GDT: Czechia Vs Switzerland | 5:00PM ET | Group B - TD Place

[hangman005]

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[Czechboy]

I say Czechs 4-1 in an uninspiring matchup. Czechs will play it safe and roll the lines.

 

[Speyer]

Czechs are obviously favourites but I dont think the skill gap between the two teams is as big as in other years. The main question from a Swiss perspective will be wether goaltending holds up or not. And actually not taking dumb penalties would be nice for a change as well. I am going to stay optimistic and hope for a 3-2 victory.

 

[Czechboy]

Czechs are obviously favourites but I dont think the skill gap between the two teams is as big as in other years. The main question from a Swiss perspective will be wether goaltending holds up or not. And actually not taking dumb penalties would be nice for a change as well. I am going to stay optimistic and hope for a 3-2 victory.

I wouldn't even say we are obvious favorites. If swiss win today I wouldn't even by mildly surprised.

 

[jj cale]

3-2 Czechs

 

[Joe Zanussi]

Czechs 4-1

 

[Speyer]

I wouldn't even say we are obvious favorites. If swiss win today I wouldn't even by mildly surprised.

I still like the Czech roster a bit more than ours on paper, although I am of course not as familiar with it. But as you said the difference in quality is probably not huge, so it could go either way.

 

[Czechboy]

I still like the Czech roster a bit more than ours on paper, although I am of course not as familiar with it. But as you said the difference in quality is probably not huge, so it could go either way.

I really like our team but we made some puzzling decisions (as all federations do) so I'm not in love with our D. They are small and not skilled enough for the skill they bring IMO. Having said that. if Jiricek wants to return to form from mulitiple injjires.. it'd make a big difference for us. I love Galvas but he's small too. Forwards are deep but not exceptional. Eg. no Kulich type guy who will scorch the tourney. But, they are deep and I like every single one of them. They are also big.. much bigger than our D which is strange.lol Shame Jecho isn't a RD.lol

 

[Speyer]

I really like our team but we made some puzzling decisions (as all federations do) so I'm not in love with our D. They are small and not skilled enough for the skill they bring IMO. Having said that. if Jiricek wants to return to form from mulitiple injjires.. it'd make a big difference for us. I love Galvas but he's small too. Forwards are deep but not exceptional. Eg. no Kulich type guy who will scorch the tourney. But, they are deep and I like every single one of them. They are also big.. much bigger than our D which is strange.lol Shame Jecho isn't a RD.lol

I'd say both teams lack high end talent but are pretty deep. Steiner and Jiricek might provide high end play in the future but the former might still be to young to do so right now and the latter had a lot of injury problems lately as you pointed out yourself.

I really like some of the Czech players though like Galvas, Petr, Sale, Sikora, Hrabal etc. Those often made a good impression in past international tournaments/games that I saw.

All in all I'd say though that the Czechs might be a bit deeper and more well rounded. Especially when it comes to goaltending. Our 05/06 group has struggeled to provide consitent goaltending in the last two years for us. And this despite the fact that Neuenschwander and Kirsch actually have some talent.

I was surprised to not find Benak on your roster though. Whats the story with him? Is he injured or did they leave him of the roster on purpose?

 

[Czechboy]

I'd say both teams lack high end talent but are pretty deep. Steiner and Jiricek might provide high end play in the future but the former might still be to young to do so right now and the latter had a lot of injury problems lately as you pointed out yourself.

I really like some of the Czech players though like Galvas, Petr, Sale, Sikora, Hrabal etc. Those often made a good impression in past international tournaments/games that I saw.

All in all I'd say though that the Czechs might be a bit deeper and more well rounded. Especially when it comes to goaltending. Our 05/06 group has struggeled to provide consitent goaltending in the last two years for us. And this despite the fact that Neuenschwander and Kirsch actually have some talent.

I was surprised to not find Benak on your roster though. Whats the story with him? Is he injured or did they leave him of the roster on purpose?

The 2 upsetting omissions are Benak and Mrtka. Both 17 and undrafted. They both left for North America and that is my theory why they weren't invited. I'm more upset about Mrtka as he's huge and quite good. I wanted him on that right side when we didn't bring Badinka (federation squabble).

Officially our coach said that Benak is in USHL and that it isn't as good as CHL. So an absurd take. Also funny becuase tourney is in north america but we chose our undrafted Euro rink players (Cihar and Novotny). Both snubs are head scratchers as I could easily see Benak on line 1 with Sale and Mrtka at 2RD.

So no Benak, Mrtka or Badinka due to 'reasons'. It's all silly.lol Especially when you see we brought 5'8 Simek. I think the coahces base a lot of it on those 4 nation type tournaments when a lot of good players are unavialble.

 

[GettingYourMoms]

Czechia wins easily, expecting complete shutdown or close to it. Too much depth i have hard time seeing Swiss scoring on us.

 

[czechcanadian]

Czechia wins easily, expecting complete shutdown or close to it. Too much depth i have hard time seeing Swiss scoring on us.

Maybe if we score first. I think we’ll struggle with this game if Swiss do.

 

[Hinterland]

Braillard with Simon and Endo Meier on line 4. Man, does the SIHF ever hate that kid...

