Czechs runs over Norway to qualify for quarter final

An all decisive game for the last quarter final spot and you would expect an even game but the game was over already after 11:27 when the Czechs were up 3-0 and at the end the final score was 7-0. "I think it was our best game so far", Jakub Voracek said. "We scored the first goal which was important".

Tomas Fleischmann opened with both 1-0 and 2-0, two goals that looked very easy. At first he poked in 1-0 on the power play. Norway's goalie Lars Haugen had the puck between his skate and the post but lost balance under pressure by Czech attackers given the chance for Fleischmann. On 2-0 Fleischmann had the puck behind and went in front and beat Haugen with a soft backhand after the ice.

Seven minutes and two easy goals for the Czechs and things would get worse when Jiri Tlusty made it 3-0 just four minutes later. Tomas Plekanec won a face off in neutral zone and made a quick play to Tlusty who got a lot of space and beat Haugen high on the stick side. Plekanec' third assist of the game, a great start to his first game of the tournament. Shortly after the goal Lars Volden replaced Haugen in goal for Norway.

Norway was never close to threathen the Czechs in this game and in the second period Martin Hanzal made it 4-0 and Zbynek Michalek made it 5-0 with a shot that bounced in off the post just before the buzzer at the end of the second period. The rest of the game was just a big jawn. Radim Vrbata took advantage of an uninspried Norwegian defence to make it tennis numbers and just seconds later Zbynek Irgl made it 7-0.

An shameful finish of the tournament for Norway who never was close to their fantastic performance from last year and made just one really good performance against Belarus.

Norway fell hard. Photo: Michal Eger

"Perhaps the other teams take us a bit more serious now. They know what players like Thoresen playing in KHL can do and are more careful against us", Jonas Holos said about htat Norway has been taking a beating by the higher ranked teams. "It was an okey tournament. We've been working in headwind the whole tournament. With some distance we can see what we can learn from this. But we has been working hard".

The Czech Republic will now go in to the quarter finals with some self confidence after finishing the first round with two strong games. We will se an interesting quarter final between the Czechs and the still unbeaten Swiss team.

"We are happy to be in the quarter finals. We didn't have an easy road there", one of the goal scorers today Zbynek Michalek said in the mixed zone after the game. "But we have showed top form in the last two games so we bring a lot of self confidence into the quarter final against a tough Swiss team", Michalek added about the next game on Thursday.

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