2024-05-08 10:56:04
Forward Tomáš Hertl will not join the national team at the domestic hockey world championship despite the Vegas team being eliminated in the 1st round of the NHL playoffs.
The general manager of the national team, Petr Nedvěd, announced before today’s first training session in the O2 arena that the club did not release the player. On the contrary, he confirmed the arrival of David Kämpf from Toronto.
“Unfortunately, Tomáš Hertl will not join the team. He was interested in coming, we had an agreement, but the club did not allow us to do so. It is a huge loss for us, we were looking forward to him, but unfortunately… We have to respect that,” said Nedvěd.
He admitted that Hertl’s recent knee surgery played a role, even though the Tampere 2022 WC bronze medalist played six regular-season games and then all seven of the playoff series against Dallas (3-4 per games) after recovering.
Since being traded from San Jose two months ago, he has five points on three goals and two assists. His eight-year, $65.1 million contract runs through 2030.
“Tomáš is, of course, an investment for Vegas for the next six years. Although he played in the playoffs and played about twenty minutes, he had a large portion on the ice, but that knee is not 100 percent. And I kind of suspected that this would happen, that the club would will take a negative view of it and will not want him to play at the World Cup,” said Nedvěd.
Kämpf, on the other hand, passed the exit medical examination and interviews in Toronto and is on his way to the Czech Republic. The twenty-nine-year-old striker should join coach Radim Rulík on Thursday.
“He flew from overseas, he should be in Prague tomorrow afternoon and he will join us for training on Thursday,” said Nedvěd.
The Maple Leafs failed the same way as the Golden Knights, who were defending the Stanley Cup, in the seven-game series. They tied with Boston from 1:3 to 3:3, but then David Pastrňák ended their season in overtime of the decisive battle. Kämpf played 78 games in the regular season and scored 19 points (8+11). He added a goal in seven playoff starts.
There are now three goalkeepers, eight defenders and 14 forwards in the squad of the Czech team, which started training at the World Cup venue today. Kämpf joins as the twenty-sixth. 25 hockey players can participate in the tournament. In addition, the representatives of the Czech team have already announced that they will probably still leave room for possible additional reinforcements from overseas. “We know who will be out of the game when David (Kämpf) actually joins us, but we will keep it to ourselves,” said Nedvěd.
The championship will start in Prague and Ostrava on Friday. The Czech team will start against Finland on the opening game day at 20:20.