{"id":368,"date":"2016-09-03T14:58:42","date_gmt":"2016-09-03T18:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/?p=368"},"modified":"2016-09-03T14:58:42","modified_gmt":"2016-09-03T18:58:42","slug":"czech-republic-takes-a-hit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2016\/09\/03\/czech-republic-takes-a-hit\/","title":{"rendered":"Czech Republic Takes a Hit"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Czech Republic<\/strong> received some bad news today as the trio of players made up of Boston Bruins forward\u00a0David Krejci<\/strong><\/a> and San Jose Sharks forward\u00a0Tomas Hertl<\/strong><\/a>, as well as Philadelphia Flyers<\/strong> defenseman Radko Gudas<\/strong><\/a> have decided to pull out of the 2016 World Cup of Hockey<\/strong>. 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.<\/p>\n

Krejci was first to pull out<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/TSN1040\/status\/771795420641128450<\/p>\n

Cervenka Named Replacement<\/h2>\n

The replacement\u00a0named for Krejci was forward Roman Cervenka<\/a><\/strong> who will play in the Swiss NLA<\/strong> league next season for HC Fribourg-Gotteron<\/strong>. Cervenka is far better known for his play in Europe splitting time between the\u00a0KHL<\/strong>\u00a0and the Czech Extraliga<\/strong>. Cervenka, 30, however, did play a season in the NHL<\/strong><\/a> as a member of the Calgary Flames<\/strong> during the 2012-13 season where in 39 games he scored nine goals and eight assists for 17 points while accumulating 14 penalty minutes.<\/p>\n

Hertl and Gudas also opt out<\/h2>\n

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\u00a0also 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.<\/p>\n

Radko Gudas the rugged 26-year-old Flyers\u00a0defenseman originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/strong> in 2010. \u00a0He 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.<\/p>\n

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Another players who will NOT play for team Czech republic at World Cup of Hockey: #Flyers<\/a> Radko Gudas and #SJSharks<\/a> Tomas Hertl.<\/p>\n

— Roman Jedlicka (@jedli) September 3, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n