Vojtěch Čihař (left) | Photo: iihf.com
(MINNEAPOLIS, from our reporter) He is playing like a real pusher, after two matches at the MSJ he already has four Canadian points (2+2). Against the Danes, Vojtěch Čihař scored in the 3rd minute. He thus opened the match, which reeked of stiff defensiveness. In the end, the hard hit of Jesper Olesen, who was suspended until the end of the game, also survived.
The main task for the Czech twenty? Change from open hockey with Canada to the style that needs to be played against the Danes – the biggest candidates for relegation. The first goal was especially useful, thanks to it the game opened up. Vojtěch Čihař got him in the 3rd minute with a lucky run in the goal area.
“It was a completely different match, we expected that. Canada opened it up, we played hockey with them. With the Danes, we had to break through their trap in the middle zone. They played a lot for breaks, and they succeeded a few times,” reflected Čihař.
Then he described his second goal of the tournament: “I don’t even know how I managed to get there, but I’m happy for it. Then things broke down a bit, the Danes started to press. But we didn’t let ourselves down, we kept playing our game, and turned it over to our side. We’re happy for that.”
But in the 11th minute, it seemed for a while that the national team might lose one of its leading players. In the middle zone, he caught a hard hit from Jesper Olesen, who went under the shower after consulting the video. “I was just raising my head and he put his hands on me senselessly. Fortunately, nothing happened to me, I have to knock,” Čihař breathed.
“Hits on me and Max Pšenička… I have absolutely no idea what was going through their heads.”
About halfway through the match, the Danes were biting, but before the second break, the Czechs jumped to a three-goal gap, breaking the fierce opponent for good. But they still had to be careful – some interventions were quite possibly over the line.
“The Danes probably tried to provoke us somehow. Hits on me and Max Pšenička… I absolutely do not understand what was going through their heads. They tried to be tough. Maybe they succeeded, but not in a completely fair way,” Čihař reflected and also returned to the tackle on Pšenička from the 26th minute. But he also reached the switch in his own way.
“He caught Mář incredibly well.”
Head coach Patrik Augusta made only one change in the lineup compared to the opener with Canada – Matyáš Mařík stood in goal instead of Michal Oršulák, who covered 27 of 29 shots. “Mář made an incredible catch, we have to give him a big round of applause. He pulled it off perfectly. I’m happy for him that it worked out like that,” concluded Čihař.
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
