Czech U17 & U18 teams face challenges at home in August tourneys

For those looking to pursue a career in hockey, there is no off-season, and by August things are already in full swing. This month, two age categories are staging international tournaments in the Czech Republic, U17 and U18. Starting August 7, the U17s are hosting a five-team tournament in North Bohemia. The following week, the U18s take centre stage in southeast Moravia. The Czech Republic has faced many challenges trying to rebuild a national youth program over the past few years and the coaches of both age groups, Jiří Veber and Luděk Bukač Jr, look ahead to the challenges they face this coming season.

U18 Coach Luděk Bukač Jr looks ahead to the challenges at the Ivan
Hlinka tournament and beyond. Photo: Tomáš Čekal. hc-kometa.cz.

The larger of the two events is the U18 tournament, the annual Ivan Hlinka Memorial, will, as usual, be co-hosted by Břeclav along with nearby Piešťany, Slovakia. Despite underperforming regularly at this tournament, as well as at last year's U18 World Championship in Brno, Znojmo and Břeclav, Bukač brings with him a large part of his U17 team that finished second place in Hradec Králové last February, although there are a few notable exceptions. Three players, Jakub Vrána, David Pastrňák and Martin Kohout, are missing due to injuries. Six other players, Patrik Zdráhal, Adam Zbořil, Dominik Kubalík, David Němeček, David Sysala and Jan Košťálek, are all going overseas to join CHL teams and declined invitations to play for the team.

The lack of dedication to the national team clearly frustrates Bukač. Comparing his situation to the Swedish team, he said, "Their coaches invited their players and all of them accepted. No one was missing. As coaches, our goal is to set up a strategy for our national program, starting at the U16 level, and have the rules respected. We want our players to respect the program.

"The Hlinka Memorial Tournament is difficult, but I believe that we have a very good team," he continued. "As far as conditioning goes, we are ready. It is true that we're missing some forwards who scored a lot of goals for us in the past, but we have to compensate in other areas."

Last year's Czech team at the Hlinka tournament was Jiří Veber, now heads up the U17 team, which will host the USA, Germany, Slovakia and Switzerland in four towns in North Bohemia, with Chomutov serving as the main venue. Veber takes over a squad that was headed last season by Robert Reichel and started well, but had trouble in its last few tournaments.

"I don't know what the reason was; if it was injuries, goaltending, but I'm not looking back. I'm thinking about right now," he said. "We are starting from scratch. We looked at the players in camp, and now we're concentrating on this tournament. We are consistent, and we require certain things. We firmly believe that it will work. Although, it depends on how we respond in the games, of course."

Czech roster and schedule for the U17 tournament:

Goaltenders:
Karel Vejmelka (Třebíč), David Pírs (Sparta Praha), Aleš Sova (Č. Budějovice).

Defencemen:
Filip Pyrochta (Liberec), Jakub Zbořil (Kometa Brno), Tomáš Havlín (Liberec), Lukáš Vopelka (Örebrö, Sweden), Dominik Mašín (Slavia Praha), Filip Moravec (Litvínov), Robert Horák (Olomouc), Jan Ščotka (Vsetín).

Forwards:
Pavel Jenyš (Kometa Brno), Samuel Ollender, Dominik Kafka (both Vítkovice), Josef Stříbrný (Litvínov), Pavel Zacha (both Liberec), Martin Beneš, Václav Krliš (both Plzeň), Tomáš Andres (Slavia Praha), Michal Kovařčík (Třinec), Petr Macháček, Martin Strunz (both Chomutov), Radek Pilař (Hradec Králové).

Team Manager: Milan Hnilička
Head Coach: Jiří Veber
Assistant Coach: Petr Svoboda
Goaltending Coach: Michal Podolka
Team Doctor: Dr. Tomáš Madrý
Treasurer: Maroš Solenský

Tuesday, August 7:
18:00 Slovakia - Switzerland (Chomutov)
18:00 Czech Republic - Germany (Kadaň)

Wednesday, August 8:
18:00 USA - Germany (Chomutov)
18:00 Czech Republic - Slovakia (Klášterec n. O.)

