The hockey national team under the leadership of coach Radim Rulík is now waiting for the last two preparatory games before the start of the home world championship. The national team will face Sweden, the overall winner of this year’s Euro Hockey Tour program, in the Betano Hockey Games duel in Brno on Saturday. Against Tre Kronor, the Czechs will try to make up for Thursday’s defeat to Finland, and at the same time, it will be another key match considering the final nomination for the world championship in Prague and Ostrava.
Czech forward and reinforcement from overseas NHL Ondřej Palát is looking forward to the penultimate match of the national team before the domestic championship.
| Photo: ČTK / Václav Šálek
In the cabin of the national team it tightens. Only two duels remain before the announcement of the final nomination, with which the Czech hockey players will enter the domestic championship next Friday. The attackers Filip Zadina and Petr Kodytek were already out of the game earlyfurther changes may occur even after Saturday’s battle with the Swedes.
One way or another, coach Rulík’s men definitely have a lot to fix after Thursday’s failure against the Finns. “We have to be much more dangerous in the slot and in the area in front of the goal. We need to work on that, we see a lot of room for improvement there, so far it’s not quite up to our expectations,” revealed the pilot of the Czech ship.
Difficult start for Dostál, Gudas showed emphasis and shot. Kubalík lacks well-being
He also believes that reinforcements from overseas will be more effective at the end of the training. “Some guys played a tight game after a long time. We have to give them room to adapt to get up to game pace. Their performances will definitely go up,” noted Rulík.
The tough fight for the nomination is at its peak
The packed squad of the national team has a total of 35 names in the attacking ranks after Friday’s cut. Applicants for a rare invitation now have two last chances to convince the coaching staff in the matches that they should not be missing from the nomination for the domestic championship. 25 hockey players can participate in the tournament, which the Czechs will start on May 10 against the Finns.
Rulík changes the lineup compared to the duel with Finland. Petr Mrázek from Chicago will be in goal. Karel Vejmelka from Arizona will cover his back, and Lukáš Dostál from Anaheim, who caught Thursday’s opening duel with Finland, will remain in the stands.
Of the NHL players, only Dostál’s clubmate Radko Gudas and forward Jakub Vrána from St. Louis. Defender Jan Rutta from San Jose and forwards Tomáš Nosek with Ondřej Palát from New Jersey, Dominik Kubalík from Ottawa and Radim Zohorna from Pittsburgh will be resting.
Compared to Thursday, in addition to Mrázek and Vrány, Pardubice defenders Libor Hájek and Jan Košťálek, as well as Tomáš Kundrátek from the championship team Třinec, Jan Ščotka from Kometa Brno and forwards Roman Červenka, Ondřej Kaše, Filip Chlapík, Pavel Kousal, Radan Lenc, Michael Špaček and David Tomášek.
The other two finalists of the extra league – strikers Daniel Voženílek from Třinec and Lukáš Sedlák from Pardubice – will not play, just like in the first game. Running backs Dominik Mašín, Jakub Krejčík and David Špaček and forwards Jakub Flek and Ondřej Kovařčík will also remain outside the lineup.
Sample bodysuit and furry “sweater”. Naked Gudas amused, made even Voráček laugh
“Our intention is to focus on our game. There will be a slightly changed line-up and we must of course continue to make decisions towards the final nomination. The goal of today’s match is for us to further examine players who may still have a question mark,” assistant Jiří Kalous pointed out the ongoing battle for places at the World Cup in Prague.
The national team played against Sweden three times in the season. While Rulík’s selection won 5:2 at Karjale, he lost 3:5 at the Swiss Games and did not succeed even last time at the Swedish Games (1:4). A year ago, the Czechs celebrated a hard-fought victory 4:3 at the home tournament in Brno.
The Tre Kronor team with Sam Hallam as the head coach already has thirteen reinforcements from the NHL. The Swedes moved to Brno from Kloten, where they beat the home team of the Swiss 2:1 on Thursday. The win secured them an overall triumph in the EHT series, as the Finns in second place and the Czech Republic in third place already have seven points to their credit.
“The Swedes have a great team and always have. It doesn’t matter if they have players from the NHL or from Europe. I think they always have a quality team and it will certainly not be easy. We have to prepare for it and it will be good,” said forward Tomáš Nosek, one of the reinforcements from the overseas NHL.
The second appearance of the national team at the tournament in Brno starts on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Tags: chance repair fight nomination Prague continues youngster challenge loaded Swedes
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