Lumberjacks excited to host Czech Republic

Press Release

Friday night sees the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks host the Czech Republic Junior A squad in a pre-tournament exhibition game in Liverpool. The Czech team, who arrived in Nova Scotia mid-week, will take the opportunity to shake their jet legs as they prepare for preliminary tournament action beginning in Yarmouth on Monday.

The Lumberjacks are excited about the match and Head Coach Terry Rhindress sees the game as a unique challenge, knowing his team is up against a fast, quality squad with the Czechs.

"This game will be a great experience for everyone involved", he explains. "There will be a lot of unknowns about the team we are competing against, and we will be in for a tough game.  We are sure that they will be a good, speedy team, that moves the puck well so we will want to make sure we are constantly moving our feet and filling all three lanes. We are sure the Czech team is going to be four lines deep and they will keep coming at us line after line.  This will be a great challenge that any player would want to be in".

While acknowledgeing the challenge will be a formidable one, Rhindress also sees the game as a tremendous learning experience for his team.

"This is a once in a lifetime experience for the players and staff, which is very exciting.  The players are very excited and we have guys that have been recently injured who are disappointed to say the least that they could miss this game.  Players are not sure what to expect as of yet, but they are intrigued by the opportunity to play against the top Jr A team from another country".

"Hopefullly everyone in attendance and involved will enjoy this experience as it doesn't come our way everyday.  Thanks to everyone involved for giving the CIBC Wood Gundy Lumberjacks this great opportunity".

 (Nathan can be reached at nathanfournier@mainehockeyjournal.com)