On Thursday, after the arrival of striker David Kämpf from Toronto, the coach of the Czech national hockey team, Radim Rulík, will narrow down the current twenty-six-member nomination for the World Championship in Prague by one striker and will also announce the name of the captain and his assistants. He can include three goalkeepers and 22 outfield players on the roster for the tournament, but plans to leave at least two to three spots open for now.
Roman Červenka during the training of the national team in the O2 arena
| Photo: Courtesy of CPA
“If everything goes according to plan, David Kämpf will fly in on Thursday. He will immediately join training and we are counting on him for Friday’s match against Finland. At that moment we will have 23 players in the field, but we can only train with 22. Specifically, it will be with eight defenders and 14 forwards. Therefore, one forward will no longer train with us,” he said Belladonna.
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However, the eliminated player will be ready to return to the team if there is a change in the nomination due to injury or health complications. “I have already agreed with him that he will not go on vacation and that he will be ready if necessary. Because a situation may arise, such as at last year’s World Cup, when Radan Lenc was additionally called up due to injuries. You never know what the matches will bring, we will go to the limit of self-sacrifice and dedication. And that can bring injury,” Rulík pointed out.
In what composition did the Czechs train:
Dostál, Mrázek, Vejmelka – Gudas, Krejčík, Rutta, Kempný, Kundrátek, Hájek, D. Špaček, Ščotka – D. Kubalík, Tomášek, Palát – O. Kaše, L. Sedlák, Červenka – M. Stránský, M. Kovařčík, Voženílek – Flek, Kondelík, O. Beránek – Lenc, P. Kousal.
He will leave open spots on the roster. “At least two. If not three. But that will all be decided in the following days. We will leave room for what happens in the NHL. Whether it’s Carolina or Boston,” said Rulík. Forward Martin Nečas works in Carolina and gunner David Pastrňák works in Boston with other forwards Pavel Zacha and Jakub Lauk. In the 2nd round of the playoffs, Vancouver also plays with defender Filip Hronek. “From what I have heard, Filip Hronek is not doing well in terms of health. I don’t know. We’ll just find out.”
According to him, it will be best if Kämpf joins the match on Friday. “All of us in the implementation team, and those guys have experienced it several times, we think it’s best to fly in and play the match right away. It’s better than without the match,” said Rulík, who has former national team members and NHL players Tomáš Plekanec, Marek Židlický and as goalkeeper coach Ondřej Pavelec.
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He still had Rulík in Brno thirty-seven-member squad, which narrowed down by two players on Friday, now he only catches with the allowed twenty-five. “Now all the guys know what positions they are in. What we expect them to do, so they have peace of mind to communicate and work together in the interplay. It’s not just that it’s tried in training, but it’s also a matter of communication. I believe , that training from training and match from match everything will improve. Before that, the lineup was changing, so of course it wasn’t ideal, I know that now, when it’s decided, it’s definitely better ” added Rulík.
The Czechs will enter the tournament on Friday from 20:20 match with Finns.
