Martin Nečas Says Yes; Czechs Take 25 To Denmark

Derek O'Brien

May 6, 2025

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Derek O'Brien

May 6, 2025

Updated at May 11, 2025, 12:19

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Martin Nečas playing for the Colorado Avalanche in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. © Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Czech roster for the upcoming IIHF World Championship is starting to come together. A week ago, David Pastrňák confirmed he would play and on Tuesday, at the team’s end-of-season press conference, Colorado Avalanche GM Chris McFarlane confirmed that Martin Nečas would be going as well.

“Marty Nečas is going to Worlds,” he said.

Having Pastrňák and Nečas on the team gives the Czechs two of the NHL’s top 19 scorers from this past season. They also both wear number 88 for their NHL teams. Last year, when questioned about wearing 98 for the Czechs during the World Championship in Prague, Ne čas, expressing hope that Pastrňák would soon join, said, “I left it for another player, if you know who I mean. If he makes it here, his number’s waiting for him.”

Pastrňák and Nečas are two of 13 returnees from the team that won gold on home ice last year. That brings the roster to 25 players that will head to Herning, Denmark, for Czechia’s first game of the tournament on Friday against Switzerland.

Multiple Czech media outlets reported on Monday that David Pastrňák
has finally agreed to play for his home country in this year’s
IIHF World Championship. Czech national team GM Jiří
Šlégr confirmed the news after the team’s practise.

thehockeynews.comPastrnak Will Play For Czechs In Worlds, But Not This Weekend In Euro Hockey Tour Multiple Czech media outlets reported on Monday that David Pastrňák has finally agreed to play for his home country in this year’s IIHF World Championship. Czech national team GM Jiří Šlégr confirmed the news after the team’s practise.

Goaltenders: Daniel Vladař (Calgary Flames, NHL), Karel Vejmelka (Utah HC, NHL), Josef Kořenář (HC Sparta Prague).

Defensemen: Filip Pyrochta (BK Mladá Boleslav), Tomáš Kundrátek (HC Oceláři Třinec), Jakub Krejčík ( HC Sparta Prague), David Špaček (Iowa Wild, AHL / Minnesota Wild), Filip Hronek (Vancouver Canucks, NHL), Daniel Gazda (Ilves Tampere, Finland), Libor Hájek (HC Dynamo Pardubice), Jiří Ticháček (Rytíři Kladno).

Forwards: Ondřej Beránek (HC Energie Karlovy Vary), Petr Kodýtek (IFK Helsinki, Finland), Ondřej Kovařčík (HC Oceláři Třinec), Daniel Voženílek (EV Zug, Switzerland), Matěj Stránský, Filip Zadina (both HC Davos), Michael Špaček (HC Sparta Prague), David Pastrňák, Jakub Lauko (Boston Bruins, NHL), Adam Klapka (Calgary Wranglers, AHL / Calgary Flames), Jakub Flek (HC Kometa Brno), Lukáš Sedlák, Jáchym Kondelík, Roman Červenka (all HC Dynamo Pardubice), Martin Nečas (Colorado Avalanche, NHL).

Team Staff

General Manager: Jiří Šlégr, Manager: Milan Hnilička, Head Coach: Radim Rulík, Assistant Coaches: Marek Židlický, Jiří Kalous, Tomáš Plekanec, Goaltending Coach: Ondřej Pavelec.

Canada originally named 15 players to the team it will take to this
year’s IIHF World Championship in Sweden and Denmark. On Sunday,
after the team played a pre-tournament game in Vienna against
Austria, Hockey Canada announced that Sidney Crosby would join the team. Also on Sunday, a day after his Colorado Avalanche were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, The Athletic reported that Nathan MacKinnon will join the team as well. Then on Monday, goaltender Marc-André Fleury announced that he would also go to play in his first-ever World Championship.

thehockeynews.comCrosby, MacKinnon, Fleury Bring Canada’s World Championship Roster Up To 18 Canada originally named 15 players to the team it will take to this year’s IIHF World Championship in Sweden and Denmark. On Sunday, after the team played a pre-tournament game in Vienna against Austria, Hockey Canada announced that Sidney Crosby would join the team. Also on Sunday, a day after his Colorado Avalanche were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs, The Athletic reported that Nathan MacKinnon will join the team as well. Then on Monday, goaltender Marc-André Fleury announced that he would also go to play in his first-ever World Championship.