WJC: 2018 Czech Republic Roster Talk

[Wooren]

Returning players:

Forwards
Kristian Reichel - 98
Daniel Kurovsky - 98
Martin Necas - 99

Defensemen
Vojtech Budik - 98
Frantisek Hrdinka - 98
Ondrej Vala - 98
David Kvasnicka - 99

Goalies
Jakub Skarek - 99

Players who look like could be in the running:

Forwards
Ondrej Najman - 98
Pavel Kousal - 98
Marek Zachar - 98
Albert Michnac - 98
Radovan Pavlik - 98
Petr Kodytek - 98
Tomas Havranek - 98
Adam Kubik - 98
Filip Helt - 98
Filip Zadina - 99
Martin Kaut - 99
Filip Chytil - 99
Jachym Kondelik - 99
Ostap Safin - 99
Jakub Lauko - 00

Defensemen
Libor Hajek - 98
Lukas Doudera - 98
Jakub Sirota - 98
Ondrej Kachyna - 98
Jakub Galvas - 99
Filip Kral - 99
Libor Zabransky - 00

Goalies
Adam Brizgala - 98
Josef Korenar - 98
Tomas Vomacka - 99
Jiri Patera - 99
Lukas Dostal - 00

My guess at the line-up (very early)
Zachar - Necas - Kaut
Michnac - Reichel - Zadina
Safin - Najman - Kurovsky
Chytil - Kondelik - Pavlik

Hajek - Budik
Kvasnicka - Hrdinka
Sirota - Vala

Skarek
Korenar

Certainly weaker on paper than in the last two years IMO. Offense will really stand on the 99s.

Click to read more...

 

[czechcanadian]

The goaltending(Skarek) and defense is pretty darn good. Should keep us competitive I think. Offense isn't fantastic but will be fun to watch. Lots of intriguing talent for the younger years.
We will go in with low expectations and the boys can only surprise.

 

[joey16]

Defense is OK, forwards are pretty weak but still there is some talent, goalies are good..
As a stats watcher I could see also Matej Blumel make the team.. sadly haven't seen him yet but he's putting up better numbers than Necas did last year..

 

[czechcanadian]

Defense is OK, forwards are pretty weak but still there is some talent, goalies are good..
As a stats watcher I could see also Matej Blumel make the team.. sadly haven't seen him yet but he's putting up better numbers than Necas did last year..

Yeah ive noticed him too... And we cant forget about Zdenek Sedlak whos playing in Finland..

 

[joey16]

Yeah ive noticed him too... And we cant forget about Zdenek Sedlak whos playing in Finland..

Didn't even know about this guy.. thank you for that.
He's looking veeery good, great size, great numbers so far, we'll see

OT: Maybe that home WJC 2020 won't be that bad with guys like Kvasnica, Blumel, Lauko, Gajarsky, Strondala, Sedlak, Zabransky, Malik, Dostal and some 01' guys like Teply, Raska, Koffer, Peterek, Cizek... looking forward how they're gonna progress

 

[Jablkon]

I have pretty personal question here Some of you guys closely follow czech juniors as it is somehow related to your job?

I am sometimes confused here because we ussually end up in QF despite so much hope here. I personally only watch at best some 18-19 tourneys but dont have any generall view of our players.

True what I saw in last Hlinka and A junior challenge looked promising. The gap didnt seem to be there but it always appeared somehow in U20.

 

[czechcanadian]

I have pretty personal question here Some of you guys closely follow czech juniors as it is somehow related to your job?

I am sometimes confused here because we ussually end up in QF despite so much hope here. I personally only watch at best some 18-19 tourneys but dont have any generall view of our players.

True what I saw in last Hlinka and A junior challenge looked promising. The gap didnt seem to be there but it always appeared somehow in U20.

I dont see a lot of them play, as I live in Canada. (But I am of czech decent). Hence the support. But most players I see in tournaments like Hlinka or World U17 challenge. The ones that play in the OHL, I do see more often.
And one of my good friends is a scout for the Montreal Canadiens. He's a Slovak and is mainly veiwing Czech and slovak players. So I get a general idea of who to look out for in the future. I have yet to ask him about the recent U-18 tournament in Zuchwil. That Czechs won. I will try and update everyone on his response of some players. Who stood out etc..
But in conclusion... Our optimism is not because we think they will do well. These recent teams should have been better. This is based on a multitude of things. Win a medal? Maybe not. But performance-wise, definitely.
Like I said before, and ill say it again. This team(sadly), was the best Czechs have iced in a long time. Is it the last good team they ice in a while? No way. There's some really good progress among the younger age groups. Even just based on stat watching, you can tell there is progress. Medal contending? maybe not. But they will be competitive. And thats all we can really hope for tbh.
Why the gap? I dont know if anyone has an answer for that. Its very odd to say the least.

