There was a big surprise at the Ice Hockey World Championships when Norway knocked out the Czech Republic, the world champion from two years ago.
Norway, the big surprise of the World Cup, secured its place in the quarterfinals when it defeated the Czech Republic 4–1 in Monday’s afternoon match.
In the Czech Republic, the surprising defeat was not well received. The country’s big sports website iSport let fire in its own “Lions & Sheep” section when the Czech players ended up being the target of an avalanche of criticism.
The site distributed grades on a scale of 1–10. Goalkeeper Dominik Pavlat, who represented the SM league club Ilve in recent years, received a cruel grade of 2.
– Difficult start when he immediately let the second shot behind his back. Dropped pucks and didn’t seem very confident, the website criticized.
Czech goalkeeper Dominik Pavlat (pictured on the right), known from the SM League, was on the export in Monday’s match against Norway. EPA / AOP
Another well-known entity from the SM league also received criticism. Center forward Michal Kovarcik, who previously excelled in Kärpi and Jukurei, was in serious trouble in the opening set.
– The beginning is like a bad dream. At first he didn’t get it right [Filip] Hron too received a tragic pass and then attacked weakly, which gave Norway a 2–0 lead, Kovarkiki was set up.
Like Pavlat, Kovarcik got a grade two.
The same numerical assessment was also given to the number one name of the Czech team, Hronek, defender of the NHL club Vancouver Canucks.
– Not his day. First, he played too risky and then overattacked, iSport notes.
Czech NHL defenseman Filip Hronek fumbled in the Norway match. EPA/AOP
The most blatant avalanche of all was aimed at a contract player of the NHL club Boston Bruins to Matej Blümelwho was dropped in the Czech Republic’s foursome in the Norway match.
The head coach of the Czech Republic also received his own criticism Radim Rulik.
– Why does Rulik even put him in the lineup when he’s in the lowest chain? He can’t get anything done there. The draw is his forte, but what if he can’t pull it off? Goodbye, iSport announced sharply.
The Czech Republic will face Canada in the final round of the preliminary series. The match starts at the same time as the meeting between the Lions and Switzerland, i.e. at 21:20 Finnish time.
Goals of the Czech-Norway match:
