Although the management of the national team is still waiting for the development of the goalkeepers in the NHL, where, for example, Vítek Vaněček or Pavel Francouz are in the game, it seems that the current trio of Hrubec, Langhamer and Vejmelka (will join on Friday) is the most likely choice of the coaches. And even if goalkeeper coach Zdeněk Orct assigns them any position, so…
Just think back to last year. Langhamer was number three, but then Lukáš Dostál got injured soon after, and when the team was losing to the Americans after the first period in the fight for third place, the coaches replaced Vejmelka, and it was Langhamer who could finally raise his arms in victory on the ice in the medal match .
“When there is an extra league playoff now, I see footage on TV. And so I remember. It was very emotional, and I think we all felt the stone come off us. It was a very big experience, even for me in Tampere, when I felt that people were cheering for me, even when we played against Finland,” says the goalkeeper, who worked for the local club Ilves for two seasons and won bronze there twice.
So actually three times, because in addition to the two leagues, he also added one from the World Cup.
And although this time the national team will have asylum in the Latvian Riga in the basic group, the championship will culminate in the medal matches in Tampere. Therefore, if Langhamer et al. returned, it would be a very good sign. “But we have to go into the matches with humility and try to win every single one of them. And we’ll see where it takes us.”
Langhamer would also take the “trip” to Tampere as a big farewell. He will not continue in Finland, his new station is the Swedish Oskarshamn, perhaps because even though the club’s season ended with bronze, it was anything but. “We looked a little higher, but we missed some aspects in the team. I would say that the cohesion was not what a title team needs and we lacked goals up front. Of course third place is also an achievement and we are happy to have won the bronze medal game.”
Yes, from a domestic point of view, an unconventional league duel for bronze is being played in Finland. “It’s a fight of the disappointed. But you have to wait a week for it, and when you lose in the semifinals, the only thing you want to do is go home and not see your hockey stick and equipment for half a year,” says Langhamer.
Photo: Vlastimil Vacek, Law
Czech goalkeeper Marek Langhamer during the Euro Hockey Tour match with Sweden.
There is, of course, an exaggeration, because the match for the bronze medal was played last Thursday, the goalkeeper flew home on Monday and already applied for Jalonen’s services on Tuesday, knowing that he had no certainty of the final nomination. “Each of us goalkeepers will try to do their best for the team and we’ll see what happens. We are in the national team, where it is something like the playoffs, when the team needs a victory and it does not matter who is in goal or who scores a goal. We can get along there in peace.”
In short, the journey to Tampere for Langhamer starts on Thursday in Vienna…
