Ostrava 2019: Czech warm up at Slovakia Cup

Czech Republic’s preparations for the Ostrava 2019 World Para Ice Hockey Championships continues with a visit to neighbours Slovakia.

The city of Dolny Kubin hosts the three-team Slovakia Cup until Thursday including the home nation, the Czech and Germany

Czech Republic face Germany in the opening game and then the play against Slovakia. The hosts take on the Germans on the final game on Thursday.

Before the trip to Dolny Kubin, the Czech national team took part in a two-day practice in Ostrava with Nagano 1998 Olympic champion David Moravec and former National Hockey League (NHL) players Martin Prusek and Rotislav Klesla

“These guys have incredible speed. That's really crazy what they can do with their hands. I have to say that I met para hockey for the first time and I was surprised how dynamically the guys played,” Klesla said.

This is the second preparatory competition for the Czech this year ahead of the World Championships. In January, the team beat Japan and host Sweden twice each to win the Ostersund Cup.

Slovakia and Germany are currently in the World Championships B Pool. The Slovaks took part at the Torino International Tournament in January finishing third behind South Korea and hosts Italy and ahead of Norway.

The tournament in Dolny Kubin also includes a World Para Ice Hockey Technical Delegate course supported by the Agitos Foundation through the Grant Support Programme (GSP) with participants from six countries.

The Ostrava World Championships kicks off in one month's time. The hosts are in Group B along with Italy, Japan and Sweden.

Defending champions Canada, PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic champions USA, South Korea and Norway are in Group A.