World Cup Hockey: Czech Republic Playing Role of Underdog
By Ryan Ritchie
World Cup Hockey: Team Czech Republic Will Serve as Underdog in Competitive Group A (Canada, United States, Europe, Czech Republic)
World Cup Hockey is now underway with the pre-tournament schedule running until September 14th. Official group play action begins three days later on September 17th as Team USA faces off against Team Europe, and Team Czech Republic squares off against powerhouse Team Canada.
Even with a surprising win on Saturday over Russia, few expect the Czech Republic to be serious contenders in a tough Group A dominated by North American nations.
The Czech’s play their second game on September 19th against Team Europe in which could be their only victory. Finally, they close out round robin play a few days after (Sept.22) finishing with the Americans.
If the Czech Republic plan to make a semifinals appearance, they’ll need to pull off a major upset in game one or three.
World Cup Hockey: Team Czech Republic Positional Analysis
Goaltending
Petr Mrazek will likely serve as the number one and manned the crease in their 4-3 opener loss to Russia.
Michal Neuvirth will likely assume the backup role, and looked excellent in the Czech Republic’s 2-1 shootout win on Saturday.
Serving as the third is Winnipeg netminder Ondrej Pavelec. If he can actually find his way into the crease, he might be able to create a trade market to solve the Jets goalie dilemma.
Flyers G Michal Neuvirth is poised to push/challenge Red Wings G Petr Mrazek, but when push comes to shove, we expect Detroit’s young netminder to prevail. In these type of tournaments, all you need is a solid performance between the pipes at the right time to knock off even the biggest giants (i.e. Martin Gerber carrying Switzerland over Canada).
Defense
On paper, the Czech defensive group is by far the weakest of all eight teams. The thing some may not realize though is that while it lacks offensive prowess, they are a defensively sound group.
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Their biggest offensive threat on the back end so far is Blackhawks free agent signing Michal Kempny. He played almost 22 minutes in the first contest, and a little over 24 minutes in their second. Michal also served on both the power play and penalty kill (approximately five minutes worth of special teams/game).
Between signing Kempny and Brian Campbell, Chicago once again looks poised to be a Stanley Cup threat once again in 2016-17.
Another intriguing blue liner to keep an eye on is Jakub Nakladal. The 28-year-old was signed by Calgary prior to 2015-16 and split time between the NHL/AHL. He racked up five points in 27 games with the Flames, adding 14 points in 35 games with Stockton. Nakladal led the Czech’s in ice-time in their 4-3 loss to Russia and is still yet to sign a new NHL contract.
Calgary was reluctant to re-sign the Czech defender, forcing him to join the list of UFA players hoping to earn a contract with their World Cup Hockey performance.
Related Story: World Cup: Team Europe is Bound to Struggle
Forwards
This Czech forward group can be considered largely overrated. They took a big hit when they were forced to replace Tomas Hertl and David Krejci with Michal Birner and Roman Cervenka, but the European League sensation (Cervenka) always seems to perform on the international stage.
If we had to guess, there are a few obvious candidates expected to carry this team offensively. Jakub Voracek, Tomas Plekanec, and Ales Hemsky are safe assumptions based on their past international experience.
We might also look to the younger crowd, particularly Radek Faksa, Ondrej Palat, and David Pastrnak.
Faksa joined the Stars midway through the 2015-16 season and progressively got better into the postseason leading to a 13-game five-point performance.
Palat is coming off a down year (40 points) and looks ready to bounce back to that 63-point range from 2014-15.
Pastrnak had a slow start last season and wound up being learnt to the Czech World Juniors team. Upon his return, David Pastrnak had a solid second half racking up 22 points in 41 games.
Next: 2016-17 Season Preview: Projections, 30-Team Analysis
Where Will Czech’s Finish?
It would make little sense to change my prediction now after just two exhibition games. The Czech Republic are still destined to challenge Team Europe as the only winless team in the tournament.
To be fair, it has little to do with their talent and more to do with their unfortunate group seeding. We fully expect the Czech Republic to keep all three of their games close, and if they’re lucky, who knows, they could pull off an upset against the Canadians/or Americans and find themselves in the semifinals.