Hockey players of the Czech Republic after losing to Canada in the final of the World Cup under 20 years old Source: SITA/AP/Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
PŘÍBRAM – Hockey forward Matyáš Šapovaliv is one of the six actors of the Czech success at the junior world championships, who should also present themselves at the upcoming top tournament in the under-20 category.
One of the expected leaders of the team in Gothenburg considers winning the silver medal in Halifax to be just a memory. In an interview with ČTK and Czech Television, he said that he is ready to do everything to make the Czech Republic successful again.
“The last championship is a beautiful memory and it’s up to us how we deal with it now. We will do everything to make it even better.” said Šapovaliv, who is waiting for his third start at the Junior World Championships.
“The team is very different. A lot of players from the senior year have left. It will be about how we prepare and adjust for the championships. It will be difficult. We were in the final last time, we won silver, and it will definitely not be easy to repeat it. We cannot say, that it will automatically go the same way. It’s all about hard work, it’s a new challenge.” he pointed out.
The tactics do not change
There are currently six players in the wider squad who participated in the previous success, and coach Patrik Augusta believes that they will be the leaders. Shapovaliv does not oppose it. “We will try to introduce a winning mentality or spirit into the team, which we felt at the last championship. But it is still about work and preparation. It is only about how we will work on the ice.” said the Kladno native, who was drafted by Vegas in the 2nd round last year.
Photo gallery (3) Source: SITA/AP/Jason Franson/The Canadian Press
Less than a year ago, Radim Rulík, who now works for the senior national team, led the junior national team to a medal as head coach. However, according to Šapovaliv, nothing fundamental changed with the arrival of August. “The tactics are more or less the same. The biggest difference is that now the championship is in Europe, so it will be played on a wide rink. There will be some changes, but I don’t think it will be visible. The work of both coaches is very professional.” he said.
The nineteen-year-old attacker will be working overseas from 2021, so he has to get used to a bigger rink. “The first training session was not used to seeing how far it is from the gate to the corner,” Shapovaliv smiled. “It wants to play a little differently. Not to brake as much as in Canada, try to always use speed, drive more into curves, in short, work with accumulated speed,” stated.
Elite formation
At the previous tournament, Šapovaliv created an elite formation with Jiří Kulich and Eduard Šalé, with whom he should play now as well. All three continue in the team. “I’m really looking forward to it. It would be great to play with both of them again, I really enjoyed the last 20 years with them,” he noted.
The tall striker joined the national team in good spirits. The Saginaw Spirit team, for which he plays in the Canadian junior OHL competition, did not go well at the beginning of the season, but in November everything broke and he started winning.
“We didn’t have a good start, but now we’ve started to pick up and we’re starting to do well. I hope it will continue,” wished Šapovaliv, who has so far collected 36 points in 27 games. “The breakthrough game came and then we had a streak of ten wins, that helped us a lot. You can feel that we are comfortable and we are doing well.” praised the Czech representative.
Kulich joined the team
Forward Jiří Kulich, who should be the team’s main star in the defense of the silver medals, joined the Czech hockey team preparing for the Junior World Championships in Sweden today. Defender Vojtěch Porto was knocked out of training by an injury, in his place Matěj Prčík was additionally called up. The management of the Czech Ice Hockey Association informed about this in a press release.
“It’s great to be back among the boys in the national team in the Czech team. I’m really looking forward to training, and especially to when the tournament starts. It’s a great honor for me to be here and to be able to represent the Czech Republic at the World Championships, “ said Kulich, who made his NHL debut with Buffalo this season.
The 19-year-old attacker otherwise played for the Rochester Americans in the lower AHL, where he is currently the team’s most productive player and top scorer. With 16 goals, Kulich is also the best scorer of the entire competition.
Photo gallery (3) Source: SITA/AP/Jason Franson/The Canadian Press
The native of Kadana should train with the national team for the first time on Saturday, when Prčík should also join the team, replacing the injured Porto. The 18-year-old guard playing in the Canadian junior WHL competition for the Edmonton Oil Kings injured his left hand in Thursday’s warm-up game against Finland.
“For Vojta Port, it’s very bad luck, but such injuries also happen in hockey. We had to react quickly and called Matej Prčík from Vítkovice.” said coach Patrik Augusta.
The first match of the tournament awaits the juniors on Tuesday, December 26, when they will meet Slovakia. In the basic group B, August’s selection will also play against Norway, the USA and Switzerland.
- Author: © List/
- Source: CTK
2023-12-22 17:17:11
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