Ostersund 2016: Czech Republic Team Preview

What you need to know about Czech Republic prior to the 2016 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey European Championships, Ostersund, Sweden. 30 Mar 2016

Jan Matousek at the 2015 IPC Ice Sledge Hockey World Championships A-Pool in Buffalo, USA.

ⒸBill Wippert

By Kim McGreal | For the IPC

During the last European Championships in 2011, an extremely strong Czech Republic team came top of their group during the preliminaries after winning each game, and came away with a silver medal after falling to Italy in the final. More recently, in the World Championships A-Pool in 2015, the team struggled against powerhouses USA and Canada and finished seventh. However, they certainly should not be discounted during this tournament.

Key players

The netminding tandem of Michal Vapenka and Jan Matousek provide a solid defensive base for the team, while two-time Paralympian Michal Geier may well take charge at the other end of the ice.

Roster

Jiri Berger

Pavel Dolezal

Michal Geier

Zdenek Habl

Miroslav Hrbek

Zdenek Krupicka

Pavel Kubes

Jan Matousek

Martin Novak

David Palat

Jiri Raul