Team Canada opened their 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships in Ottawa, Canada with a 8-1 victory over the Czech Republic.

John Tavares scored the first two goals of the game and Angelo Esposito scored the third goal for Canada on a great feed from Tavares en route to a decisive victory.

Zach Boychuk and Ryan Ellis also did well as they both contributed with three points in the game. Canada's goaltender, Dustin Tokarski, did well as he allowed only one goal to the Czech with two minutes to go.

Canada will play their second game of the pool round on Sunday against Kazakhstan.

Day 1 scores:

Canada 8 - Czech Republic 1
Russia 4 - Latvia 1
Sweden 3 - Finland 1
USA 8 - Germany 2

(Picture: John Tavares and P.K. Subban, Canadian Press).