Thursday, August 9:
18:00 Switzerland - USA (Chomutov)
18:00 Germany - Slovakia (Kadaň)

Friday, August 10:
16:30 Germany - Switzerland (Klášterec n. O.)
18:00 Czech Republic - USA (Chomutov)

Saturday, August 11:
12:00 Slovakia - USA (Chomutov)
15:30 Czech Republic - Switzerland (Chomutov)

Czech roster and schedule for the U18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament:

Goaltenders:
Štěpán Lukeš (Chomutov), René Svoboda (Vítkovice).

Defencemen:Tomáš Andrlík (Plzeň), Martin Kokeš (Litvínov), Roman Čermák (Jihlava), Ondřej Šafář (K. Vary), Jan Štencl (Vítkovice), Tomáš Dvořák (H. Brod), Michal Beránek (Liberec), Alex Pisárik (Třinec).

Forwards:Jiří Kepka, Roman Přikryl, Miroslav Indrák (all Plzeň), Dominik Pokorný (Sparta Praha), Petr Česlík (Vítkovice), Václav Pašek, Luboš Rob (both Č. Budějovice), Ondřej Kaše, David Kampf (both Chomutov), Martin Slánský (Kladno), Ondřej Kovářů (Lukko Rauma, Finland), Jan Mandát (Jihlava), Dan Nádrazský (Davos, Switzerland).

Reserves:
Jakub Kalfiřt (Liberec), Adam Škutchan (Vítkovice), Jan Litera (Letňany).

Team Manager: Otakar Černý
Head Coach: Luděk Bukač Jr.
Assistant Coach: David Bruk
Goaltending Coach: Radek Toth
Team Doctor: Dr. Milan Novotný
Treasurer: Zdeněk Vojtěchovský

Group in Břeclav: Czech Republic, USA, Russia, Finland
Group in Piešťany: Slovakia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland

Monday, August 13:
14:00 Switzerland - Canada (Piešťany)
15:30 USA - Russia (Břeclav)
17:30 Slovakia - Sweden (Piešťany)
19:00 Czech Republic - Finland  (Břeclav)

Tuesday, August 14:
14:00 Canada - Sweden (Piešťany)
15:30 Russia - Finland (Břeclav)
17:30 Slovakia - Switzerland (Piešťany)
19:00 Czech Republic - USA (Břeclav)

Wednesday, August 15:
14:00 Sweden - Switzerland (Piešťany)
15:30 Finland - USA (Břeclav)
17:30 Slovakia - Canada (Piešťany)
19:00 Czech Republic - Russia (Břeclav)

Friday August 17:
14:00 Placement game (Piešťany)
15:30 Placement game (Břeclav)
17:30 Semifinal (Piešťany)
19:00 Semifinal (Břeclav)

Saturday, August 18:14:00 Final or 3rd place game (Piešťany)
17:00 Final or 3rd place game (Břeclav)

Quotations, rosters and schedules courtesy of hokej.cz.

U18 World Championship roster begins to take shape

While most Czech hockey fans have their attention focused on the Extraliga semifinals at the moment, the national U18 team gathered in Havlíčkův Brod to open a second, and more intensive, training camp in preparation for the World Championships, which they will host in Brno and Znojmo from April 12 to 22.

From a preliminary roster of 50, only 14 players were able to attend last week, as everybody else was still committed to their club teams. This week, the number is higher.

"We worked on drills for defencemen and forwards, two-on-twos, and other things," coach Jiří Veber said to hokej.cz's Vaclav Jáchim about the limited things he was able to do last week. "This Tuesday, we are up to 21."

It's unclear how many of the 21 at camp will make the final cut, but to be sure, the names that attract the most attention are still absent and may not arrive at all.

Marek Langhamer is expected to be the Czech U18
team's starting goalie in Brno. m.denik.cz.

The team's starting goaltender is expected to be Marek Langhamer, who is currently acting as the third-string goaltender on the Pardubice club that is still alive in the Extraliga playoffs. Pardubice currently leads its semifinal series 2-0 and the league finals will overlap the international tournament, but Langhamer will be allowed to join the U18 team, barring an injury to one of the two ahead of him on the depth chart.

Additionally, nine players are still active in the Junior Extraliga playoffs, but they will be over by the weekend.

