At the last championship in Edmonton, which did not take place until last summer due to covid, the Czechs were unable to cross the semifinal gate and in the end had to settle for an unpopular fourth place. Just a few months before the next trip to Canada, however, advancing into the top four was a huge boost.
However, the scenario that coach Radim Rulík’s team is writing in Halifax was still for most participants in the sci-fi genre. “At the start of the tournament we never dreamed of going to the final. So it’s much sweeter for the boys,” admitted Rulík after the semi-final drama with the Swedes.
Twenty-five hours after the exciting battle with the Scandinavians, decided in extra time by Jiří Kulich, the Czech juniors will be back on the ice. The reigning champions awaited them, but they clamorously clipped the wings of their confidence in the initial duel of the basic group. What will Rulík order his appointees?
“It will be heads. This (the semi-final) cost the boys a lot of energy. They have to stay together. We will all enjoy the game and do our best. We will prepare for it. The race is here. We coaches will serve again as we do so that the players are ready,” Rulík reflected before the most important match of his coaching career.
But 23 years ago, he already experienced the golden euphoria at the switchboard. At the championship in Skelleftee, Sweden, he was an assistant to coach Jaroslav Holík, who led the 20-year-old to a sensational defense a year later in Moscow. Since then, the team has been waiting for golden success. The last medal dates back to 2005, when Alois Hadamczik won bronze in the American Grand Forks.
