WC: 2018 - Team Czech Republic

[Babula]

Czech team is a clearly underdog. bottom six. they have to upset, that is all.

 

[Czechboy]

Well you can look at it any way you want but your direct competition is Switzerland and Slovakia and you didn't win against those in regulation either. No reason to be delusional and see themselves as some great hockey power with this defense - and Jandac clearly is being objective about it. I would go as far as saying that before Pasta's and Krejci's arrival this Czech team was very close to Denmark.

Also seeing how Necas, Chytil and even Pettersson are doing it's just a further evidence WC was no place for Zadina.

Yes and we beat our direct competition... not sure where Denmark came in the conversation. Not in our pool and has absolutely zero history to back your statement up.

Also, I never said great hockey power. If you are going to quote things I say use the bold function and point them out. To my knowledge the czechs have never missed the quarters at the world's.

Necas is doing phenomenally well.

 

[SoundAndFury]

Martin Necas has been a pivotal point (and a gamechanger) in Czech Republic's offense vs. SVK and SUI, two strong opponents in the group, while Elias Pettersson did what? A yes, he scored a PPG vs. France in the 56.minute , when the game had already been decided! There goes your lopsided example.

You really give out this vibe of someone who just goes around disagreeing with things for the sake of it. Moravcik was pivotal and game changer in the game against Switzerland as well, what does it mean exactly? Necas has two points, both scored on man advantage - look at that, a really talented guy can score playing on PP. Who would have thought. Fact remains, all those guys, including Pettersson, really struggled 5 on 5 both offensively, and even more so defensively. As natural as it is you have to wonder what a guy straight from junior would do if year older guys who are very successful in men's leagues struggle.

Also what do you mean by "lopsided example" I don't get at all.

Why is Russia not considered to be their direct competition? Or even Sweden?

Because, realistically, they have way better players? And the arrival of the Bruins obviously changed things but since we are talking about the games played prior to that Jandac surely couldn't plan for them arriving at some particular moment, if at all.

 

[Babula]

Necas is a great talented young guy. hard worker I did say. why you guys think Cze team is not underdog anymore at this tourney ?

 

[SoundAndFury]

Yes and we beat our direct competition... not sure where Denmark came in the conversation. Not in our pool and has absolutely zero history to back your statement up.

Also, I never said great hockey power. If you are going to quote things I say use the bold function and point them out. To my knowledge the czechs have never missed the quarters at the world's.

Necas is doing phenomenally well.

You did beat direct competition by scoring with 10 seconds left to tie the game against Slovakia and by beating Switzerland in the shootout. Denmark came into the conversation when you said "we're not Latvia or Denmark" when in fact both the talent level and the situation in the standing was rather similar to Denmark's. Again, getting Pasta + Krejci changed things on that front. Also sure Denmark has no history as they are currently at the highest point of their hockey and the history is irrelevant.

And where did I say I was quoting you? There is always the first time you know.

I can't really follow your logic. You are acting so offended by me saying (before Pasta and Krejci arrived) you are the weaker team than Russia and Sweden. Are you saying you are the better team than Russia and Sweden then?

 

[Babula]

"We are not Latvia or Denmark" could mean : Cze team is better then Latvian. And Denmark is special one on his home tournament. I can not see bigger gap between Den and Cze team as hockey is a number one in Cze and nr.2 in Denmark...

 

[Czechboy]

You did beat direct competition by scoring with 10 seconds left to tie the game against Slovakia and by beating Switzerland in the shootout. Denmark came into the conversation when you said "we're not Latvia or Denmark" when in fact both the talent level and the situation in the standing was rather similar to Denmark's. Again, getting Pasta + Krejci changed things on that front. Also sure Denmark has no history as they are currently at the highest point of their hockey and the history is irrelevant.

And where did I say I was quoting you? There is always the first time you know.

I can't really follow your logic. You are acting so offended by me saying (before Pasta and Krejci arrived) you are the weaker team than Russia and Sweden. Are you saying you are the better team than Russia and Sweden then?

If I'm being honest, I assume that English isn't your first language and you mean to come across differently than you actually do. So I try to take your comments with a grain of salt. For instance, you tell me not to be dillusional? You say Russian players are 'way better'. If English is your first language, then you are clearly just trolling.

