Kubalík, Zadina, Zohorna, Zbořil, Smejkal, Červenka Highlight Czech Roster For Swiss Hockey Games

The Czech Ice Hockey Association has named a list of 27 players that will be on its roster for the upcoming Swiss Hockey Games, which will be the second leg of the 2024-25 Euro Hockey Tour. The Czechs finished second in the first leg in Helsinki with wins over Sweden and Switzerland sandwiched around a loss to the host Finns. 

The squad includes 17 players from the Czech Extraliga, five from Switzerland’s National League, four from Finland’s Liiga and one from the Swedish Hockey League.

The Czechs are the last of the four teams to announce their roster, with Finland, Sweden and host Switzerland already doing so. 

The Czechs will open the Swiss Hockey Games on home ice in Pardubice on Thursday, Dec. 12 and then travel to Fribourg, Switzerland to play the Swedes and Swiss on the weekend. The Czech squad includes seven players from first-place Dynamo Pardubice and, from the explanation given by coach Radim Rulík, the team intends to use those players in their home game but take a different roster to Switzerland, which would explain the large number of players overall.

“For teams that do not play in the Champions League, a break of more than 14 days is a long time and it’s not easy to fall out of the pace of the game for that long,” Rulík said at the press conference. “We don’t overload the players.”

He added that another reason for the high number of Pardubice is that “signed three national team players who previously played for other clubs, so logically there have been more of them selected.”

Of the seven Pardubice players, Roman Červenka, Jiří Smejkal and Jakub Zbořil all signed with the club either last summer or since the start of this season.

The Czech roster also includes ex-NHLers Filip Zadina, Radim Zohorna and Dominik Kubalík, who all signed in Switzerland last summer, reflecting a recent trend of top Swiss teams outspending the rest of Europe for top non-NHL talent.

The squad also includes 26-year-old goalie Jakub Kořenář, who played 12 NHL games with the San Jose Sharks and Arizona Coyotes and whose NHL rights are still owned by Utah HC, and 25-year-old right winger Martin Kaut, who played 56 NHL games for the Colorado Avalanche and the Sharks, who retain his NHL rights.

Goaltenders: Josef Kořenář (HC Sparta Prague), Šimon Zajíček (HC Litvínov).

Defensemen: Libor Hájek, Jakub Zbořil (both HC Dynamo Pardubice), Daniel Gazda (Ilves Tampere, FIN), Jakub Krejčík (HC Sparta Prague), Ronald Knot (IFK Helsinki, FIN), Jan Košťálek (HC Vítkovice), Tomáš Kundrátek (HC Oceláři Třinec), Filip Pyrochta (BK Mladá Boleslav), Jakub Sirota (HC Olomouc), Libor Zábranský (Lahti Pelicans, FIN).

Forwards: Martin Kaut, Jáchym Kondelík, Lukáš Sedlák, Jiří Smejkal (all HC Dynamo Pardubice), Ondřej Beránek (HC Energie Karlovy Vary), Jakub Flek (HC Kometa Brno), Filip Chlapík (HC Sparta Prague), Michal Kovařčík (Kärpät Oulu, FIN), Ondřej Kovařčík (HC Oceláři Třinec), Dominik Kubalík (HC Ambri-Piotta, SUI), Matěj Stránský (HC Davos, SUI), Michael Špaček (HC Sparta Prague), David Tomášek (Färjestad BK, SWE), Daniel Voženílek (EV Zug, SUI), Filip Zadina (HC Davos, SUI).

UPDATE: Since the original roster was announced, forwards Roman Červenka and Radim Zohorna have both been deleted due to injuries. They have been replaced by Ondřej Kovařčík and Michael Špaček.