It is not only the Slovak team being at home, but also the Czech team will be feeling like at home and relying on many of their fans coming for the U18 Worlds. At the beginning of February 2017, the Czech U18 national team had a game rehearsal in Sundsvall, Sweden.

The Czech team lost the first games against Sweden, Finland and the USA but blanked Russia 4-0 in the last game. “We had some problems with transition to counterattack during our first three games. We should play better. But I am satisfied with our last game against Russia,” said head coach Patrik Augusta.

The team leaders of the Czech team for the upcoming Worlds in Slovakia (13-23 April 2017) could be players such as Martin Necas, Filip Zadina or Martin Kaut. What does the coach think about their performance on the ice? “I do not want to start with judgment of each player. The team is always on first place. But they showed us that they are very quality players. Filip Zadina is a scorer and he shows it on every tournament he is part of it,” the coach said.

Coach Augusta already knows some key players that will perform at the Worlds. “Every international game is helping me to decide,“ said Augusta. “We do sport to get higher with our ambitions. It is not important to say we were good after losing a one-goal game. Our aim is always to win the game,” he added.

Last year the Czech team finished in the quarter-finals and took the seventh place at the U18 Worlds in Grand Forks, USA. At the upcoming U18 World Championship in Slovakia they will be part of Group B in Spisska Nova Ves. Their opponents will be teams from Sweden, the United States, Russia and Belarus.