While Langhamer's inclusion is a near certainty, the players who are currently involved in Canadian Hockey League playoffs are anything but that. Defencemen Petr Šidlík and Michal Plutnar and forwards Radek Faksa, Patrik Machač and Dominik Volek are all in the playoffs. If their clubs advance beyond the first round, they will not join the Czech team.

Defenceman Karel Plašíl of České Budějovice, who played in last August's Ivan Hlinka Tournament, has been out with an injured hand and is not currently in camp, but he might still return.

They will have a lot of last-minute decisions to make, but that's no different from most of the teams in the tournament, and Veber knew it coming in.

"It is what it is, I have no problem with that," he said. "We knew that we would have to prepare in the days before the start of the tournament."

On April 7, the team will play an exhibition game against the Czech U20 team in Havlíčkův Brod before heading to Brno. There, they will host Canada in a final pre-tournament game on April 9 before it gets underway on April 12. The next day, they will play their first game of the group stage against Norway.

In all, there are 50 players in consideration for the 23 spots:

Goaltenders:

Marek Langhamer (Pardubice), Patrik Polívka (Plzeň), Daniel Dolejš (Havíčkův Brod), Dominik Hrachovina (Tappara Tampere, Finland), Josef Sobotka (Liberec).

Defencemen:

Lukáš Buchta (Zlín), Tomáš Prokop, Karel Plášil (both České Budějovice), Ronald Knot (Slavia Praha), Jan Košťálek (Sparta Praha), Martin Kokeš (Litvínov), Jakub Houfek (Plzeň), Dominik Tejnor, Radek Havel (both Chomutov), Marek Bail, Adam Hawlik, Jan Štencel (all Vítkovice), Jiří Běhal (Třinec), Jan Sedlák (Kometa Brno), Libor Šulák (Tatranští vlci, MHL), Petr Šidlík (Victoriaville, QMJHL), Michal Plutnar (Tri-City, WHL).

Forwards:

Dominik Kubalík, Roman Přikryl, Jan Schleiss (all Plzeň), Jan Hudeček, Ondřej Slováček, Patrik Zdráhal (all Vítkovice), Dominik Simon, Martin Procházka, Martin Matějček (all Sparta Praha), Richard Nejezchleb (Slavia Praha), Pavel Sedláček (Zlín), Matěj Zadražil, Vojtěch Tomeček (both Karlovy Vary), Matěj Psota, Adam Dlouhý (both Liberec), Ladislav Marek (Mladá Boleslav), Tomáš Franek (Třinec), Jiří Fronk (Chomutov), Jakub Vrána (Linköping, Sweden), Eustathios Soumelidis (Vaasa, Finland), Radek Faksa (Kitchener, OHL), Patrik Machač (Brampton, OHL), Dominik Volek (Regina, WHL), Adam Chlapík (Muskegon, USHL).

Team Manager: Jakub Petr

Head Coach: Jiří Veber
Assistant Coaches: Jakub Petr, Klas Östman
Goaltending Coach: Marek Novotný
Team Doctor: Dr. Daniel Waciakowski
Equipment Manager: Jaroslav Brabec

Preliminary rosters for some other teams have already been posted at the tournament's official website, http://www.u18wc2012.cz/eng/index.asp. The full tournament schedule and ticket information is also available there.

For updates, follow the tournament's official Twitter account, @czechhockey.

Czech U18s fall heavily to Canada

The Czech Republic went into their Tuesday night encounter against Canada with an opportunity to clinch a spot in the semifinals, while simultaneously ending the Canadians' medal hopes. By the end of the game, the fortunes of both teams had reversed dramatically.

Canada rebounded from a dismal opening game against Sweden, outshooting the Czechs 43-14 and outscoring them 6-1. Goaltender Marek Langhamer, who was the Czech player of the game, kept the Canadians off the scoresheet for one period, but the floodgates opened in the second. 

After Morgan Reilly and Pavel Sedláček traded goals early in the second, the Canadians scored three times in a 2:09 span in the middle of the period to take control of the game. The crowd of 2,023 in Břeclav had been enthusiastic up until then, but showed not much life after the game's midpoint, much like the Czech team.

