Czech Republic: Under-18 Junior Cup Coverage
August 10-15, 2004; Czech Republic/Slovakia
Czech Republic (Silver Medal)
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The Czechs pulled off a nice surprise, fighting their way into the final, ultimately winning the silver medal. Although the 87 birth year is widely considered to be an average one for Czech prospects, the team seemed to jelled well and was undefeated until the pivotal match against Canada. Four key players were missing from the lineup, including studs Jakub Kindl and Michael Kolarz, both of whom will be playing in the CHL next season. Vladimir Sobotka and Michael Frolik were not released by their respective Extraleague clubs.
Top performers
Jakub Vojta, D
Tops among Czech defensemen in scoring and sixth overall (5-2-1) .. scored on two of his six shots on goal .. Possesses above-average straightaway speed and very good first step quickness .. adequate laterally .. an offensive-minded defenseman who tends to join the rush and support the offense .. a strong puckhandler with very polished moves with the puck .. smart and creative .. exceptional vision and hockey sense .. excels as a powerplay quarterback .. willing to let go of his slap shot, but mut keep it lower to the ice .. nice poise and calmness, but must use his body to a greater extent, at open ice and along the boards .. versatile and plays the wing position well when needed .. seemed to lack motivation in the juniors, but looked very much in it at this tourney .. shoots right.
Top scoring Czech, but was only tenth overall in points (5-2-2-4) .. top faceoff man among the Czechs (.6695) .. led the tournament in shots on goal (20) .. Progress by leaps and bounds in his skating during the offseason .. demonstrated good acceleration, quickness and agility for a big man .. must bulk up his lower body .. very smooth with the puck and impresses with nice hand-eye coordination .. handles heavy traffic well; stays on his feet and is willing to work hard .. has a good head on his shoulders and excellent playmaking instincts .. defensively aware and uses his reach to knock down the puck .. impresses with a quick, snappy wrist shot; lacks accuracy on the slap shot .. likes to shoot, but needs to refine his in-close finishing skills .. nice strong arms .. has to be more physically assertive; timing on checks is not there yet .. strong on faceoffs; takes all the key draws.
Finished second among Czechs in scoring (5-0-4-4) and 13th overall .. A slick skater with excellent agility and sharp first-step quickness .. possesses above-average speed .. has soft hands and smooth puck skills .. surprisingly strong on the puck despite a small frame .. willing to execute in traffic and battles in the trenches, although not a physical force .. an imaginative passer complements scorers well on his line .. great vision and hockey sense .. needs to improve his defensive intensity.
Posted the tournament's second best save percentage (.9538) as well as the second best goals against average (0.75), appearing in four games .. Average-sized netminder with excellent reflexes and anticipation .. very athletic and impresses with superb dexterity .. very quick in the crease due to strong skating ability .. gets up and down quickly .. tends to leave the upper shelf of the net open, due to his tendency to get down .. needs to quicken his glove hand .. rebound control is a little raw .. average stickhandler.
Other players
Jakub Cerny, F
Above-average skater with a good burst of speed and impressive agility .. moves feet quickly and consistently .. maneuvers in traffic very well due to his nice reach, excellent stickhandling skills and nice hand-eye coordination .. has a good eye for the game and positions himself effectively for scoring opportunities .. possesses a quick, crisp wrist shot, but has to shoot more often .. decent playmaker, but thrives more with the puck on his stick .. physically raw and gets outmuscled in tight corner battles .. a pleasant surprise so far.
Good straightaway speed and decent acceleration .. agility and turns are rough .. sound offensive flair .. an above-average stickhandler and a deft passer, but often careless with the puck, which leads to turnovers .. suffers from odd positional breakdowns .. has to learn to stay with his man all the way .. shows a nice, hard slap shot with average accuracy .. willing to play the body, but is not mean .. up and down in the tournament.
a very good skater with deceptive quickness and agility .. strong bursts of speed .. explosive changes of pace .. a crafty playmaker who sets up good plays .. smooth puckhandling skills .. tenacious forechecker .. quick accurate wrist shot .. slap shot lacks hardness .. doesn't tend to take the odd shift off .. bounces off bigger opponents and isn't effective in traffic .. not a significant factor in his own zone .. more was expected from the player who skated with the Under-18 team already last year, wasn't a significant force even against European opponents.
