Adéla Šapovalivová, who made a name for herself in international hockey with a couple of brilliant performances for Czechia at the U-18 Women’s World Championships, is showing that she has the skills and drive to compete among the best players in the world at the current IIHF Women’s Worlds in České Budějovice. On Monday, she scored her team’s only goal in a 7-1 loss to Canada – a game that was actually much closer than the final score suggests as it was just 2-1 after 40 minutes.
“I think the first two periods we played a pretty good game against them,” she said. “But then, they scored so many goals in a short amount of time. It’s tough but I think we played a pretty good game.”
She’s also showing that, despite her smaller stature (5’3”, 128 lbs), she’s not afraid to drive to the net or go into into the dirty areas on the ice.
With the Czechs trailing 1-0 just five minutes into the game, the 18-year-old scored a brilliant goal to tie the score, pouncing on a turnover in the Canadian zone and driving hard to the net to tie the score.
“My linemates (Kristýna Kaltounková and Kateřina Mrázová) were forechecking pretty good and I just caught the pass and then I was alone in front of the goalie. I made a move and scored five-hole.
“The atmosphere and to hear the people, it was so nice.”
“Yeah, I’m not the biggest player but I’m not afraid to play against anybody and I’m not afraid to bump someone if they hit our goalie or my teammates. I’d rather play with the puck than fight someone, but sometimes you have to do both.”
She demonstrated exactly that halfway through the third period. By that time the score was 5-1 and, in Šapovalivová’s opinion, venerable Canadian captain Marie-Philippe Poulin put on the brakes a little too close to Czech goalie Michaela Hesová, who had just entered the game. Šapovalivová gave Poulin a shove, knocking her down.
“She sprayed snow on our goalie,” the young Czech reasoned. “She’s not gonna do this. I know that she’s the Canadian captain but still, I think if we did that on their goalie, they would probably kill us. So me and the Ds, we just hit her and said she’s not going to do this. I hope she’s gonna remember.”
Šapovalivová has played the past two seasons in Sweden for MoDo, where she’s been roughly a point-per-game player as a 17- and 18-year-old. She turns 19 in May and she’s committed to playing next season for the University of Wisconsin, where she’ll likely become a teammate of American Laila Edwards.
It’ll also mean she’ll be in closer proximity with her brother, Vegas Golden Knights prospect Matyáš Šapovaliv.
“My brother’s playing in the AHL for the Henderson Silver Knights,” she said. “We’ll be a little bit closer.”