“It was the response we wanted,” said Canadian captain Mathew Dumba, who picked up a goal and an assist. “We talked last night that we’ve got to come together as a team and we got away from that a little bit yesterday. Today we played a gritty, hard game and it paid off.”

With the loss, the Czechs now need to beat the Swedes and get help to advance. Coach Jiří Veber emphasized the need to come out with a good effort. "After the game against Canada, we had a short speech to the players. The game is over, learn from it, but otherwise turn the page and get ready for the next opponent. I think we need to go into the game with the Swedes with a clear head, and that some of the players realize what is needed for success."

The Swedes go into Wednesday's game all but assured a spot in the semis after their 4-3 victory over Switzerland.  Sweden sits atop Group A with 6 points, followed by the Czechs and Canada with 3 each, while Switzerland remains pointless. By virtue of Tuesday's win, Canada holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Czechs, meaning that the Czechs need to earn more points than Canada on Wednesday.

The highlight game in Piešťany was between two medal contenders: USA and Russia. After dropping their opener against Finland, the game was critically important for the Americans, whose semifinal hopes would have disappeared with a loss. They won 5-4 in overtime to claim 2 points, but they could have had 3.

Down 3-1 with 13 minutes to play, the Russians struck twice in a span of 1:39 to tie the score. The Americans regained the lead when Cristoval Nieves scored with 4:46 left in regulation time, but Timur Shingaryeyev tied it for Russia with 1:44 to play. Vincent Hinostroza, with his second goal of the game, salvaged the tournament for the Americans by scoring in overtime, but they’ll still need to win their last game against Slovakia and hope Finland beats Russia.

That’s because Finland is clear to the semifinals. After opening with a 6-3 victory over the US, the Finns pounded Slovakia 10-2 on Tuesday to improve to 2-0. Teuvo Teräväinen scored 2 goals and 3 assists to increase his two-game total to 8 points, which leads all tournament scorers. In Group B, Finland leads with 6 points, followed by Russia with 4, USA with 2, and Slovakia is pointless.

All games of the 2011 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament can be followed live at eurolivescores.com.

Czechs, Swedes, Finns and Russians all win on Day 1

Playing in a tough group, the Czech U18 team knew it had to win its opener against Switzerland if it were to entertain any thoughts of advancing to the semifinals and they did just that. The hosts got goals in the last minute of the first and second periods from Dominik Volek and team captain Patrik Machač, respectively to jump out to the lead. The teams traded goals in the third, with Volek getting his second of the night before Vincent Praplan broke Patrik Polívka's shutout bid with 4:04 to play, converting on a nice backhander in front.

Dominik Volek. Photo: Jan Čech,
Karlovarský deník, hokejkv.cz.

The game was marred by foggy conditions inside the arena, which made it difficult for players, officials and fans to follow the puck at times. The problem was at its worst in the third, when the Swiss had a goal disallowed due to a quick whistle from the referee, who had lost sight of it. Moments later, Martin Matějček was stopped on a breakaway by Swiss goaltender Robin Kuonen, and the puck then sat loose in the crease for several seconds with nobody able to find it.

"It's muggy outside, and the quality of the ice suffered a bit," said coach Jiří Veber afterward. "But this is the same for all teams. The game took a lot out of the players for both teams, so it will be important to recuperate quickly. On Tuesday evening we can expect another tough battle with Canada."

Tuesday's Czech-Canada game starts at 19:00 CET, 1pm ET and 10am PT.  In the Czech Republic, the game can be seen live on ČT4 television and online at ct24.cz/sport. The Canadians are 0-1 following their opening-day loss to Sweden, and will be looking to get their first points. The first game of the day in Břeclav features 1-0 Sweden against 0-1 Switzerland at 15:30.

Meanwhile, in Piešťany, Finland doubled the USA 6-3 and Russia beat the host Slovaks 5-2. The Finns were led by a pair of goals and an assist from Teuvo Teräväinen, while Russia got the same from Denis Kamayev. The USA and Russia start things off on Tuesday at 14:00 CET, 8am ET, 5am PT, while Slovakia hosts Finland in the later game at 17:30.

All games can be followed live at eurolivescores.com.