In the past few days, Finland and Sweden have both named their rosters for the upcoming Karjala Cup tournament. On Wednesday, it was the Czechs’ turn.
The Czechs have chosen a relatively young team that bears little resemblance to the one that won gold on home ice at the 2024 IIHF World Championship back in May. As is the case with the other participating teams, the national associations usually use these in-season tournaments to have a look at players they are considering for the Worlds rather than players who are locks to make it.
“I have communicated with all the players who were at the World Championship and are not part of this team,” said head coach Radim Rulík, specifically mentioning captain Roman Červenka, assuring that their absence doesn’t mean they’ve fallen out of consideration.
Making his national team debut will be 34-year-old goaltender Ondřej Kacetl, who has backstopped Oceláři Třinec to the last two Extraliga championships. According to Rulík, his stellar play in the playoffs has earned him this opportunity.
“Ondřej Kacetl has clearly demonstrated in the past few seasons that he can prepare for important games,” said Rulík. “We want to see how he does, even if it’s not March or April yet.”
The 27 players include 14 from the Czech Extraliga, nine from Finland’s Liiga, three from Switzerland’s National League and one from the Swedish Hockey League. Right winger David Tomášek, also from the SHL, was originally named to the team but pulled out with a minor injury.
Other than Tomášek, some of the more prominent names on the team are ex-NHLers Filip Zadina and Radim Zohorna, who both play in Switzerland.
The Karjala Cup is the first leg of the 2024-25 Euro Hockey Tour. Although most of the tournament will be played in Finland, the Czechs will open at home in Karlovy Vary against Sweden on Nov 7 before heading to Helsinki for games against host Finland and Switzerland on Nov 9 and 10.
Goaltenders: Ondřej Kacetl (HC Oceláři Třinec), Jakub Málek (Ilves Tampere, FIN).
Defensemen: Daniel Gazda (Ilves Tampere, FIN), Martin Jandus (Kärpät Oulu, FIN), Jan Košťálek (HC Vítkovice), Ronald Knot (IFK Helsinki, FIN), Radek Kučeřík (Ässät Pori, FIN), Dominik Mašín (HC Sparta Prague), Filip Pyrochta (BK Mladá Boleslav), Jan Ščotka (HC Kometa Brno), Jiří Ticháček (Rytíři Kladno), Libor Zábranský (Pelicans Lahti, FIN).
Forwards: Martin Kaut, Jáchym Kondelík, (both HC Dynamo Pardubice), Kryštof Hrabík, Pavel Kousal (both HC Sparta Prague), Ondřej Beránek (HC Energie Karlovy Vary), Jakub Flek (HC Kometa Brno), Marek Kalus (HC Vítkovice), Matyáš Kantner (KalPa Kuopio, FIN), Michal Kovařčík (Kärpät Oulu, FIN), Michael Špaček (Geneve-Servette, SUI), Petr Kodýtek (IFK Helsinki, FIN), Daniel Voženílek (EV Zug, SUI), Radim Zohorna (HC Lugano, SUI), Radan Lenc (HV71, SWE), Michal Kunc (HC Olomouc).
General Manager: Jiří Šlégr. Head Coach: Radim Rulík. Assistant Coaches: Marek Židlický, Jiří Kalous, Tomáš Plekanec. Goaltending Coach: Ondřej Pavelec.
UPDATE: Several changes have been made to the roster since its original publication. Updates to the article have been made accordingly.