The Czech hockey players will not defend their bronze at the World Cup, they lost to the USA 0:3 in the quarterfinals

Tampere (Finland) – The Czech hockey players lost 0:3 to the United States of America in the quarterfinals of the World Championship in Tampere and will not defend their medal position from last year, when they celebrated winning bronze at the same place. After Switzerland’s loss to Germany, they finish eighth, their worst ever finish. Striker Matt Coronato, defender Nick Perbix and gunner Cutter Gauthier took care of the winners’ goals, goalkeeper Casey DeSmith remained bulletproof.

The Americans remained the only undefeated team in the championship and on Saturday they will be fighting for the first promotion to the final since 1960, when the results of the Olympic tournament in Squaw Valley were counted in the World Cup. There, the USA team celebrated gold and the tournament went down in history as the Miracle on Ice.

Coach David Quinn’s team avenged last year’s defeat to the Czech team from Nokia Arena in the duel for third place, in which the Americans led 3:1 and lost 4:8. It was the first medal for the Czech team at a major event in ten years since winning bronze in 2012 at the championships in Stockholm and Helsinki.

In a cautious start, the game was played without chances on both sides. Vejmelka was checked from the blue line by Mackey. In the 6th minute, after combining with Sobotka and Červenka, Kubalík, the best scorer and the most productive player of the tournament, got to the puck, but he did not shoot DeSmith from the left circle. The Czechs did not let the opponent in front of the goal for a long time to finish, and the attempts of O’Connor and Coronata could not threaten Vejmelka.

When Samberg was expelled, the Americans defended themselves, the Czech team didn’t even have a chance and took the lead at 12:04. They were able to put the opponent under pressure for a longer period of time, and after Hutson’s shot, Coronato got the puck, who scored from a spin from the left circle on Jordan’s skate.

Then he didn’t get past Kempné for a better finish in front of the open O’Connor goal. Vejmelka also dealt with Alex Tuch’s shot and then covered the puck in front of the arriving Grimaldi.

The opening act was dominated by the Americans on shots on goal in a ratio of 11:2, but Jalonen’s selection entered the second part more actively. Smejkal checked DeSmith with a backhand, a moment later the same player headed wide from a corner kick and Zbořil had the best chance, who was alone between the circles, but could not beat the Pittsburgh goalkeeper.

Vejmelka covered Brown’s attempt, while DeSmith was checked by Zboril and Špaček. Then the Czech team had a great chance, but Fleko’s pass to Beránek was not accurate. In the 29th minute, the Americans rejoiced again. Perbix hit the top corner of Vejmelk’s goal with a wrist shot from the right guard.

The Czech team resisted in a weakened state at the penalty of Kempné, who could have escaped after returning to the ice, but Perunovich caught the puck. Vejmelka managed a series of shots, including Alex Tuch’s attempt from the right circle. In the 39th minute, Špaček first offered the puck to Tomášek for a finish, and then crashed himself on DeSmith’s left concrete during the finish. Before the second intermission, the Americans again increased their scoring advantage in the game, but the score did not change.

In the final part, coach Jalonen mixed up the formation of three attacks and Radim Zohorna moved into the first formation alongside Kubalík and Červenka. Červenka immediately broke into a chance, but DeSmith made the save. With Farrell’s expulsion, however, the Americans did not let the Czech team have an opportunity again. Quinn’s team threatened with shots from Mazur and Coronata.

In the 50th minute, the opponent secured the lead. Tynan in the right circle won the throw-in for Gauthier, who with his seventh hit of the tournament came within a goal of top scorer Kubalík. Jalonen already reached for a power play three and a half minutes before the end, but his team could not make a breakthrough.

Post-match votes:

Kari Jalonen (coach of the Czech Republic): “It’s disappointing for all of us. Today’s game and the fact that we can’t fight for medals. In the last three games, that is, against Switzerland, Canada and now America. We performed poorly offensively. No goal today. This was one of the things . they went through the whole training camp. And I want to thank them. For the tournament and for the whole year. It’s not worth talking about if I missed someone or not. We had this team here. Maybe we were a little unlucky to lose The farmer with Chytil.”

Roman Cervenka (captain of the Czech Republic): “It wasn’t enough. You can’t advance anywhere without a goal, we know that. Otherwise, I don’t know, it’s stupidly evaluated so quickly now. We needed to get some energy somewhere, the atmosphere wasn’t there. We needed to score a goal that might untie our hands a little and helped my legs. It didn’t happen, that’s why it turned out the way it did. The opponent scores goals that we don’t score, which knocks us down a lot. We were ready for America to fly into it. It’s a young team, very skating. We didn’t even help ourselves with one quick pass , to get out of the zone. On the contrary, they locked us in there. I don’t even know if they had any open chances, but they had the puck on their stick for the whole third. Then it’s a shame about the goal. But it was so deserved.”

Dominik Kubalik (forward of the Czech Republic): “It’s a big disappointment. But you can’t win without a goal. That’s the first thing that comes to my mind. 0-3 is just wrong. No directness, very few shots, bad activity. It’s hard to comment now because the feelings are mixed. You end suddenly. I believed that today would be a match that could work out for us and we’ll get away from it and move on. Unfortunately. Their movement was big. We counted on it, but we couldn’t deal with it. I what concerns speed, thought and getting the puck off the stick. Speed ​​is not only about skating, but how many times they took it on the plexiglass and two fighters flew at it. We did it twice and I had a chance and then Červus (Roman Červenka) . We can’t help it, we want to find something further. When the backs have it, the attackers don’t help them. And then the other way around, and then it’s difficult. I’m sorry.”

Michael Jordan (defender of the Czech Republic): “What we thought didn’t work out somehow. The Americans were deservedly better in the first period and if you don’t score a goal, it’s hard to think about winning. In the first period we were passive, in the second it got a little better, but unfortunately we didn’t build on it in the third . They took advantage of the chances they had. If you don’t score, it’s tough. We thought we’d try to turn the puck up quickly, not pull it back. That got better in the second period, but we got a goal there as well. The coaches tried to switch the lines to the third, but it didn’t lead to anything. We managed the group well, even though we lost the last two games. But we knew what we had to improve on. The injuries didn’t help us, but we don’t want to make excuses. We tried to play for the guys who injured and couldn’t be here with us until the end.”

USA Hockey Quarterfinals