 

[Czechboy]

Braillard with Simon and Endo Meier on line 4. Man, does the SIHF ever hate that kid...

Do you have a 15 year old Phenom today?

 

[martygod12]

Cihar instead Mastalirsky into line 1 and its good, 1st line ELH player must have bigger role then 13th attacker. Hopefuly its just because of the minor injury and he will get more space in upcoming matches

 

[Czechboy]

Cihar instead Mastalirsky into line 1 and its good, 1st line ELH player must have bigger role then 13th attacker. Hopefuly its just because of the minor injury and he will get more space in upcoming matches

That first line is out of a line blender.. what the f***? I hope I'm wrong but I don't see that as a first line combo out of all those forwards. Mastalarisky is not a first liner IMO. I love him and am glad he's here but this seems wrong. That complaint aside... line 2, line 3 and line 4 are all very good IMO.

Husinecky on first pair? Am I high? Left side is brilliant. Second pair is our best pair. I know things change when the game begins so I'll check minutes after but this is strange to me.

I think Milota is better than Kavan but that is splitting hairs.

Mind you, I'd have Petr much higher so what the f*** do I know.lol Our 4th line is 2 .ppg CHL players and a guy playing pro in the Liiga. That is some depth.

Don't get me wrong... I like Felcman and Mastalarsky and am happy to be proven wrong. All 3 play pro.. AHL, NLA and Extraliga. They are all 19. They all skate and they are all big. Sure does allow lines 2 to 4 to be very good on paper.

Edit. This was meant for Czech thread. Now you all get to read my super solid insight.lol

 

[martygod12]

That first line is out of a line blender.. what the f***? I hope I'm wrong but I don't see that as a first line combo out of all those forwards. Mastalarisky is not a first liner IMO. I love him and am glad he's here but this seems wrong. That complaint aside... line 2, line 3 and line 4 are all very good IMO.

Husinecky on first pair? Am I high? Left side is brilliant. Second pair is our best pair. I know things change when the game begins so I'll check minutes after but this is strange to me.

I think Milota is better than Kavan but that is splitting hairs.

Mind you, I'd have Petr much higher so what the f*** do I know.lol Our 4th line is 2 .ppg CHL players and a guy playing pro in the Liiga. That is some depth.

Don't get me wrong... I like Felcman and Mastalarsky and am happy to be proven wrong. All 3 play pro.. AHL, NLA and Extraliga. They are all 19. They all skate and they are all big. Sure does allow lines 2 to 4 to be very good on paper.

Edit. This was meant for Czech thread. Now you all get to read my super solid insight.lol

Yeah but Mastalirsky just doesnt have much impact in ELH, him and Cihar are playing the same league and Cihar is objectively much better player already. I would just switch those two, keeping Masta as 13th. I like him too but as you say, there is some depth in the offense this year and he simply looks weakest out of those top 6 and at the same time he doesnt suit bottom 6 too much imo.

Husinecky in first pair is crazy, we all know that it should have been Mrtka there lol, and Badinka instead Port, but we can only cry about it, it is what it is and we must work with what we have.

 

[Czechboy]

Yeah but Mastalirsky just doesnt have much impact in ELH, him and Cihar are playing the same league and Cihar is objectively much better player already. I would just switch those two, keeping Masta as 13th. I like him too but as you say, there is some depth in the offense this year and he simply looks weakest out of those top 6 and at the same time he doesnt suit bottom 6 too much imo.

Husinecky in first pair is crazy, we all know that it should have been Mrtka there lol, and Badinka instead Port, but we can only cry about it, it is what it is and we must work with what we have.

It's tough.. I don't think Masta is a 13th forward or a 1st one. He's somewhere around 4 to 9 IMO. I have no idea what they see in Husinesky... he's not big, he's 19, undrafted... I hope I quote this in 3 hours and say what a f***en idiot I am for doubting him.

I'd go
Dvorak - Jiricek
Galvas - Port
Fibigr - Koci
Husinesky

Forwards... we will see. We can roll 4 lines and I really don't see that big a difference between lines 1 and 4. That's more a compliment than an insult. But a bit of an insult too.lol

 

[Czechboy]

Yeah but Mastalirsky just doesnt have much impact

Line 1? I'm so confused.lol And I like the player.lol

 

[martygod12]

View attachment 951636

Line 1? I'm so confused.lol And I like the player.lol

Yeah I am saying, he is just not good enough for first line, and I dont know how much viable he will be as bottom 6 player, hence just the switch with Cihar and make him 13th

I guess they are putting him there cause he has good NT stats this season, but this is different level then some friendly tournaments.

 

[jonas2244]

Do you have a 15 year old Phenom today?

No, he won't play. Not registered yet.

 

[Goodman68]

Maštalířský two goals today please
Husinecký please no pass to the opponent's goal

 

[hockey20000]

4-3 switz win

 

[BigBadBoar]

Switzerland has some very interesting players with NLA experience, definitely no joke team. They play a mature, well organized game. People aren't talking about them that much but they can beat any team in the tournament if they have a fine day. Definitely no underdog.

 

[Czechboy]

Maštalířský two goals today please
Husinecký please no pass to the opponent's goal

Those would be his first 2 goals of the entire season.lol