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WORLD CUP OF HOCKEY MEDIA CONFERENCE

March 2, 2016

Martin Rucinsky

DAVID KEON: Good afternoon, everyone. We have with us this afternoon the management from the Czech team, Martin Rucinsky, the general manager, and Milan Hnilicka, the assistant general manager.
We'll open with questions, please.

Q. Martin, the big question at this point is how did you go about making up your team and the big question about Jaromir Jagr and what is his status right now?
MARTIN RUCINSKY: We talked to Jags. He stated that he wants to concentrate on the season right now. He's in a very important time of the season, heading into the playoffs with the Florida Panthers. Obviously that's the only thing on his mind right now.
I talked with him, had a long time with him. The way he feels right now, he didn't want to be put on a first roster. He said, Let's see how my season will go to the end, how the playoffs will go, and after that we'll sit down and make a decision if he's going to be on the team or not.

Q. Martin, how important is he for the Czech Republic team given how he's playing and what he's done internationally in the past?
MARTIN RUCINSKY: Well, he's a very important player for us, no doubt about it. Everybody knows that. Even in his age, he's 44 right now, it doesn't really matter, it's just a number for him because he's in great shape. He keeps working hard.
He's a role model for young guys. Every time he plays for national team in any tournament, he's been if not the best player, he's been one of the best players.
Obviously I don't consider his skills. Everybody knows what he can do on the ice. But his presence in the dressing room, for the other guys out there on the team, is tremendous.
He's a very important piece to our team. Let's see what happens. I wish he would play this tournament, but let's see what happens after he finishes with the season and he'll make a decision.

Q. Wondering about the decision‑making process to include Ondrej Pavalec in the roster today.
MARTIN RUCINSKY: Actually, that was a decision that we made yesterday because we had some question marks in this roster. We were headed to do 14‑plus‑2 like we were supposed to do. At the same time yesterday we were told we could go 13‑plus‑3.
We were kind of thinking about that, putting a third goalie on the roster. That would give us more time and more space to look at some guys that we're interested in.
We decided to go this way.

Q. Martin, I was curious to know what was the thinking behind selecting two KHL players. I know Russia wanted to wait a little bit before just selecting NHL players. What was the thinking in your case behind that?
MARTIN RUCINSKY: Well, I'll take Vladimir Sobotka over any NHL player. I don't take him as a KHL player because he's been playing in the NHL for a long time. Obviously he's been in the KHL for last two or three years, I'm not sure. But he's been around. He knows all the hockey played in the NHL. I don't take him as a KHL player.
But the other, Michal Kempny, might be like a surprise to everybody else, but not to us. He's been playing well the last couple seasons, not only for national team but even for his own squad. He's playing at home, which is a strong team. He's playing a lot of minutes there. He's been a very important piece to their team.
If we look at our RDs, that's the one area where we are very thin, especially on the left side. So he's the only left‑handed defenseman. The other guys we have, they're always right‑handed, right D.
He's the only one that's playing constantly right now. He's playing a lot, a lot of minutes. He's playing well for the national team.
He was our choice. He's the only left defenseman that we have right now. We felt like, you know, he could do the job.
Obviously there's the question because he never played on a small ice surface. We feel like he could be fine, he could be okay.

Q. Martin, just looking up and down the roster, I see a lot of youth on the team, not as many of the older veterans. Was there a concerted effort this time to make a much younger and quicker team?
MARTIN RUCINSKY: I wouldn't say we did that on purpose. But obviously we wanted to put a fast team on the ice, as fast as we could put.
As you know, our options are very limited. We don't have as many players still playing in the NHL as we used to have.
If you look at the roster, we still have to nominate seven players. They could be veterans.
At this time we decide to go with these guys because they could be also playing in different positions, different lines.
If you look at that lineup, everybody can play pretty much everything. We'll see what happens before June 1st. If we feel like it, we're going to put more veterans on the team.
We sort of are looking for an optimum mix, some leadership, and also some young guys that are going to bring some energy and speed, so‑and‑so.

Q. Did Jiri Hudler get strong consideration for this group of 16 since he had a strong season last year and played a lot of minutes with Calgary and now with Florida?
MARTIN RUCINSKY: Yeah, definitely, of course. He's had a very great season last year. I'm not sure what happened this year. Kind of slowed down a little bit. But it doesn't really mean anything.
Like I said, this roster we put together, it doesn't mean that Jiri Hudler wouldn't be on it June 1st. We just want to take another good, close look at some players. When we're going to finalize our lineup, our line, he will be there. We'll take a look at it.
We're also looking at some chemistry between guys and so on. I'm sure every other team does that, as well. We'll see what happens.
But this roster doesn't mean that Hudler won't be on the team.

Q. Martin, how do you plan on handling the Jagr situation between now and June 1st? Anything you can do to convince him to play?
MARTIN RUCINSKY: I talked to him, obviously. But I'm not going to try to convince him. If I put myself in his shoes, I wouldn't be happy either if somebody would come to me and try and talk me into it.
I think he deserves a lot of respect from all of us because what he did for national team ‑ not only for national team but for Czech hockey in general. That's why we going to give him some time, see how he feels, see what he thinks after the season.
The status right now is he's going to concentrate on the playoffs with the Florida Panthers, he's going to finish his season, and we will see how he feels after the season. We'll sit down again and try to pick his mind and see how he feels and we'll make a decision then.
DAVID KEON: Thank you for your time today, gentlemen.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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