Olympics: Czech Olympic Team 2022

[Czechboy]

Well fellow fans, what do we think we'll send?

I, to no ones shock, think only NHL players should go and David Krejci being the lone non NHLer to go.

My fear is we'll take 2 NHL goalies and a 3rd Euro one and the Euro one will get the important start.
My fear is we'll take some good soldiers from Euro leagues in favor of NHL players.

Assuming Hertl and Krejci are in form and healthy, there is my 1-2 for C.
There is a lot of good 3/4 C guys like Nosek, Zacha, Faksa, Necas, Chytil and Kampf.

I would take more C's and use them as wingers.

Absolute locks for me are Hronek, Pastrnak, Krejci, Hertl, Necas, Voracek, Palat, Vrana and Kubalik.

D I'm hoping is Zboril, Hronek, Hajek, Rutta, Gudas, Kempny and Simek.

Goalies are tricky as I think we'll have more of them in the NHL this season playing regularly... only official starter is Mrazek for the Leafs. Francouz will be back. Korenar and Vladar should be regular backups. Vanecek should be a regular as well. Rittich will be a backup.

Hoping a young guy makes it after a nice start to season.. someone like Jenik, Lauko or Kaut.

C - Krejci, Hertl, Nosek, Faksa
W - Zadina, Chytil, Voracek, Palat, Pastrnak, Vrana, Kubalik, Necas
D - Zboril, Hronek, Hajek, Rutta, Gudas, Kempny, Simek
G - Mrazek, Francouz, Rittich

Click to read more...

 

[Swipes]

@Czechboy thanks for starting the thread man. Agreed that we should take mainly NHLers, especially given that it will be played on NHL ice.

Necas and Chytil can play wing with Zacha as 3C and Nosek as 4C.

Wing looks good, C ok, D not great and goalies I can't say as they are very variable these days.

Who's going to be the notable omission? There's always one...

1st line can be Kubalik/Vrana Krejci Pasta or maybe Hertl instead of Krejci.

We have a lot of shooting wingers and not many playmaking ones.

 

[Swipes]

Kubalik Krejci Pasta
Palat Hertl Voracek
Vrana Zacha Necas
Chytil Nosek Zadina

 

[SportsFan94]

Forwards:
Palat-Krejci-Pastrnak
Kubalik-Hertl-Voracek
Vrana-Zacha-Necas
Nosek-Faksa-Jaskin
Kampf

Defense:
Zboril-Hronek
Simek-Gudas
Jerabek-Rutta
Kempny

Goalies:
Mrazek
Francouz
Vanecek

Taxi squad 5:
Chytil, Zadina, Hajek, Jordan, Rittich.

 

[Czechboy]

Kubalik Krejci Pasta
Palat Hertl Voracek
Vrana Zacha Necas
Chytil Nosek Zadina

That bottom 6 is beautiful.

I left zacha out because there is always some controversy. He would be great for us though. Great on PK too.

Your third line would be a first line for us at the world's... I could see that line causing noise. 2very fast skaters too!

 

[Czechboy]

@Czechboy thanks for starting the thread man. Agreed that we should take mainly NHLers, especially given that it will be played on NHL ice.

If I had to guess... I'd say zacha will be big omission.

They will try to make room for kovar probably. Maybe a D from Europe as well. I assume Hajek would be first to go but I think the coach loves him.

Necas and Chytil can play wing with Zacha as 3C and Nosek as 4C.

Wing looks good, C ok, D not great and goalies I can't say as they are very variable these days.

Who's going to be the notable omission? There's always one...

1st line can be Kubalik/Vrana Krejci Pasta or maybe Hertl instead of Krejci.

We have a lot of shooting wingers and not many playmaking ones.

 

[Czechboy]

Forwards:
Palat-Krejci-Pastrnak
Kubalik-Hertl-Voracek
Vrana-Zacha-Necas
Nosek-Kampf-Jaskin
Zadina

Defense:
Zboril-Hronek
Simek-Gudas
Jerabek-Rutta
Kempny

Goalies:
Mrazek
Francouz
Vanecek

Taxi squad 5:
Chytil, Kase, Hajek, Jordan, Rittich.

I totally forgot about Jaskin! He brings a different element and has always fought hard for Czechs. Hopefully good start to season in Arizona!

 

[Swipes]

That bottom 6 is beautiful.

I left zacha out because there is always some controversy. He would be great for us though. Great on PK too.

Your third line would be a first line for us at the world's... I could see that line causing noise. 2very fast skaters too!

Yes our forwards look pretty good these days. And young too (unlike the past!)

You're right about Zacha. He's a bit of an unknown.

I wish I was as confident in the defense though, although it's better than last Olympics.

 

[Czechboy]

I've seen a lot of video of kempny in off-season... him returning to form would be absolutely huge for us.

I'm worried he will be like Sekera post injury .. eg. Sekera was awesome before his series of injuries. My fav Oiler. Then he came back a different player.

 

[Czechboy]

Yes our forwards look pretty good these days. And young too (unlike the past!)

You're right about Zacha. He's a bit of an unknown.

I wish I was as confident in the defense though, although it's better than last Olympics.

Definitely our D has been a problem for awhile now... zero question. It's frustrating to say the least.

Hronek is a step above all of them.

Rutta and Gudas are getting into their 30's.

Hajek and Zboril are still establishing themselves.

Kempny is dealing with some awful injuries and will be hard pressed to get back into good form.

Simek is solid but not a Top 4 guy at a best on best Olympics.

