Czech hockey team to arrive Thursday
Des Moines Tribune
Friday, 12-16-81
By Don Clasen
The Czechs are coming, the Czechs are coming!
Despite the current unrest in neighboring Poland, the Czechoslovakian Junior A hockey team is to arrive here Thursday for a Saturday game against the Des Moines Buccaneers at the Ice Arena.
Bucs General Manager-Coach Ivan Prediger said Tuesday that the 7:30 p.m. contest will serve as a warmup for the Czechs, who will compete in the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior championships Dec. 22 through Jan. 2 in Minnesota and Canada.
Prediger said the tournament will feature the world's top hockey players under the age of 20.
Besides the Czechs, who currently are in fifth place in the world standings with a 12-12-7 record, teams from the United States, Russia, Sweden, Finland, Canada, Switzerland and West Germany are expected to complete.
In 31 games played since 1977, the Soviet Union leads the world competition with a 27-3-1 mark. Sweden is second at 18-8-5 and then come Canada (19-10-2) and Finland (16-13-2). The US, with a 11-18-2 record, trails the Czechs.
The Czech squad, plus coaches, trainer, doctor and other team officials, is expected to arrive at the Des Moines Airport at 4:55 p.m. Thursday. The group is booked at the Hilton West and is to hold several practices here.
A banquet is planned for the team and Bucs officials at the Embassy Club in downtown Moines at 9:30 p.m. Thursday.
Prediger pointed out, however, that all plans except for the game are tentative, pending the approval of Czech officials accompanying the team.
Prediger and Bucs Captain Myles Hart probably will quickly recognize one of the 25 Czech players. He is Ivan Dornic, a 6-foot, 190-pound winger who played against the United States Hockey League All-Stars last April in Leysin, Switzerland.
In three games in Switzerland, Dornic scored three goals and had an assist. The US. team defeated the Czechs, 8-3, in the final of the tournament to prevent them from taking permanent possession of an expensive trophy.
"Myles will remember him (Dornic)," Prediger said, "because they tangled on the ice."
How formidable will the Czechs be? Plenty, because they're the best Junior A players from a nation that now boasts some of the top hockey players in the world.
For example, brothers Peter Anton and Marion Stastny of the Quebec Nordiques are among the top young players in the National Hockey League. Last week Peter was tied for third in scoring and Marion was ninth.
The Stastnys, along with Martin Maglay, a goalie with the Bratislava team that competed in Switzerland last spring, undoubtedly are a touchy subject with the Czechs because they all defected to the U.S. and Canada.
After the defection of Maglay during the Swiss tournament, Czech officials put a tighter clamp on the young players.
Before the Czechs left Leysin, their loaded bus was seen parked outside the Leysin Ice Center for several hours with the doors padlocked.
Meanwhile, the Bucs, who lifted their record to 8-10-1 with last Saturday's four-point victory over St. Paul, play Friday night at Sioux City.
USHL Standings |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM | W | L | T | GF | GA | PTS |
| Bloomington | 14 | 8 | 0 | 125 | 101 | 28 |
| Dubuque | 13 | 8 | 0 | 126 | 108 | 28 |
| Sioux City | 13 | 7 | 1 | 117 | 101 | 27 |
| St. Paul | 12 | 11 | 0 | 133 | 117 | 24 |
| Des Moines | 8 | 10 | 1 | 95 | 103 | 17 |
| Austin | 6 | 15 | 0 | 91 | 122 | 15 |
| Waterloo | 5 | 13 | 0 | 71 | 106 | 13 |
FRIDAY NIGHT'S GAMES
Des Moines at Sioux City
Waterloo at St. Paul
SATURDAY NIGHT'S GAMES
Czech Nationals at Des Moines
Waterloo at Dubuque
SUNDAY'S GAMES
Austin at Dubuque