Strong Czechs win Ostersund Open

An unbeaten Czech Republic kicked off the year in style by winning the Para Ice Hockey Ostersund Open in Sweden.

The six-day tournament also featured the host nation and Japan and served as a warm-up for the World Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic, from 27 April to 4 May.

The three teams faced each other twice and Sweden finished in second place following two victories over Japan and two defeats to the Czechs.

The Worlds hosts showed total dominance scoring 18 goals and conceding only two in four matches.

A member of the Czech team the last time the country hosted the Worlds in 2009, Zdenek Habl, was the tournament’s top-scorer with six goals – following a hat-trick in the 4-1 win over Japan in the last match.

The 36-year-old only failed to score in the first game against the Japanese (3-0) and was followed by teammate Zdenek Krupicka, who scored five goals in the competition.