John Tavares celebrates the first of two goals on the night that led Canada to an 8-1 victory over the Czech Republic. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Welcome to the John Tavares Show, otherwise known as the 2009 world junior hockey championship.

Tavares was by far the best Canadian on the ice in an 8-1 victory over the Czech Republic on Friday night. He scored twice and added an assist and it was as if he was saying, "C'mon guys. Just follow me down the road to gold."

"He's the guy,'' said teammate and longtime friend Chris Di Domenico. "He wants us to follow him. He is a great guy and he has such a big heart."

It's not often an undrafted player takes the Canadian junior team on his shoulders and carries it as far as he can. But Tavares is not your average hockey playing teenager.

He is Canada's latest version of The Next One, a title Sidney Crosby wore in junior until he became the face of the NHL. It's the same title Eric Lindros was handed in the autumn of Wayne Gretzky's career.

"It is clear [Tavares is special]," head coach Pat Quinn said after the game. "I didn't know much about this young man before [the Canadian junior training camp opened in mid-December]. But he has that something else.

"He has that change of pace that freezes guys. He knows how to carry the puck and what to do with the puck."

Before the game, Quinn talked about how he wanted his four returning players to step up and take charge, to calm younger team members who were about to begin their chase for a fifth straight world junior medal on home soil by providing leadership on and off the ice.

Quinn was more than impressed with the shadow Tavares cast in the dressing room and in front of 19,622 people at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

"He spoke well and he says good things," said Quinn. "He stood up and then he led by example."

Tavares doesn't like to talk about being a superstar in the making. When it comes to the world junior championship, he is all team all the time.

"I approach every shift the same way," he said. "I just want to give the coaching staff confidence in me."

Mission accomplished.

The Canadians and Czechs were nervous at first and the combination of a big hit by forward Patrice Cormier and a massive breakaway save by goalie Dustin Tokarski lit up the Canadians.

It looked like the teams would remain scoreless heading to the dressing room for the first intermission, but then Tavares scored with four seconds left in the period. He was at the top of the faceoff circle to the left of the Czech goalie when he slammed on the brakes.

One step later he was between the circles and a blistering wrist shot caught the upper right corner of the net to give Canada a 1-0 lead.

Then in the second period, Tavares was again to the left of the Czech net when he snapped a cross-ice pass for a 2-0 lead. Tavares finished off a three-point night by assisting on a goal by Angelo Esposito at 7:08 of the third.

"My focus is on winning the championship,'' said Tavares.

Ryan Ellis, Tyler Ennis, Chris Di Domenico, Zach Boychuk and Alex Pietrangelo also scored Canada.

The Czechs realized that their chance to keep things close came in the first period when they had two great scoring chances denied by Tokarski.

When it became obvious the rout was on, they all but raised the white flag.

"By the end of the game, we didn't even show up," coach Marek Sykora said.

Next up for Canada in its drive for five straight world junior titles is Kazakhstan on Sunday. Then it's Germany before Canada faces a tough opponent in the form of the United States on New Years' Eve.

Judging by the performance of Tavares, he will be primed for the Americans and NHL scouts can't wait to see how the USA will stop him.

The Canadian squad honoured the memory of Luc Bourdon during the game, wearing "LB" on their helmets to pay tribute to the two-time world junior gold medallist. Bourdon, a member of the 2006 and 2007 teams, was killed in a motorcycle accident in May. No Canadian player is wearing Bourdon's No. 6 in this tournament.