U18 Report: Czech Republic Part 2

Other Players

Lukas Danecek (2006), G

Notes: faced the second-largest workload of all goaltenders (120 min) .. finished seventh among tournament goaltenders in save percentage (.900) .. ranked seventh among tournament goaltenders in GAA (3.50) .. made the second-most saves in the tournament (63) .. started the opening game against Slovakia .. pulled off a decent but unspectacular performance .. butterfly goalie displayed his usual quickness .. traffic in front of him caused him trouble .. returned for his second consecutive start in the next game versus Russia .. registered a solid showing and stopped numerous Russian offensive raids to help his team grabbed a tie .. his athleticism and dexterity frustrated the Russian shooters .. served as the backup for the third game.

Scouting: a pint-sized netminder who plays a butterfly style .. doesn't cover much of the net with his smallish stature .. okay skating and movement in the crease .. quick when moving side-to-side .. decent lateral movement .. agile and competitive .. good athleticism and dexterity .. relies on his quickness and reflexes .. possesses a penchant to flop around in the crease, losing position on occasions .. tends to be wild and speculative at times .. solid glove hand .. tough to beat on the initial shot .. could use better orientation in heavy traffic in front of him .. adequate anticipation of plays .. likes to challenge the shooter .. fully involved in the game and has a winning nature .. needs to upgrade on his play with the stick .. needs to develop an outstanding asset to make up for his severe size drawback and upgrade on consistency.

Jakub Kovar (2006), G

Notes: finished third among tournament goaltenders in save percentage (.946) .. ranked third among tournament goaltenders in GAA (2.00) .. served as the backup for the first two games against Slovakia and Russia .. started the third game against Germany .. registered an above-average performance and helped the Czech team grab the victory .. didn't show any nervousness and looked very poised between the pipes, but wasn't tested by many quality chances of the opponent .. outclasses the starter (Lukas Danecek) in his stickhandling skills.

Scouting: plays more of a standup style .. blessed with adequate skating skills but could use a smoother lateral movement .. average footspeed .. adequate side-to-side movement .. gets back up in a relatively short time when dropping to a butterfly .. uses decent fundamentals and isn't flopping around .. doesn't leave many holes for the shooter to find .. isn't stiff but should work on his resilience and dexterity .. tough to beat on the initial shot .. doesn't allow too many rebounds .. solid orientation in traffic .. decent reflexes and focus .. solid glove hand .. decent anticipation of developing plays .. willing to play the puck often .. moves the puck with poise and confidence .. solid stickhandling skills .. uses his stick well to steal the puck from the opposing forwards.

David Vajda (2006), D

Notes: registered an adequate start in the tournament opener against Slovakia .. displayed a two-way game with decent decision making with the puck .. adequate on the powerplay units, but was hurt by an average top-end speed which limited him against the flashier opponents .. didn't stand out in the second game against Russia .. regularly supported the offense but couldn't punish the opponents with his body effectively .. couldn't avoid positional mistakes when rushing too deep into the zone of the opponent .. faded physically on most of his shifts .. delivered an all-round performance in the final matchup against Germany, but should develop more reliability in the defensive zone .. lack of elite top-end speed was even exposed in the German game .. pulled off an average tournament.

Scouting: the smallish defenseman possesses okay skating skills but a player of his size should upgrade on top-end speed .. displays solid agility and lateral movement .. decent acceleration with okay footspeed .. adequate balance and lower-body strength .. plays a two-way game .. likes to rush the puck and is adept at finding the open man with an accurate pass on a short distance .. doesn't distribute long outlet passes .. displays decent, although inconsistent creativity .. average powerplay quarterback .. should fire harder shots from the point as he has trouble to get his shots through on occasions .. is adequate in is own end, making use of his smarts .. adequate positional play .. his smallish size enables the bigger opponents to outmuscle him quite easily .. can have trouble with handling big players .. gets beaten often along the boards .. an average crease-clearer.

Radim Ostrcil (2007), D

Notes: played a solid opening game against Slovakia .. served as the more creative member from the duo of him and Jakub Korinek .. played with solid diligence but occasional positional gaffes downgraded his rating from very good .. his lack of footspeed was well-exposed in the second game against Russia where he took a step back .. couldn't skate with the fastest opponents and didn't make effective use of his creativity to serve as a two-way force .. didn't throw his body around .. recovered only particially from this unimpressive showing in the third game against Germany .. the game wasn't as fast-paced so his unimpressive footspeed didn't hurt him so much but he needs to dish out more accurate passes to the forwards .. played an okay game on the powerplay units .. didn't shoot the puck often .. deserves an acceptable rating, but wasn't a standout.

Scouting: a decent skater .. possesses okay straightaway speed .. needs to further develop his acceleration and first-step quickness .. average footspeed .. adequate lateral movement .. an offensive minded rearguard .. strongest asset is his ability to join the rush and support the offense .. blessed with above-average offensive vision, but needs to learn when to jump into the play and when to stay back .. an okay stickhandler and a deft passer who is capable of making strong plays .. won't hesitate to unleash his accurate slap shot .. needs to play all of his games at full intensity and determination to avoid occasional uninspired showings .. must prove that he can play a tenacious style and an ability to play the body as his aggressiveness is inconsistent .. should further progress on his defensive zone coverage .. tends to lose his position for a chance to make a play .. needs to stay with his man all the way.

