So how many guys from Extraliga? Like half? I'm absolutely convinced there is some mandate that says half the team must be Extraliga. Hasn't worked once... Not f***en once. But sure.. let's try it again.
Team seems slow, old and uncreative. I said repeatedly that I liked the U18 team despite results. Not even factoring in 3 insanely strong opponents (then Swiss and Slovakia looking good) ... I would hate this team every single time.
I'll cheer to the end but I just can't see much success at all. Quarters and an easy out because we have no game breakers and no one will be able to score. Expect 3-2 type games against the weaker opponents. And blowouts against the rest. 7th.
I am 100% sure there is no "mandate" about players coming from whatever league. Also, this team definitely isn't slow. Rather the opposite. Majority of the players are very good skaters, especially the projected "bottom lines" forwards like Beránek, Flek, Lenc, Kovařčík. All of them are really good skaters, not the most creative of technically skilled, but definitely not slow.
They are simply taking what they have. I understand some people will adore Vrána ad nauseam because "his skating looks so pretty", but damn, this is no figure skating competition, and Vrána is basically an useless player, which he demonstrated repeatedly, including the recent games. I don't care about his fans saying "oh, he is sneaky" or whatever, he is simply not only unable to win a single physical battle, he is avoiding them. I fully support Rulík's decision to cut him. Coach after coach come and see he is useless, but he still has his crowd of fans for some reason. The same witch Michael Špaček. That guy got so many chances in the national team, and demonstrated repeatedly he is unfit for this level of hockey.
Tomáš Nosek might be a bit different case. It looks there might be some conflict with the coaching staff or the teammates, hard to say.
Jiří Ticháček is the only name which, in my opinion, should be there, instead of Ščotka, or Hájek. But that is one single player. Plus, we didn't see him out of the ice. This tournament will be a lot about mentality, I have no clue how does Ticháček perform under pressure.
They simply decided to put together a team with quite apparent philosophy of the game. Defense first, responsible plays, good own zone coverage, physicality. I am not saying it will be successful, it may or may not. It nonetheless follows a clear logic. Rulík is a successful senior coach and his staff knows "a thing or two" about hockey too. Fans ranting on the internet about the supposed stupidity of the coaches are rather laughable themselves. But it has always been like that. Every pub is full of hockey coaches.
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