Next generation of D isn't great but has some promise... Kral, Svozil, Jiricek, Hamara, Has and Krutil might all eke out NHL careers. I could see Jiricek being our best D by the next Olympics personally... he seems a notch above.

 

[Swipes]

Definitely our D has been a problem for awhile now... zero question. It's frustrating to say the least.

Hronek is a step above all of them.

Rutta and Gudas are getting into their 30's.

Hajek and Zboril are still establishing themselves.

Kempny is dealing with some awful injuries and will be hard pressed to get back into good form.

Simek is solid but not a Top 4 guy at a best on best Olympics.

Next generation of D isn't great but has some promise... Kral, Svozil, Jiricek, Hamara, Has and Krutil might all eke out NHL careers. I could see Jiricek being our best D by the next Olympics personally... he seems a notch above.

Yes, I was thinking about Jiricek. I guess he'll be too young to take to these Olympics, although I do like him a lot and agree he's a notch above the rest.

 

[Hiukafen]

I don’t know why people keep talking about Big 5 and excluding Czech.

Seems quite strong team. Not same way as 20 years ago but still.

 

[Eye of Ra]

I don’t know why people keep talking about Big 5 and excluding Czech.

Seems quite strong team. Not same way as 20 years ago but still.

becuse of the d

 

[Czechboy]

I don’t know why people keep talking about Big 5 and excluding Czech.

Seems quite strong team. Not same way as 20 years ago but still.

I personally call it a big 5. I think it is fair.

The problem with us is that we have this all NHL roster with some shiny pieces (eg. Pastrnak).

No one after us (Swiss, Slovaks, Danish, Germans, China or Latvia) have an all NHL roster (assuming we bring all NHLers) so we look more like a big 5. But our roster doesn't compare to a big 5. We are this truly unique 6th ranked nation.

Even the draft this year.. we had about 8 guys taken and that was more than Germany, Swiss and Slovakia combined to my knowledge. That's great but nowhere near how many Canadian's/US/Finns/Swedes/Russians were drafted.

I think we may have more NHL players than the other 5 nations combined. Yet, if Denmark beats us I wouldn't even consider it a shock and am expecting a close game. I'd say our match against the Swiss is 50-50 as they have some great pieces (and a Josi!).

Even our goalies are funny.. we have 6 NHL goalies (Korenar should be a backup, Vladar should be a backup, Vanecek should split starts, Mrazek is a starter, Rittich is a backup and Francouz might be splitting or is a backup) next season but don't have a Vezina threat. It's a strange time to be a Czech fan as things seem to be getting better but there isn't enough coming from drafts to give us a bump. We need another strong generation to kick in for us. Another bump. Last one was Chytil, Necas, Zacha and Hajek.

Having said that... I will cheer to the end and cannot wait to see this team. Sadly, it will have more stanley cup champions then guys that have ever won gold wearing a Czech Jersey.

 

[Czechboy]

becuse of the d

Hard to argue!

I'm sure you know, our World Junior team might have an outstanding D but our forwards are weak.

When I see who the Swedes are leaving out.. I think the 'next 6 Swede D' would be better than our top 6 Czech D. Send some over!

 

[Czechboy]

Yes, I was thinking about Jiricek. I guess he'll be too young to take to these Olympics, although I do like him a lot and agree he's a notch above the rest.

Hajek signed a 2 way contract.. think he's in the AHL this season. Not good for us. If there is a taxi squad... I'd put one of our young guns on it.

 

[Swipes]

Hajek signed a 2 way contract.. think he's in the AHL this season. Not good for us. If there is a taxi squad... I'd put one of our young guns on it.

Yeah why not, I suspect we'll have a very young D-man simply because we don't have any other choice.

 

[Goodman68]

In my opinion, the locks are Pasta, Hertl, Palát, Nečas, Voráček, Krejčí and Hronek.
Personally, I hope in Zacha, however, more like a wing, apparently he didn't succeed in the center, on the contrary, he was good . I also think that Kubalík should be there 100%. I'm not at all sure about Vrána, he's too one-dimensional type of player.
Nedvěd has already said that there will also be players from Europe. Well, I have no idea who he wants to take there, except for Krejčí, especially for the attack. The defense is weak and, for example, the new contract for Hájek demonstrates how we are doing. And Hájek considers himself a serious candidate for nomination.

 

[Urbanskog]

It's not necessarily a wise approach to place so much value on simply the player having an NHL contract, especially when it comes to defense where the NHL options are so limited. I'm not convinced that someone like Simek, Kempny or Hajek are better than the best Euro-based options that the Czech Republic has.

 

[jcs0218]

I think Jaromir Jagr has 1 more Olympic Games left in his tank!

 

[TheGoldenJet]

I think Jaromir Jagr has 1 more Olympic Games left in his tank!

 

[Czechboy]

It's not necessarily a wise approach to place so much value on simply the player having an NHL contract, especially when it comes to defense where the NHL options are so limited. I'm not convinced that someone like Simek, Kempny or Hajek are better than the best Euro-based options that the Czech Republic has.

Such as?

 

[Czechboy]

I think Jaromir Jagr has 1 more Olympic Games left in his tank!

Him and Plekanec!

 

[jcs0218]

Him and Plekanec!

Petr Nedved - Tomas Plekanec - Jaromir Jagr

That should be the 1st line.

 

[Czechboy]

Petr Nedved - Tomas Plekanec - Jaromir Jagr

That should be the 1st line.

Nedved will be there... so is spacek and Straka. I'm fine if they bring their gear!