Having said that...

I never said we were a super power, that was you saying I said it. You say I'm acting 'so offended' when you say we are weaker than Sweden or Russia. I wasn't offended by that at all but I don't think I agree with your Latvia/Denmark comparison at all as I have a few decades of history behind that argument.

I mention that we beat Slovakia and Switzerland and you point out how we won.. it's still victories, right? You do get 60 minutes, an overtime and a shootout to determine a winner. If we won the Gold in Overtime would it somehow be less meaningful? We've won 3 and lost 1 after playing Slovakia, Switzerland, Russia and Sweden. If you told me before the tournament that is the case then I would've been thrilled with that. I think you are saying to prove dominance we should beat Slovakia and Switzerland by more goals than 1... but Sweden only beat us by 1 goal? We beat Russia by 1 goal?

 

[Mirinho]

We have 2 awesome goalies with excellent form but after 4 matches it's 60:40 for Rittich to start in QF imho.

 

[Czechboy]

We have 2 awesome goalies with excellent form but after 4 matches it's 60:40 for Rittich to start in QF imho.

I agree... Just not sure how much assessing we can do in next three games... I don't expect easy wins but I do expect us to have significantly more shots than our opponents.

 

[Jablkon]

Well you can look at it any way you want but your direct competition is Switzerland and Slovakia and you didn't win against those in regulation either. No reason to be delusional and see themselves as some great hockey power with this defense - and Jandac clearly is being objective about it. I would go as far as saying that before Pasta's and Krejci's arrival this Czech team was very close to Denmark.

Also seeing how Necas, Chytil and even Pettersson are doing it's just a further evidence WC was no place for Zadina.

I dont really agree here. We are always better as a team and Spacek is doing great job with Ds every year. We are sixth hockey nation, no doubt about it and its questionable whether we closing gap to 5th nation, but saying that Switzerland and Slovakia are our direct competitors doesnt imo follow potential of this team (with limits it has).

I have to say I was very confident against Swiss and Slovakia despite it was on the edge. But just because you see the power in this team.

But I agree we dont develope players. Still czechs have a lot of specifics and what looks like Denmark is, at least from my view, much stronger. But if outside view is like you said, they at least underestimate us. But sure Denmark looks good on paper.

I mean who would suppose Switzerland playing like they played against us? That was one of the best performance I saw from them in several years.

 

[SoundAndFury]

If I'm being honest, I assume that English isn't your first language and you mean to come across differently than you actually do. So I try to take your comments with a grain of salt. For instance, you tell me not to be dillusional? You say Russian players are 'way better'. If English is your first language, then you are clearly just trolling.

Having said that...

I never said we were a super power, that was you saying I said it. You say I'm acting 'so offended' when you say we are weaker than Sweden or Russia. I wasn't offended by that at all but I don't think I agree with your Latvia/Denmark comparison at all as I have a few decades of history behind that argument.

I mention that we beat Slovakia and Switzerland and you point out how we won.. it's still victories, right? You do get 60 minutes, an overtime and a shootout to determine a winner. If we won the Gold in Overtime would it somehow be less meaningful? We've won 3 and lost 1 after playing Slovakia, Switzerland, Russia and Sweden. If you told me before the tournament that is the case then I would've been thrilled with that. I think you are saying to prove dominance we should beat Slovakia and Switzerland by more goals than 1... but Sweden only beat us by 1 goal? We beat Russia by 1 goal?

I wasn't directing that "delusional" part at you, that's why I said "themselves" not "yourselves". Just speaking generally about Jandac/his staff/Czech hockey community in general.

What do people like Nielsen, Bjorkstrand, Andersen etc. have to do with a history few decades old? Before Krejci and Pasta arrived Denmark had more NHL games on their roster than Czechs did, for example.

The argument wasn't about meaningfulness but about having to give your best effort and start your best (presumably) goalie to beat them. The argument was that you said Jandac is giving Francouz easier starts while I said he is simply starting him in the games Czechs HAVE to win. And since those games were very close it's not like Czechs could have won them with anyone in the net.

