Brno – Hockey national team coach Radim Rulík has had some difficult decisions to make when finalizing the roster for the World Cup. In the end, there are nine players from overseas in the squad, the remaining two thirds are hockey players from Europe – twelve of them are from the extra league, two from Sweden and Switzerland and one from Finland. As the experienced coach stated at the press conference in Brno, he wants a team that will do its best and will be decorated with dedication.
“Currently, we have fewer and fewer players on the first two lines of NHL teams,” stated Rulík. “The opponents, on the other hand, have far more of them. The nominated team is dominated by players from Europe and it should clearly present itself with heart and dedication. Just do the absolute best at the home championship,” said Rulík.
With a number of nominated players, a longer-term perspective than the unsuccessful Czech Games in Brno was key for him. “It wasn’t about the results, but more about whether there was progress with the players who were with us at the Euro Hockey Tour tournaments and now in the preparatory camps. For some, there was, for those who didn’t make it to the team, it didn’t happen. on the contrary, it even dropped. I can say that the guys who are there have maintained a constant performance throughout, which is why they won the nomination,” Rulík explained.
One of the factors was also the mental resilience of the individual players, considering the great pressure associated with the fact that the championship will take place at home. “This was also a point of view for us, because when the players were a little insecure, they exposed themselves. And not everyone can perform adequately under that pressure,” admitted Rulík.
It was difficult to choose between the talented young backs David Špaček and Jiří Ticháček. In the end, Špaček succeeded, whose father Jaroslav is an Olympic champion from Nagano, a three-time world champion and a former assistant coach of the national team.
“David is right-handed and Jirka is left-handed. We have the same number of right-handed and left-handed players, that was one thing. They are of the same age. David is a little more seasoned from overseas. They are both approximately at the same level, in any case, we are glad that we included a young defender in the nomination , but at this moment there is simply no room for two,” stated Rulík.
One of the assistants, Marek Židlický, had an important advisory voice. “However, it is joint work. Just like with the goalkeepers and Ondra Pavelec. In those discussions, we are all from the implementation team, the managers Petr Nedvěd and Martin Havlát are also there, we do not hide anything and we talk about it openly. It is based on mutual communication. Marek he has observations, justifications and his point of view, we know that he has a good eye for it, but it is a joint work. I will of course make the final decision,” Rulík described.
The current roster includes 26 players. 25 of them can enter the WC tournament. The coaches do not want to talk about who will be left out at the moment. They will wait for the last nominated striker David Kämpf and at the same time for the development of the playoffs in the NHL and AHL.
“We’ll announce it when David Kämpf joins, we’ll see how his exit check goes anyway. The moment David joins us, we’ll announce the 22 players who will be nominated for the World Cup, plus an extra three goalkeepers. We’ll then announce how many players we will write on the roster for the first match,” outlined Rulík, whose team awaits the first match in Prague’s O2 arena on Friday against Finland.
He didn’t want to get ahead of the captain and his assistants either. “On Tuesday, we will have the first meeting of the nominated players and we will announce who will be the captain and assistants. Of course, it will also be a matter of the cabin, not just ours,” Rulík said.
He wants to succeed in the tournament, but he was not specific. “Of course, one wants to achieve the best result, that’s the primary thing. But I will try to influence the team in such a way that we don’t look at what happened on Tuesday, when the match is on Friday, so that we go step by step and play an excellent tournament. That’s the path we’d like to take. Don’t be angry, but I’ll keep that to myself,” said Rulík.
Rulík selected 26 players for the WC, including Kämpf, Vrána or Nosek are missing from the team
There are 26 players in the final nomination of the Czech hockey players for the home world championship – three goalkeepers, eight defenders and 15 forwards. Rulík left eight overseas reinforcements in the team, to which David Kämpf from Toronto joined as the ninth newly called forward. He informed about it at today’s press conference in Brno after the end of the Czech Games.
Goalkeepers Lukáš Dostál, Petr Mrázek and Karel Vejmelka, defenders Radko Gudas, Michal Kempný, David Špaček, Jakub Krejčík, Jan Ščotka, Libor Hájek, Jan Rutta and Tomáš Kundrátek and forwards Ondřej Beránek, Roman Červenka, Ondřej Palát, Jakub Flek, Jáchym Kondelík, Lukáš Sedlák, Radan Lenc, Pavel Kousal, Matěj Stránský, David Kämpf, Ondřej Kaše, Dominik Kubalík, Michal Kovařčík, Daniel Voženílek and David Tomášek.
Defenders Jan Košťálek, Jiří Ticháček, Dominik Mašín and Libor Zábranský and forwards Filip Chlapík, Ondřej Kovařčík, Tomáš Nosek, Michael Špaček, Jakub Vrána and Radim Zohorna were removed from the squad today.
From the NHL, the team for the WC includes goalkeepers Mrázek (Chicago), Vejmelka (Arizona) and Dostál, defenders Gudas (both Anaheim) and Rutta (San Jose) and forwards Palát (New Jersey), Kubalík (Ottawa) and Kämpf, who with Maple The Leafs were eliminated tonight in the 1st round of the playoffs after a 3-4 loss to Boston. They are joined by guard David Špaček from the Minnesota farm from Iowa from the AHL.
“David Kämpf is scheduled to join the team on Thursday. I contacted him right after the game at half past two in the morning his time because I knew he would most likely be flying out of Boston, so I believed there was room for that. called me,” said the general manager of the national team, Petr Nedvěd.
“Obviously it’s difficult like that after losing the seventh game, but we had no choice. We need him as quickly as possible, he reacted very positively. Of course, there is no player who goes through the playoffs, and still in the seventh game, without scars. Of course there are some, but he is otherwise fit. He is interested in coming, now he is just waiting for exit interviews and tours. We are just waiting for the green light from Toronto,” added Nedvěd.
