The Czech Republic received some bad news today as the trio of players made up of Boston Bruins forward David Krejci and San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl, as well as Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas have decided to pull out of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. So far only one replacement has been made with others expected to be announced later today. These subtractions are a huge blow to the Czech Republic who already were considered one of the least likely teams to have any success in the tournament.
Krejci was first to pull out
Krejci was the first player to drop out of the tournament as he felt that he was not ready to play as he continues to recover from off-season hip surgery. Krejci, who is 30, was born in Sternberk of what was then Czechoslovakia. He played 72 games last year for the Bruins where he scored 17 goals and 46 assists for 63 points while accumulating 32 penalty minutes as a top-six center for the team.
https://twitter.com/TSN1040/status/771795420641128450
Cervenka Named Replacement
The replacement named for Krejci was forward Roman Cervenka who will play in the Swiss NLA league next season for HC Fribourg-Gotteron. Cervenka is far better known for his play in Europe splitting time between the KHL and the Czech Extraliga. Cervenka, 30, however, did play a season in the NHL as a member of the Calgary Flames during the 2012-13 season where in 39 games he scored nine goals and eight assists for 17 points while accumulating 14 penalty minutes.
Hertl and Gudas also opt out
The news got worse for the Czech team as later in the day both Sharks forward Tomas Hertl and Flyers Defenceman Radko Gudas would drop also drop out of the tournament. The 22-year-old Hertl was expected to play a big role in the offense after he scored 21 goals and 25 assists during the regular season. He would add an additional six goals and five assists in the playoffs before being injured in the Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburg Penguins and did not return for the remainder of the series.
Radko Gudas the rugged 26-year-old Flyers defenseman originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2010. He has earned a full-time spot on the Bruins last season playing in 76 games scoring five goals and nine assists for 14 points while accumulating 116 penalty minutes.
Another players who will NOT play for team Czech republic at World Cup of Hockey: #Flyers Radko Gudas and #SJSharks Tomas Hertl.
— Roman Jedlicka (@jedli) September 3, 2016
A Big Hit to Czech Team
The injury to Krejci and Hertl is a blow to the Czech Republic a team whose forward depth was already suspect and arguably at a disadvantage to Team Europe and to a lesser extent Team North America who have a far larger group of players to draw replacement players from. The Czech Republic cannot simply replace NHL top-six players like Krejci and Hertl. This is not a slight on Cervenka who has had a very successful career in Europe and has represented the Czech Republic in international play on many occasions. He has played 124 games scoring 33 goals, 40 assists for 73 points including games in the Euro Hockey Tour, IIHF World Championships and the Olympics at both the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and 2014 Sochi Olympic Games.
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