Tampere (from our correspondent) – “When I was supposed to be seen today, I wasn’t. Let everyone reach into their conscience if they could have done more or not. And I know that I could have done more,” forward Dominik Kubalík said after the quarterfinal elimination with the USA.
Dominic, what decided the US move?
You can’t win without a goal. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. 0:3 is just wrong. There was no directness from us, we had very few shots, bad activity. It’s disappointing. One suddenly ends. At the same time, I believed that today would be a match that could work out for us, we would push away from it and move on. Unfortunately.
Radim Zohorna literally said that they ran you over at speed. Do you agree?
Yes. Their movement was great. We counted on him, but we couldn’t deal with it. Even in terms of speed, thought and putting the puck off the stick. How many times did they take it against the Plexiglas and two fighters flew after the puck. We did it twice and I and then Červus (Červenka) had a chance. We couldn’t help it, we always want to find something further. When the backs have it, the attackers won’t help them. And then vice versa. This is difficult and I regret the result.
RECORDING: EXTRA HIT with Jiří Šlégr for the match between the Czech Republic and the USA at the Hockey World CupVideo: Sport.cz
Then it was just a spasm, wasn’t it?
Yeah, you’re hitting it as hard as you can. Is trying. We were here and there in the zone. But then again, there are shots and shots. That we would have great chances… I saw it from the switcher, which is harder to comment on than when it’s on TV or from above.
But we can probably agree that two shots in the first period are frighteningly few.
Yeah. And their first goal says it all. That’s exactly how they can help themselves and we couldn’t do it for the whole tournament. We didn’t score a stupid goal that bounces off nothing. It started and such a goal won the match. We didn’t even go for that goal. But if we gave it, it would put a different blood in a person’s veins. On the other hand, I had a chance in the first period, but it was a shot in the stomach.
At the same time, next to you, nobody added much with goals.
I don’t want to rate that. When I needed to score today and the day before yesterday, I didn’t score. For me, it’s nice that the goals in the group were successful, but when I should have scored them, nothing. Today it’s zero and I’m there to score. I feel like I only had one shot on goal.
What is the overall impression of the championship? You have not defeated any of the strong opponents.
But we always managed to pick ourselves up in those matches. I knew that if the team wasn’t doing well, he had it in him to turn the game around. We made some games more difficult for ourselves, but it wasn’t that we didn’t have a chance. Even with Canada, there were flashes, but I can’t explain that we didn’t play more straight, we didn’t skate more, it wasn’t energy.
How the injury to Sedlak and Chytil, your key centers, affected the team.
They were our first centers. The best player of the extra league is difficult to replace, just like players from the NHL. That’s the reality. Let everyone think what they want. Suddenly we were looking for a lineup, a combination. It could have happened to anyone, but it weakened us. We were hooked again and wanted even more.
Didn’t the team play to the limit? Did he just have nothing more to do?
I like to comment on myself and today, when I should have been seen, I was not seen. Let everyone reach into their conscience and say whether they could have done more or not. But I could do more. If we had a shot, we can probably rejoice that we are in the semi-finals. The quarter-finals are the thin ice that determines success and failure. For me, it’s a failure and a disappointment.
