Comment | In Prague, we saw one of the World Cup shows of all time – the words of the Finnish boss now seem laughable

Prague

This the evening will be remembered. The World Cup final between the Czech Republic and Switzerland, played late on Sunday in Prague’s O2 arena, was the most deafening experience in a long time in terms of atmosphere.

During the corona years and a couple of years of home racing, I had time to forget what the World Cup charm and drug is like at its best.

A crazy show went on in the O2-arena for almost three hours, when a full house, almost 17,500 spectators started the party in the stands.

Elected as the president of the ice hockey association in the winter Heikki Hietanen a year ago, praised the atmosphere of the Tampere World Cup home games in Leijoni’s games as “great”. No, it wasn’t a great atmosphere a year ago.

It was in Prague. Throughout the Games. The Czech audience, who are passionate about the game, set a perfect example of what it means when the atmosphere is on the roof at the Czech matches. Sometimes it felt like the roof was coming off in the deafening cabin.

The Czech charm contests came to a perfect conclusion when the Czech Republic marched to the World Cup gold with a 2–0 victory in a wild final thriller.

The fact that the most adored active player in the country, an NHL superstar, adds to the story David Pastrňák scored the winning goal in the final. The golden goal was Pastrňák’s only one of the tournament.

In fantastic the World Cup final played in the atmosphere was a huge thing for both finalists. The Czech Republic and Switzerland have not been traditional champions at the World Cup level in recent years.

14 long years have passed since the Czech Republic’s previous World Cup gold. The Czech Republic last won gold in the spring of 2010 in Cologne. At that time, the core body was formed by players born in the 1970s and 1980s.

Of the fresh gold team, only a decent old one Roman Cervenka38, was already on the spring 2010 champion team.

For Switzerland, it was only the third place in the country’s history. The previous final places (2013 and 2018) were sensational achievements, but this time’s final place failed to surprise.

The Czech Republic and Switzerland progressing to the finals was the best thing that has happened to the World Cup in a long time.

It is only good that new challengers are rising in the giants’ footsteps. Canada and Finland have dominated international hockey in turn in recent years. It is never an optimal situation that only a few big countries hang on to power.

International hockey needs more new blood to challenge the big countries. Especially now that Russia is in trouble.

The Czech Republic a passionate country like that could have a lot of unused potential, a strong cultural background and enough player mass to reach the next level.

As a traditional ice hockey country, the Czech Republic won championships in recent years and in some places dominated international ice hockey, but since the 2010s, the Czech Republic has declined badly.

Czech hockey lived in a stagnant state for a long time, as a result of which the Czech Republic was helplessly left behind by the big leagues. When player production slowed down, the Czech Republic had to rely on the same core players for an unnecessarily long time in value competitions and tear everything out of them.

The worst trough in Czech hockey is slowly but surely breaking.

The stardom of yesteryear is now a distant memory. This season, more than a dozen Czech field players played in the standard field in the NHL. There were six goalkeepers playing in the first or second box.

Boston Bruins goal gun Pastrňák, who jumped on the gold train in the middle of the home games, has been a big loner in the Czech puck for a long time, but there are still cautious signs of a better tomorrow in the air.

11 NHL players played in the Czech champion team, three of which were veterans. You can only count from the MM group as the names of the future by Martin Nečas25, and the best boxer of the Games Lukáš Dostálinthe 23rd World Cup gold was secured with NHL experience and the roars of the Czech series.

The Czech Republic the championship also had a shy Finnish touch. In previous years, the Czech Republic was known as an impulsive counterattacking team, but this cliché no longer applies.

Kari Jalonen shades of the national team training period (2022–2023) can be seen in the current playing style of the Czech Republic. Jalonen brought consistency and discipline to the five-a-side game. On top of these elements, the current head coach Radim Rulík has brought strong direct attacking play and versatile attacking.

Even though the World Cup ice did not yet provide insight into the future of Czech puck, there are good things going on in the country’s puck.

In recent years, a few top juniors from the country have been reserved for the NHL. The budding boom season can already be seen at the youth level.

The Czech Republic has played in the medal games at the World Youth Championships for the past three seasons in a row. Last season, the Czech Republic finished in U20 silver, and this season they won bronze at the expense of Finland.

The championship of the home games will surely bring more new lift and a new kind of boom to Czech hockey, but the Czech Republic still has a long way to go to join the giants.

Switzerland has been tickling the giants’ heels since the early 2010s, but with the exception of individual spurts, Switzerland has not been able to establish its place among the big countries.

In recent years, on paper, Switzerland has been one of the tournament’s greats, as the air bridge towards the NHL is very strong. The national team shirt has a very high value in the eyes of the Swiss NHL stars.

This season, nine Swiss field players and one goalkeeper played in the NHL. Of these, seven went to the World Cup, which means that out of ten Swiss NHL players, practically all of them who were capable of a nail were representing their country at the World Cup.

Among Switzerland’s top players, only the New Jersey Devils forward Timo Meier was missing from this spring’s WC group. He was also sidelined due to shoulder surgery.

Switzerland still can’t match the number of NHL players, but the quality is great.

The captain of the Nashville Predators and one of the best defenders in the world Roman Josi was the brightest superstar of the Games. Los Angeles Kings scoring streak Kevin Fiala played a top tournament. Captain of the New Jersey Devils Nico Hischier led the attack convincingly in the mid lane.

You also have to be amazed at the patience of the Swiss Hockey Association. The head coach Patrick Fischer moved behind the national team bench in December 2015 when he replaced Glen Hanlon’s. Fischer, 48, has been piloting Switzerland for nine seasons in a row. In Leijon, a similar arrangement would seem completely incomprehensible.

In addition to top individuals, continuity is certainly one of the Swiss’ strengths, but that does not mean standing still. Switzerland’s gaming identity has changed over the past few years.

In the past, Switzerland relied on physical, fast-paced and straightforward hockey. In recent years, Finnish features have entered Switzerland’s game, which can be seen in a more disciplined defensive play (yes, Switzerland also relies on the trap) and a smarter rhythm of the game.

When the NHL’s top players commit to this tuned template, the result was almost maximal this spring.