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The long-awaited start of the Hlinka Gretzka Cup is here! The tournament of the best hockey players under the age of eighteen will start on Monday, August 2. The Břeclav Group A will start with a duel between Finland and Russia (15:30 CET). Czech fan should not miss the evening match of home players against Switzerland (19:00 CET).
The August tournament in Břeclav and Piešťany is known as a show of the greatest hockey talents. And that´s why many scouts always come to Břeclav. They will be present for sure on the afternoon match between Finland and Russia.
Why? Because the biggest jewel of the year 2004, Matvej Mičkov, shows his art in a Russian jersey. "New Ovechkin" shone at the U18 World Championship in May. He also recoreded two points in Saturday´s friendly against Slovakia, which the Russians dominated 9:3.
Finns will have work with another promising striker, Ivan Mirošničenko, who recorded four points on Saturday. However, the Finns will present themselves with their classic style, a cohesive team game based on skating, precise defense and adherence to tactics.
Both teams clashed three months ago at the World Championships, when the Russians won 6:5.
If you do not find your way to Břeclav in person, the match will be available on this link from 15:30 CET.
The home players will challenge the representatives of the Helvetic Cross
For the Czech fans, the main event is planned on the evening, when the Czechs will face Switzerland.
They have already played three times against this tough opponent in the new season. And each time they celebrated success, specifically they won 6: 5 in overtime, 3: 0 and 6: 2.
In addition, the Czech Republic has been doing well at the Hlinka Gretzka Cup in recent years. Since 2013, home country has the same number of medals as Russians and Swedes and even more than Americans or Finns.
Momentarily, Czech hockey has been waiting for the medal from this tournament for three years. Therefore, the players themselves have an even greater desire to succeed.
But in Saturday´s general they lost to the USA 3:5. Home coach Jakub Petr said: “The match showed us exactly what we needed. Progress was seen throughout the match, the boys responded to our instructions. But we also made unnecessary mistakes.”
Otherwise, he could be relatively satisfied. The Czechs caused problems to their opponent by active movement and forchecking, they won battles and created promising situations.
“Yeah, we had lot of chances. The best teams would use them, but we did not manage to score more,” described coach Petr. Will his boys improve their performance against Switzerland?
You can watch the match on this link from 19:00 CET.