With Czechia’s roster, most expected to see the host nation jump over Finland once and for all and challenge for not only bronze, but to move closer to Canada and USA for gold and silver.
It hasn’t happened yet. It could still in this tournament, but at the moment, Czechia does not look like the team many expected.
It begs the question, what the heck(ia) happened to Czechia?
The Rust Is Showing
While Czechia has more PWHL players on their roster than any team outside Canada and the USA, it hasn’t helped. In fact, the PWHL impact on European teams has been negative thus far. Noemi Neuabauerova appeared in 20 games this season for the Toronto Sceptres, but played a total of 89:47 across those games. It’s an average of less than five minutes per game. She hadn’t played since March 19, after which Toronto put her on their reserve roster. But in the month of March, Neubauerova only played 5:13 total in two games. She’s not alone as players like Klara Hymlarova and Daniela Pejsova have seen limited minutes, and in the case of Pejsova, Boston has done everything they can to stifle her development, including using her as a wing.
In net, Klara Peslarova has only played two periods in the PWHL all season, and Boston didn’t intend to give her those either. She came in in relief and earned a shutout and a win in the process. Peslarova looked good in Czechia’s opener, but they needed to rest her against USA to avoid fatigue or injury after having spent the majority of the season watching her team from the stands. That rust showed against Finland, but at no fault of her own.
Mrazova isn’t fully recovered
Katerina Mrazova has been Czechia’s best forward for years. This season Tereza Vanisova has emerged as a threat to that position, and Kristyna Kaltounkova looks poised to be Czechia’s best yet, but Mrazova remains a key piece to Czechia’s roster. They quite simply are not the same team without her as they are with her. It’s why Mrazova did everything she could, including returning a bit premature. It was very important for Mrazova to play in front of her home fans, and represent Czechia in Czechia. She was rested against USA, and with only Canada remaining before the medal round, it will be interesting to see if Carla MacLeod continues to manage her top line forward (for the Ottawa Charge as well).
They have the confidence, but now they need more
Czechia has skyrocketed up the international ladder. A big portion of that is the confidence Carla MacLeod gave her roster. Whether it was a big loss, a tight win, if everything went well, or if they faced disaster, MacLeod put a positive spin on it and showed her team what they were capable of, even if they didn’t believe it. Now, it’s time for more. Czechia can’t progress farther on good vibes alone. They need more. Finland simply played better, more structural hockey in their 4-2 win over Czechia. Finland had strong back pressure on pucks. They collapsed around their net to take away chances from Czechia. At the lines, it was simple exits and entries without the risk. Finland had good positioning along the walls, and their defenders stayed home making low risk plays, and made sure their pucks made it through from the point. On the other side, Czechia looked disjointed.
The one bit of coordination you could see in Czechia’s attack was on the power play as they attempted to feed Kristyna Kaltounkova over and over in the right circle. Eventually Kaltounkova scored, but 5-on-5, Czechia didn’t have it. Adela Sapovalivova continued to show that she’s about to be an elite player globally, and Natalie Mlynkova continues to impress. Czechia has the tools, but they need an engineer to properly deploy them.
