12 NHLers On Czech Olympic Roster

The Czech Ice Hockey Association announced the rosters for its men’s and women’s Olympic teams on Tuesday at a press conference in Prague.

The 25-player men’s roster includes 12 active NHLers, six players from the Czech Extraliga, three from Switzerland’s National League, two from the Swedish Hockey League, and one each from the Finnish Liiga and the AHL. Nine of their European-based players have NHL experienced and one – David Tomášek, only recently returned to Sweden from the Edmonton Oilers.

This makes the Czechs the first major hockey power to rely heavily on European-based talent, as Canada, the USA, Sweden and Finland have only one European-based player combined. It invokes memories of 1998 in Nagano, when the Czechs took a roster that was heavy on players based in Europe and won the gold medal.

The Czechs look solid in goal with three NHLers, but their corps of defensemen might be a bit more unknown.

“We have the fewest players in the NHL on defense,” head coach Radim Rulík acknowledged. “We know that we have two players playing there regularly and the third is in the minors. We think that it is a balanced composition. We have two young guys there who we have already proven on an international scale, and then we have some experienced d-men.”

As for the group of forwards, Rulík acknowledged that there were more options and the staff decided to go with players that are experienced with the national team, particularly over the past two seasons in the Euro Hockey Tour and World Championships.

Kubalík, Červenka, Rutta Headline Czech Roster On Euro Hockey Tour Veterans Dominik Kubalík and Roman Červenka lead a Czech squad fighting for Olympic roster spots in the final Euro Hockey Tour evaluation.

“We chose players that we know, who showed great mental toughness, great character in a difficult tournament, and we believe that there is a great chance that they will create the right chemistry and that the team will be a team and we believe that with this composition we have a great chance to achieve that,” he said.

Notable omissions from the roster are forwards Filip Chytil – who has been injured since early in the season – Adam Klapka and Jiří Kulich and defenseman David Jiříček. All of the players could be options to be added to the roster if injuries occur.

Speaking about Jiříček, GM Jiří Šlegr said, “He hasn't played (in the NHL) since the trade with Hughes on Dec. 21, and now he has started two games on the farm. We didn’t have a chance to try him out because they didn’t release him to us from the AHL for the World Championship. We needed him to play regularly on our team up top, which didn’t work out and he doesn't have a stable position.”

Team Sweden Announces Olympic Roster for Milan Team Sweden has announced its roster for the upcoming Olympic Games in Milan. The squad features plenty of NHL experience, including Victor Hedman, William Nylander, and Gabriel Landeskog.

GOALTENDERS

Lukáš Dostál (Anaheim Ducks – NHL)
Daniel Vladař (Philadelphia Flyers – NHL)
Karel Vejmelka (Utah Mammoth – NHL)

DEFENSEMEN

Radko Gudas (Anaheim Ducks – NHL)
Tomáš Kundrátek (HC Oceláři Třinec – CZE)
Michal Kempný (Brynäs IF – SWE)
Jan Rutta (Geneve-Servette HC – SUI)
David Špaček (Iowa Wild – AHL)
Filip Hronek (Vancouver Canucks – NHL)
Jiří Ticháček (Kärpat Oulu – FIN)
Radim Šimek (Bílí Tygři Liberec – CZE)

FORWARDS

David Pastrňák (Boston Bruins – NHL)
Roman Červenka (HC Dynamo Pardubice – CZE)
Martin Nečas (Colorado Avalanche – NHL)
Dominik Kubalík (EV Zug – SUI)
Jakub Flek (HC Kometa Brno – CZE)
Lukáš Sedlák (HC Dynamo Pardubice – CZE)
 Ondřej Palát (New Jersey Devils – NHL)
Pavel Zacha (Boston Bruins – NHL)
Tomáš Hertl (Vegas Golden Knights – NHL)
David Kämpf (Vancouver Canucks – NHL)
Ondřej Kaše (HC Litvínov – CZE)
Radek Faksa (Dallas Stars – NHL)
David Tomášek (Färjested BK – SWE)
Matěj Stránský (HC Davos – SUI)

Finland Unveils Olympic Hockey Roster Finland named its Olympic hockey roster for Milan, led by Aho, Rantanen and Saros, with 24 NHL players, while injured star Barkov misses out.