 

[Jablkon]

I dont see a lot of them play, as I live in Canada. (But I am of czech decent). Hence the support. But most players I see in tournaments like Hlinka or World U17 challenge. The ones that play in the OHL, I do see more often.
And one of my good friends is a scout for the Montreal Canadiens. He's a Slovak and is mainly veiwing Czech and slovak players. So I get a general idea of who to look out for in the future. I have yet to ask him about the recent U-18 tournament in Zuchwil. That Czechs won. I will try and update everyone on his response of some players. Who stood out etc..
But in conclusion... Our optimism is not because we think they will do well. These recent teams should have been better. This is based on a multitude of things. Win a medal? Maybe not. But performance-wise, definitely.
Like I said before, and ill say it again. This team(sadly), was the best Czechs have iced in a long time. Is it the last good team they ice in a while? No way. There's some really good progress among the younger age groups. Even just based on stat watching, you can tell there is progress. Medal contending? maybe not. But they will be competitive. And thats all we can really hope for tbh.
Why the gap? I dont know if anyone has an answer for that. Its very odd to say the least.

Thanks for response. Good thing on this situation in czech hockey is that we still finding new issues to sort out. Imagine if Lener didnt say that our biggest problem are players leaving abroad early and mentioned keeping them home as a crucial thing. We would probably never realized how bad is our homeprogram otherwise. Its even hard to imagine that we could be so isolated here in a time of internet...

 

[Sipak4]

I am very curious about the coach. Pesan may be the best U20 coach since golden years. Petr was disappointing to me. He didn't give a real chance to Hajek and Budik. I hope in reasonable and fair nomination this year.

 

[Wooren]

I am very curious about the coach. Pesan may be the best U20 coach since golden years. Petr was disappointing to me. He didn't give a real chance to Hajek and Budik. I hope in reasonable and fair nomination this year.

Agree. Pesan is the definition of quality young modern coach. Looking forward to see what he can do. Overall I kinda feel for Pesan though, he didn't get the best material to prove himself (1998 birth year )

 

[Sipak4]

Reichel-Necas-Zadina
Zachar-Chytil-Michnac
Kurovsky-Kodytek-Safin
Kaut-Machala-Pavlik
-------------------------
Kousal-Najman-Svoboda
Havranek-Kondelik-Helt


Hajek-Doudera
Vala-Budik
Sirota-Kvasnicka
Hrdinka-Galvas
--------------------
Kachyna-Kral
Mikyska


Skarek
Korear
Brizgala

It doesn't look too weak. Defense and goalies are OK. Ofense may be better than we think. I believe in winning quaterfinal match. Again

 

[Goodman68]

Reichel-Necas-Zadina
Zachar-Chytil-Michnac
Kurovsky-Kodytek-Safin
Kaut-Machala-Pavlik
-------------------------
Kousal-Najman-Svoboda
Havranek-Kondelik-Helt


Hajek-Doudera
Vala-Budik
Sirota-Kvasnicka
Hrdinka-Galvas
--------------------
Kachyna-Kral
Mikyska


Skarek
Korear
Brizgala

It doesn't look too weak. Defense and goalies are OK. Ofense may be better than we think. I believe in winning quaterfinal match. Again

Offensive is weak. 98 does not have a single really top striker. Compared with the top, we will be clearly lagging behind.Doudera does not have that, we will have a good defense, but we will not be so successful. In fact, I see this team a lot weaker than in the past years.

 

[Wooren]

...
It doesn't look too weak. Defense and goalies are OK. Ofense may be better than we think. I believe in winning quaterfinal match. Again

Against Canada or home USA?
And that's assuming they even make the quaterfinals. Czechs were pretty close to relegation games the past three years.

BTW I am sure Kondelik and Kubik will power their way into the line-up, especially Kondelik, if nothing else he can be very effective 4th liner. Also think Lauko is a wild card right now. If he really is a 1st round talent, he should get some looks.

 

[czechcanadian]

This team is looking better now eh?

Chytil, Necas, and Zadina turning heads so far. Zabransky also showing a lot of promise in Kelowna.
I think Czechs could surprise a few this year. Our offence is looking much stronger then we originally thought.

 

[Wooren]

This team is looking better now eh?

Chytil, Necas, and Zadina turning heads so far. Zabransky also showing a lot of promise in Kelowna.
I think Czechs could surprise a few this year. Our offence is looking much stronger then we originally thought.

I agree the team is shaping up better than I would have thought a year ago it would, but this "dark horse" thinking was the same the past 3 or 4 seasons and every single year it was a complete disaster. No more high expectations from me. I just hope draft eligibles (Zadina, Skarek, Kaut etc.) have good tourney to boost their stock.

 

[czechcanadian]

I also don't have my hopes up anymore. But originally I didn't think there would be much excitement in this team.
If everyone is healthy we should be fun to watch at the very least.

