Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
With his home country as the reigning world champions, David Pastrnak would have liked to see the NHL expand the field for next February’s international tournament in five squads and, technically, six nations, by including a throwback Czechoslovakian squad.
The 4 Nations Face-Off will certainly be more muted without the charismatic Pastrnak. It also would have been thrilling to see Martin Necas in the spotlight while he’s in the midst of a breakout season that currently has him tied for fifth in NHL scoring.
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— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 24, 2024
After winning gold for Czechia in Prague last spring, Pastrnak said that he would have liked to see a combined roster of Czech and Slovak players get invited.
“Czech and Slovakia used to be Czechoslovakia — same country, right?” he said on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast. “I think it would be kind of cool if we brought it back for some tournament because Czechoslovakia — we could have put a good team together.”
The idea isn’t that far-fetched. Czechia and Slovakia split into two separate countries in what was termed the ‘Velvet Divorce’ in 1993, four years after the region moved on from communist rule in ‘the Velvet Revolution.’
The separation of the former Czechoslovakia was non-violent, and the two countries have maintained a neighborly relationship, according to Pastrnak.
“Unless you play against each other, you kind of cheer on each other, right?” he said. “I don’t mind Slovaks. We speak the same language — it’s very similar. So I think that would be kind of a good idea, and I think we could have put a really good team together.”
Other than Russia, which continues to be banned from international competition by the IIHF, the four countries taking part in the 4 Nations Face-Off are the only ones who have enough players in the NHL to field a full roster of 20 skaters and three goalies.
If the Czechs and Slovaks joined forces, they’d also be in pretty good shape.
Here’s the size of the player pool that they would have been picking from, based on players who have suited up for at least one NHL game this season, through Nov. 15.
- Czechia: 15 forwards, 5 defensemen, 6 goalies
- Slovakia: 4 forwards, 3 defensemen, 0 goalies
Slovakia has just seven players in the NHL this season, but that’s enough to give a modern-day Czechoslovakia team a talent pool that’s almost the same size as Finland’s.
Here’s how the participating nations break down.
- Canada: 199 forwards, 110 defensemen, 20 goalies
- USA: 134 forwards, 81 defensemen, 16 goalies
- Sweden: 41 forwards, 24 defensemen, 8 goalies
- Finland: 25 forwards, 9 defensemen, 8 goalies
When putting together the structure for the 4 Nations Face-Off, organizers elected to keep things simple.
There are just seven games: a three-game round-robin for each team, and a championship game for bragging rights. The whole thing runs over just nine days.
One more team would have made for a larger preliminary round. More games would have meant more gate revenue and more hype when building toward the title game.
And Pastrnak’s right. Between the two nations, there’s enough talent available to field a pretty solid roster.
Related: 4 Nations Face-Off: Connor Bedard, Jack Hughes Lead Hypothetical Team North America
Put together a hypothetical 23-man roster for Czechoslovakia and you’ve got a dynamic top nine with scoring chops, a bruising defense and a solid collection of goaltending options, including one of the NHL’s brightest young talents.
Slovak players are listed in italics.
Forwards
- Ondrej Palat – Pavel Zacha – David Pastrnak
- Juraj Slafkovsky – Martin Necas – David Kampf
- Radek Faksa – Tomas Hertl – Jiri Kulich
- Jakub Lauko – Martin Pospisil – Tomas Tatar
Extra: Filip Chytil
These groupings keep the Czechs’ top line from the world championship together, as well as the duo of Necas and Kampf.
Pospisil can deliver grit on a forechecking fourth line with the veteran Tatar and pesky Lauko.
If Chytil’s healthy, he makes the roster. If not, Jakub Vrana draws in.
Defense
- Martin Fehervary – Filip Hronek
- Jan Rutta – Erik Cernak
- John Ludvig – Radko Gudas
Extra: Simon Nemec
A shortage of natural lefties vaults Fehervary into the top-pairing role. It also earns John Ludvig a spot on the third pair even though he has been a frequent healthy scratch with the Colorado Avalanche this season.
Rutta gets moved to the left side to play with his former Tampa Bay Lightning teammate, Cernak.
Goal
- Lukas Dostal
- Petr Mrazek
- Karel Vejmelka
The NHL hasn’t had a Slovak goalie since Jaroslav Halak hung up his skates just over a year ago.
These are the same three netminders who won world championship gold for the Czechs, with Dostal taking over the starter’s job and claiming tournament MVP honors.
The 24-year-old is off to another sparkling start this season, with a league-leading 11.1 goals saved above expected per MoneyPuck.com.
Mrazek and Vejmelka also have solid personal numbers this season. If either falters, Dan Vladar is waiting in the wings.
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News Summary:
- Could A Team Czechoslovakia Have Contended At The 4-Nations Face-off?
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