In the nomination of hockey players for the EHT in Brno, there are ten reinforcements from the NHL

Prague – In the nomination of domestic hockey players for the Czech Games in Brno, there are ten reinforcements from the NHL. In the selection of coach Radim Rulík for the warm-up before the World Cup in Prague, goalkeepers Petr Mrázek from Chicago, Karel Vejmelka from Arizona, Lukáš Dostál with defender Radek Gudas from Anaheim, another back Jan Rutta with striker Filip Zadina from San Jose and other forwards Ondřej Palát with Tomáš Nosk from New Jersey, Dominik Kubalík from Ottawa and Radi Zohorna from Pittsburgh. Rulík announced this at a press conference in Prague.

Goalkeepers Dominik Frodl, Lukáš Klimeš and Jakub Málek, defenders Andrej Šustr, Filip Pyrochta and Jakub Galvas and forwards Tomáš Filippi, Jakub Rychlovský and Matyáš Kantner are not continuing their preparations for the home WC. Even before the duels with Slovakia last week, fullback Petr Zámorský retired due to injury.

“Yesterday we decided. The decision was not entirely easy, because we have played six preparatory games and we have won them all. It is always harder to cut someone after winning games than if they lost,” said Rulík.

“It can always be debated, some will like it more, others less. Everyone performed well, but we have a hugely difficult event ahead of us. The quality of the players is decisive and there have been enough training sessions and matches to show themselves properly. We believe that now there is a little more quality left for the camp. We will narrow it down, logically, that also means that we are eliminating some players,” Rulík added.

There are currently 32 hockey players in the squad – three goalkeepers, nine defenders and twenty forwards. “There are so many because so many players are fighting for the championship,” said the veteran coach. Rulík will also address the candidates from the final series of the extra league between Třinec and Pardubice, which ended on Sunday evening.

“We all know that the finals only ended late last night. Today and tomorrow we are taking the time to contact the players we have selected to see if they are okay, to possibly fill us in. We just don’t know the timeline yet, whether from Wednesday, possibly Thursday. It will be based on an agreement with individual players, then we would publish their nominations. We are considering five or six names, we will see according to their status,” Rulík explained.

The Czechs will enter the final tournament of the Euro Hockey Tour, which will be played under the name Betano Hockey Games, on Thursday against Finland from 18:00. At the weekend, they have matches from 16:00: on Saturday against Sweden and on Sunday against Switzerland. Rulík’s selection will meet in the Winning Group Arena on Tuesday.

All the players from today’s nomination will be available to him from the start. “Everyone is already here (in the Czech Republic),” added Rulík. And he already has an idea of their workload. “The guys from overseas will play at least two matches. For those players we already know from the camp, it may happen that they will only play one. But everyone will start. We traditionally publish information about the deployment of goalkeepers before the match,” said Rulík.

Nominations of Czech hockey players and the program of the Czech Games

(Betano Hockey Games) in Brno (May 2-5):

Goalkeepers: Lukáš Dostál (Anaheim/NHL; 1 match), Petr Mrázek (Chicago/NHL; 11), Karel Vejmelka (Arizona/NHL; 16),

defenders: Michal Kempný (83 matches/10 goals), Jakub Krejčík (both Sparta Prague; 115/5), Jan Ščotka (Kometa Brno; 46/1), Jiří Ticháček (Kladno; 7/0), Radko Gudas (Anaheim/NHL; 34/3), Dominik Mašín (Ilves Tampere/Fin.; 22/0), Jan Rutta (San Jose/NHL; 41/5), David Špaček (Iowa Wild/AHL; 2/1), Libor Zábranský (Ässät Pori /Fin.; 25/1),

attackers: Filip Chlapík (32/6), Pavel Kousal (both Sparta Prague; 19/2), Michal Kovařčík (22/1), Ondřej Kovařčík (both Jukurit Mikkeli/Fin.; 12/1), Tomáš Nosek (11/3) , Ondřej Palát (both New Jersey/NHL; 21/3), Ondřej Beránek (Karlovy Vary; 53/7), Ondřej Kaše (Litvínov; 2/0), Jáchym Kondelík (České Budějovice; 4/0), Jakub Flek ( Kometa Brno; 79/19), Roman Červenka (Rapperswil-Jona/Switzerland; 196/54), Petr Kodýtek (Ilves Tampere/Fin.; 36/6), Dominik Kubalík (Ottawa; 83/34), Radan Lenc ( HV 71/Swedish; 67/15), Matěj Stránský (Davos/Swedish; 65/10), Michael Špaček (Ambri-Piotta/Swedish; 65/10), David Tomášek (Färjestad/Swedish; 59/21 ), Jakub Vrána (St. Louis/NHL, Spingfield/AHL; 31/10), Filip Zadina (San Jose/NHL; 15/6), Radim Zohorna (Pittsburgh/NHL; Wilkes-Barre/Scranton/AHL; 19/ 0).