GLOSS: Less is (sometimes) more. Perhaps changes in representation will not destroy what works

Coach Miloš Říha talked about the team’s skeleton for almost the entire season, summoned almost the same players to the preparatory tournaments, did not experiment until his championship was available at a time in Bratislava (2019), when more than a dozen NHL players were available. Over time, he did not regret it, but he sensed that the intervention in the team was considerable, especially when he saw that the Finns had won the title with exactly its original idea – that is, the European core.

Filip Pešán felt the same way last year when his team stepped on the preparation, but then, after the arrival of overseas reinforcements, he was unable to catch up with the team and thus decided the axis of the original team.

No, this text is not meant to be a cheap criticism that Nedvěd and Jalonen are destabilizing the team by calling seven NHL players, including Yashkin, for example. However, coach Kari Jalonen also claims: “We have a system and we will put players who come into it because our system works.”

But what else should he say, right?

However, the text is about a warning of what the influx of new players can cause, especially when this year the basic part of the NHL ends much later than in the past. And that the advertising slogan for one drink, which now runs on television during matches and claims that “less is more”, is not so stupid. For almost a month now, certain roles have been looming in the current team, someone is a leader, another a hard worker, another is on the edge and is grateful for every day that survives at the national team. However, by calling seven of the NHL, David Krejčí and four extra-league finalists, the structure of the team and a certain team spirit can change or even lose very sharply.

If we take into account the overseas seven, then a certain advantage is that it is a strengthening of all three positions and a good half of the players are reinforcements in the true sense of the word. On the other hand, it may be strange for European players that, at least to prepare for Sweden, Dmitry Yashkin, who has scored one assist in the NHL and has lost more than he has played in the entire season. And that he only goes there because he himself called manager Nedvěd that he wanted to try it.

I don’t know how many other players are called to the national team based on their wishes …

However, Yashkin has so far played two world championships (2018 and 2019), in which – especially in the Danish – he did very well. And that’s probably why they give him that chance.

On the other hand, there is Jakub Vrána, whose point average per match remained at the level of Hertl and Voráček after his recovery in the NHL, and his artillery skills are indisputable. But in the last two championships, he always wandered the line-up, and his performances and ratings for the fans were rather strange. And his case also shows how difficult it is now to rebuild the representation and find the right roles.

Because whatever we argue about, the guys from America or a player like Krejčí will not – whatever rhetoric he chooses – accept the role of the hard workers or waiters from the rostrum. Now add to this the fact that Nedvěd et al. they will closely monitor the development of the 1st round of the Stanley Cup in order to call in other players who would like to fix the taste for elimination in Finland. And even from the current selection, at least three more names will have to be deleted.

Hockey players who have done well in Ostrava may ask themselves: “Was this effort worth it at all?” No, General Manager Nedvěd did a decent job. He got players from America whose hockey biography definitely exceeds most of those from the Ostrava selection. Coach Jalonen did not look at his previous merits and has now eliminated the seasoned backs of Jeřábek or Šulák.

But don’t forget, sometimes there is less.