HOCKEY: Czech Republic – Switzerland 1:2. The national team failed at the home event before the WC

The Czech hockey players lost 1:2 to the Swiss in the general round at the home world championship, which will begin on Friday in Prague and Ostrava. At the Czech Games in Brno (Betano Hockey Games), coach Radim Rulík’s team finished last without a point with a total score of 2:8, and took third place in the Euro Hockey Tour series.

The Swiss, who had just two points from the previous 11 games of the EHT season, went for their first victory in the first period, winning 2-0 after goals from Dario Simion and Calvin Thürkauf. Goalkeeper Leonardo Genoni kept a clean sheet until 56:43, when defender Jakub Krejčík cut down.

At approximately 9 p.m., a press conference will begin in Brno, at which coach Rulík will announce the final selection of players for the championship, in which 25 hockey players can participate. The Czechs will start the tournament on Friday with a duel against the Finns at 20:20.

The Czechs started in blue retro jerseys without advertisements and started actively. But Krejčík’s throw was covered by Genoni. Immediately, Senteler did not take advantage of the two-to-one renumbering. At the end of the fourth minute, Mašín committed a foul. In the power play, Baragano fired dangerously, Dostál caught him. Weakened, Kaše and Palát ran away, but even Genoni was attentive.

In the ninth minute, however, the Swiss took the lead: Herzog redirected the puck with his skates to Simion, who easily knocked the puck behind Dostál’s back from close range. In the middle of the third, Červenka was close to equalizing. First, he fired dangerously from the circle, got to the stop, but only hit the goal structure with his backhand. Thürkauf was more successful shortly before the break, as he also hooked a backhand under the crossbar from close range.

The second period offered continued destruction of the national team. Kubalík did not succeed right from the start, after a while the first numerical advantage of the Czechs followed, in which Tomášek finished, but Genoni did not let himself be surprised.

In the 27th minute, the Czechs repeated the power play, but with the same result. They then defended themselves after Ščotka’s foul, before the second break Geisser could have increased the difference in the score, but Dostál was against it.

In the 43rd minute, Künzle committed a foul against the rules and the Czechs played a successful power play, but Špaček, Kaše and even Červenka could not unlock the Swiss goal. Already during the game at full strength, Kaše sent another dangerous attempt at Genoni, but he did not erase the zero on the Czech account.

Another complication for the home team was Špaček’s “header” towards Scherwey, for which he received a 2+2 minute penalty. Kurashev shot into the side net on the power play, on the other side he was unable to finish off Červenka’s two-on-one renumbering after a counterattack and Sedlák’s offer.

When Siegenthaler was sent off in the 55th minute, after a beautiful interplay, he fired from the center of Kaš, but did not shoot Genoni. In the 57th minute, however, Krejčík succeeded with a shot from the blue line and gave hope. A minute and a half before the end, Dostál left the goal.

Fora shot down Sedlák at 59:24 and received a penalty for five minutes and until the end of the game, but the Czechs did not use the short power play and remained in Brno without a point gain.

Finland dominated the Czech hockey games

Finland won the Czech hockey games after five years, defeating the winners of the entire Euro Hockey Tour series, Sweden, 4:3 after separate raids, in a direct fight for the tournament championship. The winning goal was scored by 17-year-old forward Konsta Helenius, who joined coach Jukka Jalonen’s team during the tournament.

Table Betano Hockey Games

1. Finland 3 2 1 0 0 11:5 8 2. Sweden 3 2 0 1 0 7:5 7 3. Switzerland 3 1 0 0 2 4:6 3 4. Czechia 3 0 0 0 3 2:8 0

Euro Hockey Tour table

1. Sweden 12 9 0 1 2 39:27 28 2. Finland 12 6 2 0 4 37:29 22 3. Czechia 12 5 1 0 6 31:32 17 4. Switzerland 12 1 0 2 9 9:40 p.m 5