I dont really agree here. We are always better as a team and Spacek is doing great job with Ds every year. We are sixth hockey nation, no doubt about it and its questionable whether we closing gap to 5th nation, but saying that Switzerland and Slovakia are our direct competitors doesnt imo follow potential of this team (with limits it has)

This wasn't supposed to be a debate about who is deeper/better at hockey in general, just talking about that specific situation. About having your best goalie to beat the teams that could potentially take your place in quarterfinals. Outside of that, I think we all understand Czechs are way ahead of Slovakia or Denmark. Switzerland is getting closer though, still not nearly there.

 

[Maluk11]

Francouz in net today. Lineup should be same, only change is we will play at 8 D (Krejčík), Chytil will be stratched.

 

[letsgrowcactus]

Well you can look at it any way you want but your direct competition is Switzerland and Slovakia and you didn't win against those in regulation either. No reason to be delusional and see themselves as some great hockey power with this defense - and Jandac clearly is being objective about it. I would go as far as saying that before Pasta's and Krejci's arrival this Czech team was very close to Denmark.

Also seeing how Necas, Chytil and even Pettersson are doing it's just a further evidence WC was no place for Zadina.

I'll give you Chytil and possibly Petterson (I haven't watched any Swedish game besides the one against Czechs), but I'm not sure what exactly is Necas supposed to be doing? 2 points in 3 games isn't bad; he was also on ice for all our four goals in the games against Switzerland and pretty much single-handedly saved the game against Slovakia. I'll agree he had a bad game against Russia but overall I'd say he's held his own.

If we're pointing fingers, what has Cervenka done? What has Faksa done? Cervenka is the captain, Faksa has played nearly three years in the NHL now. They both have a whooping one assist in four games. Meh.

 

[Czechboy]

I'll give you Chytil and possibly Petterson (I haven't watched any Swedish game besides the one against Czechs), but I'm not sure what exactly is Necas supposed to be doing? 2 points in 3 games isn't bad; he was also on ice for all our four goals in the games against Switzerland and pretty much single-handedly saved the game against Slovakia. I'll agree he had a bad game against Russia but overall I'd say he's held his own.

If we're pointing fingers, what has Cervenka done? What has Faksa done? Cervenka is the captain, Faksa has played nearly three years in the NHL now. They both have a whooping one assist in four games. Meh.

Cervenka looks good... just no points. Problem is that his game is revolves around getting points. Offensive player. Needed to do more.

Faksa is a world class 3c imo. He even got selke talk this year. I’m not sure he has that much offensive upside but he does everything really really well. He becomes really noticeable in a playoff game where he is shutting down top lines and creating some havoc. So I’m not surprised he doesn’t have more points but he is untouchable to me... such a valuable player and if we play Canada or us he will stand out as he is used to that style of game. Same with Plekanec.. not many points but doing a phenomenal job imo.

Necas did look overmatched against Russia... that is a big step from extraliga... he will learn from it and be better next time. One of our best forwards imo. Kubalik has impressed me as well.

 

[Czechboy]

I’m thinking 4-1 this afternoon... hoping we score first and get a comfortable lead... great game for some other guys to get some points.

 

[Voodoozz]

The yesterday's game was fun, defense sucked for both teams and our Bruins did the rest. It's always nice to beat the Soviets

As for Belarus ...
I want us to fu***ng destroy them, like in the good ol' days. Let's show them who's the boss here. They suck, we roll. 10-0

Well, realistically it's probably gonna be like 6-2 but let me dream.

 

[czechmate]

Despite the Bruins line carrying us throughout the next games, I hope the other lines can step up as well. It would be nice to see all of our 4 offensive lines exerting pressure on our opponents and playing at their potential. I wish if we could somehow limit our D's mistakes as we head into the last games before QF. Those next 3 games are the perfect opportunity to gain some chemistry & confidence, both in offense and especially in our defensive zone.

 

[SoundAndFury]

If we're pointing fingers, what has Cervenka done? What has Faksa done? Cervenka is the captain, Faksa has played nearly three years in the NHL now. They both have a whooping one assist in four games. Meh.

This was by no means pointing fingers, just broaching attention to the fact that it was way early for Zadina and he would have most likely struggled. Sure both Necas and Pettersson had their bright moments but it wasn't a smooth sailing for either. It's not like I'm arguing Necas shouldn't be on the team. Just saying that he is probably where Zadina will be in a year so would you have taken Necas to '17 WC even knowing how good he will be in '18?

