The men's national team will face Slovakia after a long break! I'm looking forward to the training, said Mašík

In mid-August 14.-15.8. the men's national team together with the national team of juniors under 21 will meet at the hockey stadium in Litomyšl. The training will include two friendly duels with Slovakia. The men's national team coach invited 28 players, including goalkeepers, with his colleagues.

Due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, the senior world championship has been rescheduled to 2022, when Czech players should attend the championship in Canada. Time passes quickly and the August preparation will be extremely important for the national team. "Covid has shortened our preparation very much, which is why this event is already very important to us, "emphasizes Jiří Mašík, the head coach of the men's national team. "There will not be so much time for preparation, the next camp should be in December and then in February," he reveals.

As every world championship, which takes place overseas, it is extremely demanding on the organization and puts a lot of pressure on the early final nomination due to visas, etc. "We know from experience that the nomination to Canada is have to be given 1-2 months in advance," points out Mašík . "So choosing the right players and putting the team together will be a matter of about three training sessions and, of course, a thorough monitoring of the players next season," realizes the head coach of the national team. "This year's one will not show us that much, moreover, the players had a long break and are just getting back to the form," adds Mašík.

There is not much time to prepare for the world championship. "In addition, the summer training will be shortened this year due to the matches until July. It will depend on the players how they will approach it and how they will work on themselves beyond training," points out Jiří Mašík, who is already looking towards the first camp after a long time. "I'm really looking forward to the camp, to meet the boys again after a long time and start preparing for Canada. I believe that we will meet in full squad. In addition, there will be a former U20 players with us and we will watch a few adepts that we will want to try. Maybe this will happen in Litomyšl as well,“ Mašík does not hide.