While Czechia was taking to the ice on April 6 for their first ever Group A Women’s World Championship preliminary round game, 2022 Women's Worlds bronze medallist Klara Peslarova tweeted a picture of the team huddled around the net, with a message of “Let’s goooo, make me proud girls!”

Peslarova has been Czechia’s starting goalie for nearly a decade, but sustained an injury in an SDHL game in November that she is still recovering from. With Peslarova unavailable for selection for Czechia’s 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship roster, a new starter has taken the reins in Brampton: Blanka Skodova.

“You never want an injury, but with injury comes opportunity for other players and you just want them to be able to step in and be the most confident version of themselves,” said head coach Carla MacLeod following Czechia’s first game of the tournament, a 2-1 overtime win over Japan. Skodova faced only 17 shots (including just two in the second period), but was still forced to make some difficult saves.

“I thought she did a great job tonight, this is a big stage to sort of say, hey here’s your first real go at it, but all three of our goalies are working so hard in practice and there’s been a lot of work done leading up to this moment to ensure that they are as confident as they can be.”

Skodova is by no means a new face, having first made a national team roster in 2015. This is her fifth World Championship, but prior to Brampton had only played two full Women’s Worlds games, a 3-1 loss to Switzerland in 2017 and a 4-2 Division I Group A win over Norway in 2015.

The other two goalies on Czechia’s roster are Katerina Zechovska, who has dressed as the back-up for all of Czechia’s games so far, and Michaela Hesova. Zechovska is also no stranger; while she has seen no playing time with the senior national team, she was named to the 2022 Olympic roster, and this is her fourth Women’s Worlds. She did backstop Czechia to bronze at the Lake Placid 2023 FISU World University Games in January and is one of the Czech women’s league’s leading goaltenders.

Hesova on the other hand is at her first senior World Championship, having previously competed on Czechia’s 2022 and 2023 U18 teams. The 17-year-old plays with Bishop Kearney Selects 19U AAA in Rochester, New York.

“I’ve been working a lot with the coaches, kind of having the emphasis on what my role is going to be during this World Championship,” Skodova said of earning the starting goaltender role. “Obviously everything has to be earned, but all of my staff members and even my teammates, they did a really good job of supporting me and that kind of then helps me to gain that confidence, which I didn’t really have the opportunity to be in my role compared to last year. I think I have a great team behind my back and I think it’s really awesome to be here.”

This includes support from Peslarova. Skodova has spent basically her entire national team career playing with Peslarova and has been texting with her before her games in Brampton.

“Having the support from Klara and all these people, they just lift me up and it’s so nice to be around them. Some of them, we have been playing with or against each other since we were 7, 8 years old.”

Getting the start for Czechia against the North American giants, Skodova faced considerably more shots (42 versus Canada!), and high quality shots at that. Despite allowing five goals against Canada and six against the USA, Skodova stood tall in net, and definitely didn’t look like a goalie who had never before held the World Championship starter position.

Perhaps what has readied her for this opportunity is the years she's spent in the NCAA. Skodova played four years at University of Vermont, three of those as a back-up, before transferring to University of Minnesota-Duluth last season to finish her Masters degree as a fifth year, using her extra year of eligibility due to the pandemic.

“I was super grateful to transfer there,” said Skodova. “You get to see things from a very different perspective. Not going to lie, Minnesota-Duluth is one of the best teams in the country and even just being there and practicing with them every day ... I even have a teammate on the U.S. women’s national team, on the Swedish team, Germany.”

Those teammates she is referring to are the United States’ Gabbie Hughes, Germany’s Nina Jobst-Smith, and Swedish goalie Emma Soderberg. The other goalie that Skodova trained alongside at Minnesota-Duluth was Hailey Macleod, 2022 U18 gold medallist with Canada.

“It’s like a big squad, all cheering for each other. But they’re definitely pros. I love just their willingness to work every day, to show up, no whining. I took a lot from that mentality.”

Skodova has taken on the challenge of being Czechia's starting goaltender in Group A in stride. Heading into the second to last day of preliminary round games, she's played more minutes than any other goalie in Brampton, and is one of just two goalies to have played three games so far. The only goaltender who has faced more shots than Skodova (88) is Japan's Miyuu Masuhara (98). More challenges still lie ahead as Czechia nears the quarter-finals, but if there's one thing for certain, Skodova—along with her past and present teammates—is confident that she has what it takes to take Czechia on another run for a medal.