 

[Wooren]

Two months away from the event, here's my take:

Michnac - Necas - Kaut
Zachar - Chytil - Zadina
Safin - Reichel - Kurovsky
Lauko - Kondelik - Kodytek
Chalupa/Pavlik/Havranek
(There's like no depth at all)

Hajek - Galvas
Kvasnicka - Budik
Kral - Vala
Hrdinka/Salda/Doudera
(I hope Salda continues to produce in the Q, would love to see him make the team. I really like him.)

Skarek
Korenar
Kloucek/Vomacka/Dostal

 

[czechcanadian]

Looks like a decent team. J would maybe switch Safin with Michnac but that's about it. Zadina would be good on the first line too. But I guess you have to spread out the talent a bit.
Also Adam Kubik could be good enough to make the team I think. Not sure how he's doing so far this year though.

 

[Wooren]

Head coach's answer on why no 2000 born players were invivted to the U20 Four Nations tournament -
Source (czech): Pešán po generálce: Sestavu v hlavě mám, ale spousta karet je otevřených | Hokej.cz - web českého hokeje

"There are players I considered taking. Specifically Jan Jenik and Jakub Lauko. Maybe I will take one of them to the WJC. On the other hand they are playing a quality tournement of their age category, so I wanted them to keep good relationship within that team before the U18 WJC. That's why I've left both of them in the U18 squad. It might happen and probably will that one of them goes to the U20 WJC."

Glad he's planning to take some 2000 born, him not nominating any to the recent U20 tournament didn't make me very hopeful about their chances. Lauko would look great in the bottom six, his speed is breakaway generator. Jenik is playing very well at the U18 tournament in Finland, he really does seem like this year's Chytil so far.

 

[czechcanadian]

Head coach's answer on why no 2000 born players were invivted to the U20 Four Nations tournament -
Source (czech): Pešán po generálce: Sestavu v hlavě mám, ale spousta karet je otevřených | Hokej.cz - web českého hokeje

"There are players I considered taking. Specifically Jan Jenik and Jakub Lauko. Maybe I will take one of them to the WJC. On the other hand they are playing a quality tournement of their age category, so I wanted them to keep good relationship within that team before the U18 WJC. That's why I've left both of them in the U18 squad. It might happen and probably will that one of them goes to the U20 WJC."

Glad he's planning to take some 2000 born, him not nominating any to the recent U20 tournament didn't make me very hopeful about their chances. Lauko would look great in the bottom six, his speed is breakaway generator. Jenik is playing very well at the U18 tournament in Finland, he really does seem like this year's Chytil so far.

Yeah I would like to see at least Lauko there. He's better than most of the 98 born guys anyways. So why not?
Also, Czechs don't have much to lose this year. Not really anyways... So playing some 2000's really sets us up better next year.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

What about Dostal? He could be a good pick as a 3rd goalie. Maybe Zabransky as one of the last defensemen?

 

[Wooren]

What about Dostal? He could be a good pick as a 3rd goalie. Maybe Zabransky as one of the last defensemen?

I agree with you on Dostal, but not on Zabransky. He isn't doing all that well in the WHL to be considered.

 

[Vogel]

Two months away from the event, here's my take:

Michnac - Necas - Kaut
Zachar - Chytil - Zadina
Safin - Reichel - Kurovsky
Lauko - Kondelik - Kodytek
Chalupa/Pavlik/Havranek
(There's like no depth at all)

Hajek - Galvas
Kvasnicka - Budik
Kral - Vala
Hrdinka/Salda/Doudera
(I hope Salda continues to produce in the Q, would love to see him make the team. I really like him.)

Skarek
Korenar
Kloucek/Vomacka/Dostal

I would like to see this roster (pretty much the same):

Michnac - Necas - Zadina
Zachar - Chytil - Kaut
Kurovsky - Reichel - Safin
Pavlik - Hrabik - Lauko
Havranek/Helt/Kodytek

Hajek - Vala
Kral - Budik
Hrdinka - Doudera
Galvas, Buchtela/Haman (there's no right-handed D)

Kloucek, Skarek, Korenar (Dostal as a 3rd goalie isn't a good idea)

 

[czechcanadian]

I would like to see this roster (pretty much the same):

Michnac - Necas - Zadina
Zachar - Chytil - Kaut
Kurovsky - Reichel - Safin
Pavlik - Hrabik - Lauko
Havranek/Helt/Kodytek

Hajek - Vala
Kral - Budik
Hrdinka - Doudera
Galvas, Buchtela/Haman (there's no right-handed D)

Kloucek, Skarek, Korenar (Dostal as a 3rd goalie isn't a good idea)

I think that's pretty darn close to what it will be.
I see Kvasnicka in the top 4 D instead of Budik.
Hajek-Vala
Kral-Kvasnicka
Budik-Doudera
Galvas

 

[Goodman68]

I think that's pretty darn close to what it will be.
I see Kvasnicka in the top 4 D instead of Budik.
Hajek-Vala
Kral-Kvasnicka
Budik-Doudera
Galvas

Galvas is definitely better than Doudera.
In team, I would rather see Šalda