A tall, athletic goalie .. has nice, quick feet and moves in the net relatively freely .. needs to get back up faster when getting down to a butterfly .. average glove hand .. competitive, but gets stiff under pressure and in traffic .. shows a penchant for allowing the odd soft goal .. struggles with the puck; leaves it for his teammates to handle .. did not look out of place until the final, where he was pulled.
Good skater; solid backwards and laterally .. accelerates adequately; better top-end speed would be to his advantage .. very poised when he stays back and jumps into the rush at appropriate times .. creative and sees the ice fairly well .. has a good handle on the puck, but is not yet very strong on it .. shows a sharp release on his slapshot, with average accuracy .. not aggressive on defense, preferring to reply on his smarts and vision .. did well, but was overshadowed by Vojta for the whole tournament.
David Kveton, F
Shows a quick change and pace and deceptive quickness .. very nice acceleration, but top speed is only okay .. swift puckhandler with soft hands .. likes to penetrate into the offensive zone at full speed while in possession of the puck .. smart and makes passes tape-to-tape .. has a crisp, accurate wrister .. very skinny and not a significant physical force .. keeps his head down too much, which is a bad habit.
Nice footspeed and acceleration .. lacks a bit of balance in his stride as he is very light on his feet .. good top-end speed .. a nifty stickhandler with good, but not great, offensive instincts .. very solid and elusive in one-on-one situations .. has a quick wrister with a fast release .. does not show enough of his hard slap shot .. an asset on powerplay units due to his soft hands .. does not initiate physical contact .. too frequently gets knocked off the puck by opponents .. sub-par defensive awareness .. needs to show more poise and fight through his nervousness .. so far the best international showing for this guy.
Adequate skater; rough footspeed and acceleration .. reliable in a stay-at-home role .. sound positionally; stays with his man and can take the body at open ice .. effective when keeps things simple .. sometimes struggles with pace, partly due to his skating and in part due to average offensive instincts .. does not make long passes, but is decent in close range .. average with the puck; hands are nothing to write home about .. has a hard, low shot from the point .. he gets involved, but needs to get meaner .. had a good start to the tournament, but started to unravel a little bit as he got more tired.
Average skater who needs to develop a smoother stride and greater bursts of speed .. balanced and strong .. throws his frame around; a good crease clearer .. a force in his own end due to smart positional play and a long reach .. clears space and takes his man out of the play .. lacks elite vision needed to emerge as a two-way force .. average puck skills .. heavy slapshot misses the mark too often .. 88-born was steady, but did not contribute offensively.
A fluid skater with quick feet and sharp acceleration .. loves to stickhandle, but tends to hang on to the puck for too long .. very smooth on the puck with soft hands .. does not possess elite vision and is at times mistake-prone .. needs to be more persistent around the goal area .. must utilize his body more and bulk up .. tends to wander in the defensive end .. missed linemate Sobotka at the event.
Jiri Tlusty, F
A balanced skater with very strong legs, but with average agility .. sticks his nose into traffic and is very aggressive along the boards .. contributes defensively and blocks opponents’ scoring lanes effectively .. does not possess soft hands and is not very smooth on the puck .. possesses an average variety of shots; not a natural finisher .. has to shoot more often .. did not stand out much at the tournament, for better or for worse.
Average skater but shows surprising agility for his size .. has an awkward strides and has difficulty accelerating .. needs to bulk up his lower body .. so-so hands and puckhandling skills .. neither quick nor savvy enough to win in one-on-one situations .. has a very nice, hard, strong slap shot .. should use his good size to his advantage along the boards .. hockey sense and vision did not impress, although he is willing to come back and help out the defense .. replaced the absent Vladimir Sobotka at the tournament.
Small, but has great wheels .. superb change of pace and excellent acceleration .. fast backwards and moves well laterally .. joins the rush, but not at the detriment of his defensive duties .. strong stickhandler and an accurate outlet passer .. qb's the powerplay .. does not have powerful shooting skills .. very consistent and safe; you don't see many glaring errors for him .. hard worker, but gets humbled down low .. got better as the tournament wore on.