GDT: 2018 WJC • Game 13 • Group B: CZE (6) - BLR (5) F

  • HFBoards is well aware that today is election day in the US. We ask respectfully to focus on hockey and not politics.

Canada4Gold

Registered User
Dec 22, 2010
43,045
9,231
I'll say this about Belarus; they're a LOT better than I thought they'd be. I think they are going to handle Denmark in the relegation round and stay up for next year.

I thought they would be pretty useless initially, but that was more of a random guess based on how bad they were last time 2 years ago. Then I saw their roster and realized they had some good players and could surprise some people.

That being said I still believe group A is much stronger. Denmark isn't going to look good against USA or Finland. That being said Belarus looked better against Sweden than Denmark has so far. But Denmark in exhibition played Russia really close without their best players(Rondberg, Krag, Blichfeld), and beat the Swiss, better than Belarus has done in the real tournament. I'd really like to see Denmark against Slovakia before I made a judgement on who I think is better between Denmark and Belarus. It still could be Slovakia in the relegation round yet.
 

Canada4Gold

Registered User
Dec 22, 2010
43,045
9,231
If Belarus ties this up they still need to pull their goalie in the tied game, they can't afford to go to OT so they need 2 goals in 3 and a half minutes
 

Woodhouse

Registered User
Dec 20, 2007
15,545
1,830
New York, NY
If Belarus ties this up they still need to pull their goalie in the tied game, they can't afford to go to OT so they need 2 goals in 3 and a half minutes
Fun game. I would've pulled the goalie for that very reason at that 2:34 o-zone faceoff. Never got him out instead.
 

Wooren

no longer perennial 4th place losers
May 17, 2015
2,445
1,491
Prague
5 goals by Belarus says it all lol. Awful defense, PK and on top of that swiss-cheese goalies.
 

czechcanadian

Registered User
Dec 8, 2011
1,954
1,011
Ottawa
5 goals by Belarus says it all lol. Awful defense, PK and on top of that swiss-cheese goalies.
Wow I'm glad I couldn't watch that game. I would have lost my voice.
At least they won though. Facing a lot of adversity is good in the long run. Hopefully they've learnt their lesson and beat Switzerland. Skarek should start and the PK has to be worked on I guess.. that's a lot of PP goals for Belarus
 

BigBadBoar

Registered User
Dec 20, 2017
1,476
1,363
Pardubice
What a terrible game by the Czechs. Unfocused, undisciplined, inconsistent. A lot of frustration and stupid penalties, lack of concentration. They should definitely focus on hockey instead of moronic display of their frustration, which was only caused by their underestimation of the Belarussian team. I expected this a little bit, because I know Czech hockey and this is sort of a Czech syndrome. Czech team(s) have played many games like this during the recent years. The win is the only positive outcome from this one, otherwise, this was painful to watch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wooren

Pixie

Registered User
Nov 24, 2017
83
147
Czech Republic
A quite typical Czech game against this type of teams - undisciplined, unfocused, inconsistent. Classical czech nature and a typical czech defense.
 

Kshahdoo

Registered User
Mar 23, 2008
20,306
10,003
Moscow, Russia
Sharangovich has already scored 10 points in the KHL this season, he knows how to play hockey. He could be one of the tournament's stars on a better team.
 

Goodman68

Registered User
Jul 11, 2016
1,835
1,428
Catastrophe. Defense, concentration, discipline, goalkeepers. We probably do not have to play a cool game. Absolutely no.
 

Old Man Jags

Registered User
Mar 25, 2006
848
973
As a Czech fan I am not surprised at all - the captain of the team summed it up correctly afterwards: “Terrible game, we completely underestimated this and them, exactly what we did not want to happen. We specifically discussed it before the game, tried not to fall into that trap. But being aware of our opponents’ results, it was in our heads. We were undisciplined, and ultimately we were lucky. This must not happen again. We take responsibility.”

This is what happens with our team sometimes. I feared it might and am pleased we still got the three points. We do sometimes struggle against the lesser teams and are prone to dropping points.

From the interview it is good to see that the team are self-aware; no excuses, no nonsense, and an acknowledgement that they were lucky as they could have ended up without the three points. Also yet another reminder - as if anyone should need it - that outshooting your opposition something like 39-21 means nothing.

Still, I am happy overall with the team at this tournament. This glitch against a lesser opponent was always on the cards, I am more interested in having played a decent game against an excellent Swedish team (don’t care we lost, the Swedes are the better team and I care much more about the fact that we can compete), and having beaten the talented Russians.

Czech players for various reasons tend to mature as players at a later average age than their foreign counterparts. Why that is is a whole different (and long) conversation, but it is a fact. So I never expect much at these tournaments, although of course it does not absolve the Czech hockey federation from its shortcomings in terms of nurturing the young generations. In any event, all I want to see is potential, and at least I can see some potential for the future here.​
 
  • Like
Reactions: czechcanadian

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad