U17 WHC: My Favorite Martin

Team Czech Republic had their moments, both good and bad, finishing in seventh place at the World Hockey Challenge in Lethbridge. However, Martin Latal made scouts take notice of his blazing speed and uncanny ability to turn almost any offensive-zone foray into a scoring chance. We have notes on Latal and a number of his teammates.

Patrik Prokop (2006), D

Defensive awareness is still a concern of Jiri Suchy's partner .. was caught up the ice after an ill-timed attempt at keeping the puck in and was unable to get back in to the play .. mediocre acceleration and overall skating ability .. gets knocked off his feet a bit too easily .. sometimes loses position on his check .. has a good wrist shot which he used when he pinched pinched up while killing a penalty .. fairly accurate passer .. gets caught out of position often leading to many odd man rushes .. U-17 totals (5-0-3-3-4).

Jakub Korinek (2006), D

Solid on his skates .. took a poor penalty away from the play .. partnered with Karel Kubat .. went way out of position to deliver a hit and was subsequently caught up the ice .. played on the PK .. will carry the puck, but has limited effectiveness due to his lack of vision .. he's an average overall skater, although his first few strides are choppy .. has decent mobility and acceleration .. U-17 totals (5-0-2-2-4).

Michal Kazatel (2006), C

Not blessed with elite overall speed, however is still a very good skater with above average mobility and acceleration .. centered the top line of Martin Latal and Jiri Tlusty .. feathered a sweet pass to an open teammate who unfortunately shot wide .. looks to pass first .. strong in the faceoff circle and when he does lose he can be counted on to take the opposing center .. displays excellent puck pursuit .. couldn't handle a long breakaway pass .. played on both special teams .. U-17 totals (5-1-2-3-0).

Martin Latal (2006), RW

Led the Czech's in assists and was second on the team in points and arguably the most exciting player at the World Hockey Challenge .. played on the top line with Michal Kazatel and Jiri Tlusty .. blessed with an amazingly accurate wrist shot .. turns on a dime and can stickhandle in a phonebooth .. blazing overall speed .. almost snuck a wrist shot over the glove from the top of the slot .. a mainstay on the powerplay .. always dangerous in the offensive zone .. not opposed to being a little chippy .. sometimes displays too much emotion or displeasure when mistakes are made by teammates .. has exceptional vision and can feather passes to his linemates .. doesn't pay a lot of attention to his own zone and can sometimes look downright disinterested without the puck .. at his best when playing with fire .. willing to take punishment in front to score .. rang a wrist shot off the crossbar .. takes the pass at full speed and without breaking stride .. major areas of concern are his discipline, defensive coverage and size .. as mentioned although he's not big by any means, he has great lower body strength and when combined with his elite speed can be used to beat defender's one-on-one .. supports the puckcarrier .. unlike some of his teammates, Latal never gave up when his team was on the bad side of loss .. U-17 totals (5-2-5-7-4).

Jiri Suchy (2006), D

Very mobile blueline plays with some grit .. partnered with Patrik Prokop .. excellent point shot that seems to explode off his stick .. takes the body well and rubs guys out along the wall .. appears to be his defensive pairing's defensive conscience .. on the penalty-kill .. looked a bit awkward rushing with the puck, although it was late in a shift .. dished out a terrific breakout pass .. pinched in and flubbed on a fantastic chance in the slot .. made a beautiful play stripping the puck away from a player on an two-on-one .. created another scoring chance off of a quality point shot .. jumped up for a hit and took himself out of position .. lost some composure when his team was out of it .. hits with authority .. U-17 totals (4-0-0-0-6).

Jiri Tlusty (2006), LW

The captain of the Czechs led the team in goals and points .. played on the top line with Michal Kazatel and Martin Latal .. places the pass right on the tape .. scored a goal that was more the result of a very poor play by the goaltender than anything Tlusty did .. very good mobility and overall speed, which allows him to be effective on the forecheck .. will pay the price in front of the net .. went down to block a shot .. got little behind a wrister from the high slot .. played on both special teams and saw a lot of ice on even man situations .. U-17 totals (5-5-4-9-4).

Michal Neuwirth (2006), G

Although not all that big, listed at 5'9, he does not seem to leave a lot of holes and remains fairly square to the shooter when he moves side-to-side .. as one would expect given his size he is very agile .. was beaten over his glove when he went down to early .. was pulled after 20 minutes, but his replacement faired no better on that day .. U-17 totals (5-2-2-1).