Sepp Blatter assembled a small group of shoppers and tourists from outside the league office near the corner of Strobelgasse and Schulerstade in Vienna Tuesday to make an announcement concerning the upcoming World Cup of Hockey.
“We are awarding Team Czech team to Chuck … (no applause from the crowd) “ announced the EURO League’s director of discipline and player safety “… because the two words sound almost identical. It’s uncanny, really, how similar they sound. If we had a GM named Schmeeden, he or she would have gotten the Swedish team.”
The logic for Blatter’s decision isn’t sound, but Team Czech’s goaltending will be. Massaro already named the tentative members of the team he will put on the ice and with Alexander Salak (Moscow Dynamo) and Jakub Kovar (Edinburgh Capitals) in goal, the team could steal a game or two from the tourney favorites.
The Kovar brothers, Jan (left) and Jakub, shown in their KHL days will represent the Czech Republic in the upcoming World Cup of Hockey tournament in Bern.
Actually, Team Czech Republic can put some offensive pressure on teams as well. Nearly every forward Massaro named has Websim OV ratings of 80 or higher – not that those ratings will translate exactly in EA Sports, which will be used to simulate the games.
Look for Team Czech to put together lines from these 12 forwards: Jan Kovar, David Krejci, Ondrej Palat, Milan Gulas, Jakub Voracek, David Pastrnak, Tomas Hertl, Martin Hanzal, Jakub Petruzalek, Josef Vasicek, Martin Ruzicka and Petr Vrana.
Where the team will surely fail is in the six-man defense corps, where the country is producing exactly no top-tier defensemen. Radko Gudas and young Vladimir Roth will probably form the top pairing, with Roman Polak, Karel Rachunek, Ladislav Smid and Jindrich Barak also invited to play. Rachunek, who won a Cup with Geneva in Season 1, is not on any EURO roster this season, but Massaro said his puck-moving ability and leadership are definitely needed for this tournament.
Spare players who will travel to Bern with the team are Milan Michalek, Jiri Tlusty, Vladimir Sobotka, defenseman Jakub Krejcik and goalie Michal Neuvirth.