 

[Czechboy]

The yesterday's game was fun, defense sucked for both teams and our Bruins did the rest. It's always nice to beat the Soviets

As for Belarus ...
I want us to fu***ng destroy them, like in the good ol' days. Let's show them who's the boss here. They suck, we roll. 10-0

Well, realistically it's probably gonna be like 6-2 but let me dream.

It'll be a 1 goal game and a shootout like all the other games.lol 10-0 would be great though, get some guys a lot of points, puts us 3rd in pool with a clean 3 point win. 6-2 sounds about right.. wonder if we'll allow the first goal again?

 

[Czechboy]

Despite the Bruins line carrying us throughout the next games, I hope the other lines can step up as well. It would be nice to see all of our 4 offensive lines exerting pressure on our opponents and playing at their potential. I wish if we could somehow limit our D's mistakes as we head into the last games before QF. Those next 3 games are the perfect opportunity to gain some chemistry & confidence, both in offense and especially in our defensive zone.

I love how hard our D works, and boy was I wrong about Sulak, but there are 'leaks' and it ends up with a lot of goal mouth scrambles and pucks being batted in... clearly, both the good and bad teams, just pressure us low and keep pushing us back. A lot of our goals against seem to have 5 Czechs and a goalie back and it still ends up in the net. It's not lack of effort but we just don't have that calm control of other nations D right now.

 

[Fvital92]

Well you can look at it any way you want but your direct competition is Switzerland and Slovakia and you didn't win against those in regulation either. No reason to be delusional and see themselves as some great hockey power with this defense - and Jandac clearly is being objective about it. I would go as far as saying that before Pasta's and Krejci's arrival this Czech team was very close to Denmark.

Also seeing how Necas, Chytil and even Pettersson are doing it's just a further evidence WC was no place for Zadina.

Chytil doesn't even get enough ice time to say that he is struggling, Petterson doesn't have a body to dominate at this level it seems and Necas has been a top 6 player, if you put aside Kreiji and Pasta, for the Czechs. Andersson also has been pretty good for Sweden in his 4th line role.

 

[Czechboy]

Chytil doesn't even get enough ice time to say that he is struggling, Petterson doesn't have a body to dominate at this level it seems and Necas has been a top 6 player, if you put aside Kreiji and Pasta, for the Czechs. Andersson also has been pretty good for Sweden in his 4th line role.

Petterson is a mute point to me... Sweden is deeper in talent, a gold medal contender and can win without him. Good for him for making team. Necas has been a thing of beauty for us... really enjoying watching him play in Top 6. Put another way... it took David Krejci and David Pastrnak to displace him, not bad at all.

 

[Rexor]

Petterson is a mute point to me... Sweden is deeper in talent, a gold medal contender and can win without him. Good for him for making team. Necas has been a thing of beauty for us... really enjoying watching him play in Top 6. Put another way... it took David Krejci and David Pastrnak to displace him, not bad at all.

It's not like Krejčí and Pastrňák have displaced Nečas. The problem is that coaches had moved Jaškin to them and Nečas had no chemistry with his new linemates against Russia. Let's see how it looks tonight. It would be really nice to fix this problem before the quarterfinals because despite his defensive issues and inconsistency, he's got the capability to make one or two plays that can decide a game for us. I don't think we can expect a lot of offense and creativity from the lines centered by Plekanec and Faksa, and the 3D line isn't going to score 4 goals in every game. Certainly not against Top6 opponents.

 

[Wooren]

Chytil doesn't even get enough ice time to say that he is struggling, Petterson doesn't have a body to dominate at this level it seems and Necas has been a top 6 player, if you put aside Kreiji and Pasta, for the Czechs. Andersson also has been pretty good for Sweden in his 4th line role.

Agree about Chytil. I would like to see him get swapped in for Hyka. All Hyka brings is speed and Chytil is capable of that as well. Can't see it happening though unfortunately.

Faksa needs to contribute more. So far, he has been an absolute no-show at the international level (even in juniors). He scored 17 goals this season while playing on the 3rd line with no PP. Good defensive play just won't cut it.

 

[Babula]

Faksa is a player which need every team. big, skilled, very good on face off. no worries in front of the net. I really like him ... faksa pastrnak could work fantastic if no Krejci (Jaskin)