U20 hockey toilet | Rulik before the junior championship: we have to keep the boys down to earth and get the best out of them

So what is the advantage and what is the disadvantage?

I remember the year 2000, when Jarda Holík and I went to the World Cup in Sweden, and in the first match we had the Slovaks, for whom, for example, Gáborík played. The year before they were third in the league and now they had ten guys who were there so they thought they had an even better place. In the end, they just bailed out because their heads were in the clouds. Later it also happened to the Finns. It’s simply a young category where the head plays a huge role. As coaches we will do our best to keep them grounded and get the best out of them.

Is he also a threat to the Czech team?

At the last tournament in Poruba, I saw with the guys who were in the championship that it’s not like that anymore… Experience doesn’t play such an important role in this category. It’s about dedication whether he jumps headfirst into the bullet or not. If they go the extra mile. The little things make all the difference, and the most important thing is how they set it up in their head. If they think something will work without going against it, without going all the way, the competition today is so big that the team can lose against anyone. In 2000 it was not so equal, the teams of Germany, Latvia or Austria did not have the strength they have now.

You already said in August that until you have 80 percent of the players on the team working on farms in the NHL or elsewhere in adult hockey, you can’t talk about a medal. But even now five players play regularly in the extra-national league. Why?

We have that quality abroad. A lot of guys would play in that league, but they preferred youngsters from overseas, which is a diametrically different situation to Sweden or Finland, who have that quality at home. There he chooses a different path. Quality matches are played in the overseas juniors, but we need to increase the number of 18 and 19-year-old players in the extra league in the future. However, it’s something I can’t control.

Do players still distrust the Czech education system?

If those players could get to the level of getting 18 to 20 minutes of ice on a regular basis, then there’s a chance for them to stick. But they don’t believe it, so they leave. It’s more of a question for the agents, because I don’t send them there and they probably know what the main reasons for leaving are. They don’t believe they can win such a position here and by playing more there, they think they have a better chance of success.

You are also a league coach. Can you tell a 16-year-old boy that you’re watching it and that you’re going to try it in two years?

Let me give the example of Jirka Kulich, who left Vary because he signed a contract with the NHL (now plays on the farm and will strengthen the junior national team at the World Cup, just like David Jiříček). If there were guys like that here, the coaches would definitely put them in and give them space. It’s more about nurturing those players and trying to get as many of them as possible.

In August you finished fourth in the championship, is there a chance of medals now?

I won’t give a statement, I did this last time and the players felt a bit that I didn’t trust them (Rulík said: The article about the medal scared me. We can’t talk about it now). I can’t even guess. In August the tournament was in the unplayed part of the year, now it’s the other way around. If we had fifteen first-round picks on the team, I might venture a prediction.

You are leaving Pardubice for a while, how will you follow the non-league events from Canada?

We have three quality coaches, so I think the boys (Richard Král and Marek Zadina) will take over. We worked in three, now there will be two and at least the players will get some rest from me. I can watch the matches, but I only spend some time in Pardubice, because I can’t be front runner for two places. If anything is needed, I will be available for the coaches to discuss. Sure, you can’t breathe, there’s no room to rest, but I went for it.

I’m outdoing myself, but will he stay in this dual role?

We’ll see what happens, but this option could happen.

I also ask because the president of the association, Alois Hadamczik, speaks of you with respect and said that he wants to have 20 extra league coaches.