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University of Massachusets Athletics
UMass' Hrabal Earns Bronze With Team Czechia At IIHF World Junior Championship
January 05, 2024 | Hockey
GOTHENBURG, Sweden – University of Massachusetts hockey freshman goaltender Michael Hrabal earned Bronze at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship after helping his native Czechia to the Bronze Medal game where the squad defeated Finland, 8-5 on Friday.
Hrabal joins a list of six previous medal winners from UMass in the tournament as current Minutemen Kenny Connors and Ryan Ufko were part of a Bronze Medal winning Team USA squad in 2023. Goaltender Filip Lindberg captured Gold with Finland in 2020 and Cale Makar took home Gold with Canada in 2018, while that same tournament Director of Equipment Operations Josh Penn earned a Bronze medal on staff with Team USA. Stephen Werner was the first Minuteman to collect a medal at the World Junior Championship, winning gold with the United States in 2004.
Hrabal played in all seven of Czechia's games in the tournament, posting a 3-2 record with a .877 save percentage and a 3.40 goals-against average over 370:13 in net, totaling 150 saves. He helped the Czechs reach the Semifinal Round with 28 saves on 30 shots in a 3-2 victory over Canada in the quarterfinals. He also had 30 stops against the United States during group play in a contest that Czechia took down to the wire, 3-3, after regulation and overtime, before the squad ultimately fell in a shootout. He was selected as one of Team Czechia's Top-Three Players of the Tournament by the team's coaches.
Hrabal joins a list of six previous medal winners from UMass in the tournament as current Minutemen Kenny Connors and Ryan Ufko were part of a Bronze Medal winning Team USA squad in 2023. Goaltender Filip Lindberg captured Gold with Finland in 2020 and Cale Makar took home Gold with Canada in 2018, while that same tournament Director of Equipment Operations Josh Penn earned a Bronze medal on staff with Team USA. Stephen Werner was the first Minuteman to collect a medal at the World Junior Championship, winning gold with the United States in 2004.
Hrabal played in all seven of Czechia's games in the tournament, posting a 3-2 record with a .877 save percentage and a 3.40 goals-against average over 370:13 in net, totaling 150 saves. He helped the Czechs reach the Semifinal Round with 28 saves on 30 shots in a 3-2 victory over Canada in the quarterfinals. He also had 30 stops against the United States during group play in a contest that Czechia took down to the wire, 3-3, after regulation and overtime, before the squad ultimately fell in a shootout. He was selected as one of Team Czechia's Top-Three Players of the Tournament by the team's coaches.
Players Mentioned
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