Palát’s teammate Nosek, the 2018 Stanley Cup winner with Washington, Jakub Vrána from St. Louis, who finished the season on the farm in Springfield in the AHL, and Radim Zohorna from Pittsburgh, who was on the reserve team of Wilkes-Barre in the AHL.
“With Tomáš, I decided after the first game that I would not nominate him for the next one. I will not say the reasons here. We chose other players. It is of course difficult from one game, but the performance against Finland decided,” said Rulík.
“Jakub is a talented player who played most of the season on the farm, but he did not come in the form we would have imagined. I know Radim personally, I trained him for several years in Boleslav and it is similar to the other players who arrived from overseas. It’s a very short time to get them in shape and the current one was not such that we decided on their nomination,” Rulík added to the address of the bronze medalist from last year’s World Cup, where he made his debut at a major international event during the tournament, also after the Maple Leafs were eliminated in the playoffs.
The reinforcements from the 2nd round of the NHL playoffs are still in the game. “Of course, we will give ourselves some more space to discuss everything with the coaches, but most likely we will keep some places,” added Nedvěd. Defender David Jiříček from the Columbus farm in Cleveland of the AHL can also be in the game. “David is playing in the playoffs. I spoke with general manager John Davidson, but at the moment they don’t want to let us have David, so we have to wait. If they are eliminated, then the chance will be there,” added Nedvěd.
The most experienced player of the team is 38-year-old Červenka from Rapperswil. He is the world champion from 2010 and will present himself at the eleventh championship. He won bronze in Bratislava in 2011 and the year before. He also played in four Olympic Games and the World Cup in 2016. At the championship, he will attack the mark of 200 games played in the national team, which he lacks two starts.
Two years ago in Finland, goalkeepers Dostál and Vejmelka, defenders Kempný from Sparta, Kundrátek from Třinec and Ščotka from Kometa Brno, and forwards Jakub Flek from Kometa Brno and Matěj Stránský from Davos also won bronze two years ago in Finland. Back Jakub Krejčík from Sparta also won it in 2012. Kempný also has a Stanley Cup win in 2018 in his collection of achievements, and Rutta and Palát even have two triumphs with Tampa Bay in 2020 and 2021.
Vejmelka, Kempný, Kundrátek, Flek, Kubalík, other attackers Beránek from Karlovy Vary, Sedlák from Pardubice, Voženílek from Třinec, Lenc from HV 71 and Tomášek from Färjestad will repeat their participation from last year’s championship in Riga and Tampere. Kubalík was the top scorer of the tournament with eight goals and made the All Star team.
Twenty-one-year-old defender David Špaček and forwards Michal Kovařčík from Jukurit Mikkeli, Kousal from Sparta, Ondřej Kaše from Litvínov and Kondelík from České Budějovice can make their debut at a major international event. Kaše has experience in the NHL, where he played 258 games in the regular season and another 31 in the playoffs for Anaheim, Boston, Toronto and Carolina.
The Czechs did not manage the final tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour. During the tournament general at the World Cup, they did not score a single point and finished last. They will meet again on Tuesday in Prague. They will enter the championship on Friday with a match against Finland, starting at 20:20. I will play Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria, Great Britain and Canada in the other matches of the basic group A at the O2 arena.
Nominations of Czech hockey players for the World Championship in Prague (May 10-26):
Goalkeepers: Lukáš Dostál (Anaheim/NHL; 3 games), Petr Mrázek (Chicago/NHL; 12), Karel Vejmelka (Arizona/NHL; 16),
defenders: Michal Kempný (85 matches/10 goals), Jakub Krejčík (both Sparta Prague; 117/6), Libor Hájek (Pardubice; 14/2), Tomáš Kundrátek (Třinec; 110/11), Jan Ščotka (Kometa Brno; 48/ 1), Radko Gudas (Anaheim/NHL; 36/3), Jan Rutta (San Jose/NHL; 43/5), David Špaček (Iowa Wild/AHL; 4/1),
attackers: Ondřej Beránek (Karlovy Vary; 55/7), Jakub Flek (Kometa Brno; 81/19), Ondřej Kaše (Litvínov; 4/0), Pavel Kousal (Sparta Prague; 20/2), Jáchym Kondelík (České Budějovice; 6 /1), Lukáš Sedlák (Pardubice; 26/9), Daniel Voženílek (Třinec; 19/6), Roman Červenka (Rapperswil-Jona/Switzerland; 198/54), David Kämpf (Toronto/NHL; 14/3) , Michal Kovařčík (Jukurit Mikkeli/Fin.; 24/1), Dominik Kubalík (Ottawa; 85/34), Radan Lenc (HV 71/Swed.; 69/15), Ondřej Palát (New Jersey/NHL; 23/3 ), Matěj Stránský (Davos/Sweden; 67/10), David Tomášek (Färjestad/Sweden; 61/21).
Program:
Friday, May 10: 20:20 Czech Republic – Finland,
Saturday 11 May: 20:20 Czech Republic – Norway,
Monday 13 May: 20:20 Czech Republic – Switzerland,
Wednesday 15 May: 16:20 Czech Republic – Denmark,
Friday 17 May: 20:20 Czech Republic – Austria,
Saturday 18 May: 20:20 Czech Republic – Great Britain,
Tuesday, May 21: 16:20 Czech Republic – Canada.
Playoff dates:
Thursday 23 May – quarter finals,
Saturday 25 May – semi-finals,
Sunday, May 26 – final and 3rd place.
