they scored a second and third, and it was too late to do anything,” lamented Slovakia captain Tobias Pitka. “We came into this game like it was any other game, but it didn’t end like we wanted. We have to move on, but I wish the best of luck for next year’s team and the younger guys who come here.”

Pitka recorded 17:22 of ice time, fourth-most on the team and second-most among Slovakia forwards, recording one shot and a -1 rating. 

Canada now plays Czechia, and Sweden will meet Finland in the semifinals. Those games will take place on January 4, followed by the winners advancing to the gold-medal game and the losers to the bronze-medal game, both taking place on January 5, at the Grand Casino Arena.  

 

 

December 31, 2025

Switzerland scored twice on an early first-period double minor and skated to a 3-2 win over Slovakia this afternoon at Grand Casino Arena. 

Pitka finished the game with a tournament-low 13:13 of ice time and did not record a shot. 

With the loss, Slovakia finished the preliminary stage in 4th place in Group A, recording three points with one win and three losses. Slovakia now awaits unbeaten Canada, who finished first-place in Group B, in the quarterfinals. That game will be held at 8:30 p.m. ET on Friday, January 2, at 3M Arena. 

 

December 29, 2025

Pitka opened the scoring in Slovakia’s 5-6 loss to the United States.

The captain scored his first goal of the tournament and the first goal of the game at the 8:53 mark of the first period. Teammate Tomas Chrenko made the game 2-0 just minutes later.

Pitka finished the game with a goal, two shots, a +1 rating, and 14:26 of ice time. 

“I think we learned that we can play with everybody here,” Pitka said during a post-game press conference. “You know every game is tight here. If we’re doing our system, playing our game, we can go far in this tournament.”

Slovakia now awaits Switzerland to round out the tournament preliminary schedule. That game is scheduled for December 31 at noon from the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul, Minnesota, home of the Minnesota Wild.

 

 

December 27, 2025
Team Slovakia played Germany the following day, with Slovakia earning a 4-1 win.

While Pitka logged 17:04 minutes and five shots, it was the third line of Slovakia that shined, as fellow center Tomas Chrenko scored a hat-trick with linemates Adam Nemec (2 assists) and Samuel Murin (1 assist) each recording points. Pitka’s minutes were eighth on the team, and fourth among Slovakia forwards. 

   

 

December 26, 2025

Pitka and Slovakia opened the tournament against Sweden, ultimately falling 3-2.

Pitka registered 19:09 of time on ice, the second-most minutes of any Slovakia skaters and sixth-most across all skaters in this game. The captain notched the primary assist on the game-tying goal late in the third period, and finished with a +1 rating and two shots.

“I think we played as one team, and this is the type of game we want to play the whole tournament,” said captain Tobias Pitka in a post game pres conference. “Be active and score goals after a good forecheck.”

Regarding his team’s resilience, Pitka explained: “We talked to each other in the locker room. Whatever happens, we play our game for the whole game, 60 minutes, whatever happens. I think we did a very good job with that, and we came back.”

 

 

December 21, 2025

Pitka was named team captain ahead of the tournament. Along with Pitka, Adam Beluško and Luka Radivojevic were named alternate captains prior to the preliminary matches and in the championship.
   
 


December 16, 2025

MARQUETTE, Mich. — Freshman forward Tobias Pitka will represent his home country of Slovakia at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship. 

The annual tournament runs from December 26, 2025 to Jan. 5, 2026, in Saint Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota, a tournament that highlights the best junior players in the world. 

This marks the second world juniors he will have attended, as he represented Slovakia as an 18-year-old in the U18 WJC during the 2023/24 season. He registered an assist in seven games played that tournament. Pitka has also represented Slovakia internationally on many seperate occasions outside of the WJC. 

The forward recorded six points (three goals and three assists) in 14 games for the ‘Cats, while averaging just north of 16 minutes per game and playing in all situations as the second-line center. Pitka’s 119 faceoff wins and 48% in the circle are second on the ‘Cats to Altrichter.

 

Pitka and Luka Radivojevic of Boston College will make up the two athletes joining Slovakia from the NCAA ranks. Radivojevic has the most experience of any of the Slovakia returners, as he is the only returner to play in his third U20 WJC, where he has at least double the career WJC games-played and points from any other returner. The freshman blueliner has nine assists in 16 games for the Eagles. 

Slovakia is the seventh-ranked team in terms of experience, with its returners combining for 27 games played at these championships, before those numbers jump to Germany in sixth with a combined 51 games played. Slovakia has just six returners and 22 skaters making their U20 WJC debuts. 

Team Slovakia will compete alongside USA, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland in Group A preliminary round play at Grand Casino Arena in Saint Paul. Slovakia will open the tournament against Sweden on the 26th, with puck-drop from Grand Casino Arena at noon local time and 1 p.m. EST. 

Group B preliminary round competition will take place at 3M Arena at Mariucci in Minneapolis and include Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland and Latvia.

Two quarterfinals will be played at Grand Casino Arena and two at 3M Arena at Mariucci with the semifinals, bronze and gold-medal games all being staged at Grand Casino Arena.

For all things 2026 World Junior Championships, click here.