San Jose Sharks
Vanecek Says Czechia’s Omission From 4 Nations ‘Doesn’t Make Sense’, Granlund on Making Finland
Vitek Vanecek wanted to represent his country at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Unfortunately, reigning World Championship gold medallist Czechia was not one of the four nations, USA, Canada, Sweden, and Finland, included in the upcoming NHL/NHLPA tournament.
“It doesn’t make sense,” the San Jose Sharks goalie said. “I think we have a good [enough] players to be there. But, they did what they did.”
With top players like David Pastrnak, Tomas Hertl, Martin Necas, Filip Hronek, and Lukas Dostal, Czechia could have easily fielded a competitive roster. Perhaps the only thing that you can say against them is that there are only four active Czech defensemen in the NHL, including the San Jose Sharks’ Jan Rutta.
That didn’t stop Pastrnak from throwing shade at the tournament after winning the World Championship this summer.
“It’s hurts a little bit. I think we’re supposed to be there, but we are not,” Vanecek said.
Great Granlund
Vanecek’s teammate and alternate captain Mikael Granlund will be the lone San Jose Sharks player, as of now, at the tournament.
“Always love to play for Team Finland,” Granlund said. “Having this kind of tournament when all the best players are playing for the team… it’s special, for sure.”
At last summer’s World Hockey Championship, Granlund captained Finland, but it didn’t end well. In a round-robin game against Switzerland, he was given a major penalty for a high cross-check against a Swiss player and suspended for the following contest. Without Granlund, Finland lost to Sweden in the quarterfinals.
“We weren’t good enough,” Granlund said. “Obviously, there was a tight game against Sweden in the quarterfinals. There’s always a lot of other good teams too, so we’ll see what’s gonna happen this year.”
San Jose head coach Ryan Warsofsky felt it was a well-deserved honor for the team leader in goals (10, tied with Tyler Toffoli) and assists (19) and points (29) to be representing Suomi..
“The leadership for our group and our younger players, the way he competes every single day, whether that’s a practice day or a game day, he’s a true pro,” Warsofsky said. “He’s obviously done a really good job here on the stat sheet, but there’s so much more than his game that has helped us, where we’ve started to win some games because of him.”
Granlund is also currently the leader in points among active Finnish skaters, and will be joined by Alexander Barkov, Sebastian Aho, Miro Heiskanen, and Juuse Saros at the tournament.
“The way [Granlund] works, the way he competes for 50/50, pucks, wins races; smart hockey player,” Warsofsky said. “He’s a really good player.”
The 4 Nations Face-Off between USA, Canada, Finland, and Sweden will begin on Feb. 12.
