A different atmosphere will prevail on each of the two banks of the Moravia after the opening day of the Junior World Hockey Championship. While the Slovaks are floating in the clouds after a comfortable 6:2 win, the defenders of the final participation from the last tournament from the Czech Republic received, as they themselves admitted, a real slap in the face in the federal derby.
“It’s definitely a slap in the face. And at the same time a good alarm clock! It was necessary, we didn’t play well at all.” spoke for hokej.cz the captain of the Czech national team, Jiří Kulich. The Czechs stopped doing well in the match from the second period, which was torn apart by their unnecessary fouls.
news-item-description">Slovak ice hockey players have had a great start to the Under-20 World Championships when they defeated the Czech Republic 6:2. After the first period, which they lost 0:1, came a dominant performance in the next two. Coach Ivan Feneš pointed out after the match that there is still room for improvement.
“We made some silly fouls. A lot of fouls… Power plays are exhausting our players,” noted Kulich. “After the first goal, we stopped playing, we let the goalkeeper take it and we didn’t work as well as we should have.” Coach Jiří Augusta also commented on the Czech disaster in the 2nd and 3rd period after the match.
news-item-description">A bad first period, but there was a tremendous improvement in the second and finally a 6:2 win at the start of the U20 World Championship against a rival from the Czech Republic. Slovak hockey players were particularly satisfied with the team’s strength after the match.
“I also wonder what happened from the 2nd period. We stopped playing and the second goal we conceded ate away at us. However, the basis was discipline. We had too many exclusions, except for fifteen minutes of the first period, it is difficult to judge. Towards the end of this third, we were losing pucks, we were passing them to the Slovaks,” stated Augustus.
The coach admitted the underestimation
“We started to play lightly, we kept the pucks. We thought it would go away because the first period was decent from us. However, the opponent increased the speed, got on the horse and played power plays. The game was hectic, we played weakened and many players did not get into the game,” stated August, who did not spare his charges criticism.
“You can’t play like that, the boys know it, we remind them, but it happened again. Then the opponent gets wings and our confidence is gone.” adds Augusta.
“The guys listened to what was on my mind in the dressing room. Now it’s all over, we have to start preparing for the game in Norway. Every next match will only get harder. And I just want the players to go all out. There were many passages where we were lighthearted. We can’t afford that tomorrow,” concluded the coach.
2023-12-26 16:24:20
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