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Comparing Two Elite National Teams
In the world of sports, the victors are known by their grit, talent and sometimes a bit of luck. The Czech Republic has clashed severally with the USA on the hockey fields, and on each occasion it has been an intense showdown. The Czech Republic hockey team is known for their intimidating performance no matter the scores, and that has often resulted in more wins for them.
The Czech Republic men’s hockey team is known as one of the “Big Six” – the six strongest national men’s hockey teams. The team stands shoulder to shoulder with champions such as Canada, USA, Russia, Finland and Sweden. On multiple occasions Czech Republic men’s hockey team has thrown off USA’s stronghand in hockey games, and that’s a feat that many national hockey teams hope to replicate.
Even the Czech Republic women’s hockey team is not laid back. In the 2022 Olympic Games earlier, the Czech Republic women’s hockey team held off the USA’s team in a scoreless first half. For context, the USA women’s hockey team was the champion of the 2018 Olympic Games women’s hockey tournament.
Hockey in The Czech Republic
Hockey has been a passion sport in Czech Republic since the first decade of the 1900’s. But its history dates even further back into the 1800’s. Although it was largely different from today’s hockey, it has evolved over the years without the people’s passion waning. Back in the early 1900’s, hockey was known as “bandy hokej” and it involved skaters shooting a ball with golf-like swings – much like traditional hockey. However, “bandy hokej” didn’t involve guiding a puck across the ice rink and only shooting once the goal net was in view. The bandy ball was also different from hockey pucks.
The Czech Republic created its first national hockey team in 1909, and went on to participate in their first international game at Chamonix, France. No thanks to their unfamiliarity with actual hockey, The Czech Republic lost every match they played. It turns out “bandy hokej” was a different reality from hockey, and as such there was a need for evolution. The Czech Republic paid the price of evolving their style of play, and gradually became international champions starting from their first gold medal in 1947. Their first Olympic Games gold was in 1998 against Russia.
Czech Republic Women’s Hockey
The Czech Republic Women’s hockey team isn’t left out of the glories of international hockey. Ranking 7th in the world, the Czech Republic women’s hockey team had a tough time qualifying for the Olympic Games Women’s Hockey tournament until 2021. Despite their seemingly underdog status in the Olympic Games, the Czech Republic women’s hockey team proved themselves to be tough contenders for title winners such as USA, Russia, Finland and others. But then, this was only possible thanks to their previous track record in world hockey championships with their debut in 1999. It took the Czech Republic women’s hockey team 12 years to secure their first gold in the 2011 Women’s World Ice Hockey Championship – Division II.
Appreciating The Czech Republic Hockey Teams
The mere fact that both the men and women’s hockey team of Czech Republic have been world champions shows that they’re two of the best hockey teams in the world. Looking into their ice hockey history would also show that although it took time to secure their first gold, they were major contenders in hockey tournaments. They’ve often shown through their steady rise in ranking that they’ll always return stronger than their previous match.
