The progress puzzle is solved, but it is still not clear who the Czechs will encounter in the quarterfinals of the World Hockey Championship. But today they will probably be able to “choose” their opponents.
Riga (from our rapporteur) – If the Swiss take at least one point in Great Britain in the noon match, which is very likely, the Czechs will finish the group in third place.
To do this, they need to beat the Slovaks in basic playing time. Any other result means fourth place. The federal derby starts at 15:15 and you can watch it in our online transmission.
Furthermore, it is almost certain that in the quarterfinals, the Czechs will challenge either the reigning world champions from Finland or the United States, their fateful opponent, against whom they start the playoffs surprisingly often.
The Americans are closer to the first place of the second group. He is likely to beat impoverished Italy in the afternoon for three points. Although Finland has a better match with the USA, so it is leading with the current equality of points, but at noon it will face a difficult match with Canada. She needs to wedge into the playoffs between Kazakhstan, Germany and Latvia at the last minute.
It follows that the charges of coach Filip Pešán will be able to “choose” the quarterfinal juice.
If Finland beats Canada for three points, the Czechs will know that winning over Slovakia in regular time pairs them with the Americans.
If the Canadians play at least one point in the afternoon, for the Czechs it means that they will send three points from the federal derby to Finland.
Only Americans can discourage this logic if they sensationally “dedicate” points to Italy.
Finland is well known to Finland, which has only two NHL reinforcements on its roster. At the recent Czech Games, they lost 2: 1 in a similar composition.
But when it comes to world championships, the last clash with the Suomi national team is four years old. At that time, the Czech team celebrated a raid in the Paris group. The last meeting in the playoffs is even six years old. It brings warm memories of Jágr’s famous goal, with which the legendary 68 managed to advance to the semifinals in front of the Prague audience.
The Czechs have encountered the USA three times since then. Every time in the playoffs. And they lost every time. Outside of the World Cup, however, they got a taste. At the Olympics in South Korea, they won the quarter-final raids and celebrated a rather surprising group win at the last World Cup.
But, as usual, the Czechs do not know the current American selection at all. With a few exceptions, it consists of hockey players who are at the championship for the first time.
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