“During the first training sessions with the handyman, the difference was very noticeable. When a person is on the puck, he has one second more time to look around and decide who to pass to or whether to shoot. Once we get used to it, it will be an advantage,” he believes.
Zadina was a little surprised that the national team coaches called 37 hockey players to Brno. One cabin is not enough, the Czech national team also uses the locker room of the junior team in the Komety arena.
“I’ve never seen so many players at a meeting before. But the implementation team probably has its own reasons for this. All the more each of us will fight to fit into the final nomination. I always want to represent wherever the World Cup is. The fact that the championship is being held in Prague this year increases the motivation even more. Playing in front of Czech fans is extremely tempting,” he confided.
Photo: Václav Šálek, CTK
Filip Zadina at the training of the national team
Zadina remembers the previous world championship in Prague in 2015 as a spectator. “I was right in the hall at one game. I suspect that the Czechs played with Canada,” he remembers.
After returning from overseas, Zadina managed to attend the decisive seventh final of the domestic extra league, in which Pardubice, coached by his father Marek, lost to Třinac in extra time. But now he is excited about the Brno general before the world championship. The Czech Republic will enter the final tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour with a duel against Finland on Thursday.
“The Finns have a very strong team. We will have to put in an excellent performance to beat them. We will do our best for it,” Zadina vowed.
He is quite satisfied with the past season in the NHL. He considers the move from Detroit to San Jose a good move. “I stand by it. After all, the players with whom I fought for a place in the lineup in Detroit mostly ended up on the farm,” he explained.
Zadina is happy for the chance in San Jose. “I tried to squeeze as much as possible out of the time I got on the ice. I hope I succeeded. I believe that I have improved in terms of performance. I assess the season positively,” he says.
At the beginning of the season, he started alongside his Czech teammate Tomáš Hertl, who then left for the Vegas team. “I was a little sad about it. But Tomáš is in his prime, the time has come for him to try elsewhere and play for the cup,” Zadina thinks.
In theory, he could still meet Hertl in the national team at the World Cup. “But I believe that he has a long playoff in the NHL,” he wished his former teammate.
