At 21 years of age, defenseman David Špáček is the youngest player on the Czech roster at the IIHF World Championship. He’s also the only player on the team that doesn’t play in Europe or the NHL, with the majority of his season being with the AHL’s Iowa Wild. He was in training camp before any NHL players arrived and his spot was never guaranteed and yet, here he is, not only on the team but on the top power-play unit.
“At first, I just wanted to make my spot on the roster,” the Minnesota Wild prospect said. “I went day by day and I earned my spot. Then the coaches thought I could be good on the power play and I ended up there.”
The Czechs were 2-for-2 on the power play against Austria in a game they eventually won 4-0. In the previous four games they had been 1-for-12. Špáček played a key role on the Czechs’ 2-0 goal on a 4-on-3 late in the second period, passing back and forth with David Tomášek while staying in motion to break down the Austrian triangle.
“We had lots of open ice so we just moved the puck a lot, and we got a cross pass and a one-timer from (Dominik Kubalík), so it should be a goal most of the time,” he explained. “We really needed a goal from the power play and we got two today. That was a huge plus.”
Aware that Austria had come from behind in the third periods of their two previous games against Canada and Finland to take four points, Špáček said that entering the third period, “We just wanted to keep doing what had worked the first two periods. The whole game we just wanted to put the pucks behind them and make them work in their zone. I think we did a good job at that.
“I think overall it was pretty good. We played the way we wanted to play, kept them from getting too many chances, scored some big goals and now we’re looking forward to the next game.”
The next game is against Great Britain on Saturday before closing out the group stage against Canada on Tuesday.
“I think we’re playing pretty well,” said Špáček. “We just have to keep within our structure and if we do that, I think we’ll be alright.”
It appears more help for the power play is on its way as during Friday's game, it was announced that Martin Nečas of the Carolina Hurricanes would be joining the Czech team, probably in time to play Tuesday.
“Martin Nečas is an excellent player,” said Špáček. “He’s in the NHL for a reason and he’s going to be a big help for our team.”