Jakub Korinek (2006), D

Notes: made a number of quick takeaways but wasn't reliable in the defensive zone during the opening game against Slovakia .. jumped into the plays and used the boards effectively to pass the pucks but occasional brain cramps downgraded his rating .. played his worst game of the tournament versus Russia .. couldn't keep the faster opponents under control and was outskated a number of times .. tried to show offensive flair but was prone to bonehead decisions when moving the puck .. bounced back with a better showing against the weaker opponent from Germany, but wasn't a strong factor .. played a better game on powerplays than during the previous game and distributed more precise passes .. positional play was an issue with him in this game .. pulled off an average performance.

Scouting: a decent skater for a player of his size .. adequate acceleration and first-step quickness .. decent agility and lateral movement .. okay lower-body strength and balance .. could use more explosiveness .. supports the offense regularly but is prone to boneheaded mistakes when moving the puck .. distributes crisp passes when the obvious passing lane is present .. doesn't make long outlet passes .. decent stickhandling skills .. capable of quick takeaways .. adequate vision and hockey sense .. sometimes shows trouble with keeping the play in front of him .. unleashes a heavy slap shot, but needs to keep it lower on the ice .. should use his size to his advantage more and be a more constant physical presence .. works down low, but isn't very mean .. occasionally tends to chase opponents all around and could upgrade on his positional play .. average crease-clearer.

Tomas Jurdic (2006), D

Notes: should have made use of his recent senior Extraleague experience but the third-liner wasn't overly impressive .. didn't stand out with any asset in the opening game against Slovakia .. needed to play bigger than his size to be useful against stronger players but refused to get involved in traffic .. regularly made positional mistakes and fuzzy decisions in his own end which hurt him also in the second matchup against Russia .. couldn't find his offensive prowess and while his partner Marek Troncinsky improved on his play Jurdic faded .. was hampered by a lack of elite mobility .. a limited factor in the third game against Germany .. made clear that he is overwhelmed by the pace of the international games .. gets a sub-par rating for his unimpressive performance.

Scouting: an adequate skater who won't jump at you with his mobility .. uses a decent stride and displays above-average balance .. adequate acceleration and straightaway speed .. average top-end speed .. needs to improve on his agility and lateral movement .. slower on his turns .. decent stickhandling skills and hand-eye coordination .. erratic passer, needs to upgrade on the accuracy of the outlet pass .. prone to the odd mistake when moving the puck .. average vision .. unleashes a solid blast from the point, but accuracy is an issue .. unleashes a quick snap shot .. an average defensive force .. needs to keep things simple .. sub-par positional play .. tends to chase players all the way .. questionable hockey sense .. a decent hitter along the boards who is willing to occasionally punish the opposing players .. inconsistent, but determined at clearing the crease .. shoots right.

Adam Falter (2006), D

Notes: the defensive tower of the fourth line registered a disappointing tournament .. proved that his skating isn't sufficient for performing acceptably on the international stage .. a limited factor in the opening game against Slovakia .. couldn't skate with the faster opponents and didn't think the plays fast enough to be useful .. stuck to a conservative defensive play where he couldn't do much damage .. saw a minimum of playing time against the fast Russian players in the second game .. left a big gap between him and the opponent to avoid getting outskated which hurt his effectiveness on defense .. got a bigger share of playing time in the third game against Germany, but pulled off only an average performance .. provided adequate defense but the rest was missing .. played himself out of international consideration.

Scouting: a lanky defenseman with a gangly stride .. possesses only sub-par skating skills .. his stride is too short and not very effective .. average change of pace .. slower on his turns .. decent lower-body strength and balance .. average acceleration .. needs to upgrade on his top-end speed .. uses a long stick to pinch the pucks away from the opponent .. adequate passing skills .. distributes the puck only on a short distance .. prone to the odd mistake when moving the puck .. doesn't have the needed offensive vision to recognize long passing lanes .. dependable in his own end, but lack of mobility limits him against faster opponents .. possesses a massive wingspan and reach .. fires a hard shot from the point but accuracy is an issue .. fits the mold of a friendly giant .. doesn't use his size to his advantage effectively .. should clear the crease with a bigger determination.

Pavel Kubena (2006), LW

Notes: pulled off a diligent performance in the tournament opener against Slovakia .. played a team-orientated game but was hurt on the offensive side by erratic passing .. sacrificed his body to block opposing shots .. the second matchup against Russia helped to reveal his average acceleration .. fired a quick wrist shot and played with a bigger fire than in the junior Extraleague games .. didn't stop battling despite modest size in the third game against Germany but couldn't impress with his ability to create plays .. dangled the puck in traffic .. top-end speed was an issue with him .. needs to get stronger .. paid regular attention to defense in all three tournament games .. surprised with his diligence and puckhandling ability, but should be more productive.

Scouting: a decent skater with solid agility .. needs to further improve on his acceleration and explosiveness .. decent balance for a smallish player .. adequate top-end speed .. possesses smooth puckhandling skills and soft hands .. can sneak past the opposing defensemen with his moves but is inconsistent in one-on-one situations .. decent passing skills .. adequate creativity, but is prone to the odd erratic decision with the puck .. adequate array of shots, but should use his slap shot to a bigger extent .. quick release on both wrist and snap shot .. needs to drive the net harder and be more persistent around the goal area .. shows occasional trouble with battling heavy traffic effectively .. gets involved along the boards and mucks for the pucks but lacks consistency in this asset .. decent defensive awareness .. returns to his own end quickly .. shoots right.