Petr Polák and Derek O'Brien
Eurohockey.com
Fifteen years after he last played international hockey, Petr Nedvěd will captain the Czech Republic at the Karjala Cup in Helsinki, Finland and Örnsköldsvik, Sweden from November 10 to 13.
Petr Nedvěd at the 1994 Winter Olympics. Photo: Claus Anderson, Canadian Olympic Committee, CP . |
Although he did play for the Czech Republic at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey, that tournament is organised by the NHL and NHLPA, and not subject to IIHF eligibility restrictions.
The IIHF rules make an allowance for a player to change his country of affiliation if he abstains from international hockey for a period of at least four years, while playing for a club in a country where he holds citizenship during that time. Nedvěd returned from the NHL to play in the Czech Extraliga in
2007, first with Sparta Praha and then with Bílí Tygři Liberec, so there is no other obstacle preventing him from representing the Czech Republic again.
“Coach
Alois Hadamczik surprised me," Nedvěd said to iDnes.cz.“I did not even know that
this possibility existed. I thought I would never be able to play for the Czechs
again because of my appearance on Team Canada and because of my age."
But as Hadamczik told iDnes.cz, Nedvěd was not the
only veteran that he considered for the team. "The young guys
simply are not as good as the older players. I was also thinking about
Viktor Ujčík (39), Radek Bonk (35) and Jan Peterek (40). In the end, only Nedvěd appears on the final
roster."
Nedvěd, who considered retirement in the off-season, is the current leader in points (26), goals (11)
and assists (15) in the Czech Extraliga.
The Czech team will wear patches on their jerseys remembering the September tragedy involving the Yaroslavl KHL team and Czech national team
players Karel Rachůnek, Jan Marek and Josef Vašíček. Rachůnek’s
brother Ivan will play in the Karjala Cup.
The Karjala Cup is the first leg of the 2011-12 Euro Hockey Tour. Most of the games will be televised in the Czech Republic on ČT4 Sport and will be available online at ct24.cz/sport.
Here is the roster for the Czech team that will compete at the Karjala Cup (November 10 - 13, 2011, Helsinki, Finland and Örnsköldsvik, Sweden):
Goaltenders:
Jakub Štěpánek (St. Petersburg, KHL), Jakub Kovář (HC České Budějovice).
Defencemen:
Miroslav Blaťák, Jakub Nakládal (both Ufa, KHL), Petr Čáslava (CSKA Moscow, KHL), Martin Ševc (Färjestad, Sweden), Tomáš Mojžíš (Turku, Finland), Marek Trončinský (Bílí Tygři Liberec), Lukáš Zíb (HC Oceláři Třinec).
Forwards:
Petr Nedvěd (Bílí Tygři Liberec), Jakub Petružálek, Petr Vrána (Khabarovsk, KHL), Jiří Novotný (Astana, KHL), Jakub Klepiš, Marek Kvapil (both Dynamo Moscow, KHL), Petr Průcha (St. Petersburg, KHL), Zbyněk Irgl (Minsk, KHL), Petr Vampola (Timra, Sweden), Aleš Kotalík (HC České Budějovice), Petr Hubáček (HC Kometa Brno), Petr Koukal (HC Pardubice), Martin Adamský, Jakub Orsava (both HC Oceláři Třinec).
General Manager: Slavomír Lener
Head Coach: Alois Hadamczik
Assistant Coach: Josef Paleček
Team Manager: Jan Černý
Video Coach: Jan Procházka
Physicians: Dr. Zdeněk Ziegelbauer, Dr. Radomír Holibka
Physiotherapists: Pavel Kolář, Michal Truc
Treasurer and Masseur: Zdeněk Šmíd
Masseur: Petr Ondráček
Media Consultant: Zdeněk Zikmund
2011 Karjala Cup schedule (All Times CET):
Thursday, November 10:
18:30 Finland - Russia (Helsinki)
19:00 Sweden - Czech Republic (Örnsköldsvik, ČT4 Sport)
Saturday, November 12:
12:00 Sweden - Russia (Helsinki, ČT4 Sport)
16:00 Finland - Czech Republic (Helsinki, ČT4 Sport)
Sunday, November 13:
12:00 Czech Republic - Russia (Helsinki, ČT4 Sport)
16:00 Finland - Sweden (Helsinki, ČT4 Sport)
No comments:
Post a Comment