Petr Nedved: I am happy I could help

11 Feb 2012 | David Schlegel

Forward Petr Nedved is the oldest hockey player at Oddset Hockey Games. In the game against Sweden he showed how important he is for his team. His goal in the penalty shootout gave one extra point to the Czechs.

An experienced player and a leader of Bili tygri Liberec in Czech Tipsport extraliga went twice against Gustafsson. He was not successful at his first attempt. "I thought somebody could have told Gustafsson how I shoot at these situations. However, the puck jumped a little bit and I did not hit it the way I wanted," said Nedved whose shot ended in the glove of the Swedish goalie.

At his second attempt, he scored. "I thought about shooting under his blocker. I was calmed and I made it the way I wanted. He did not expect, I will shoot twice into the same spot," he added.

For the first time after many years at Stockholm also Czech fans organized in the stands and created group which supported the Czech team. Maybe it was a preparation for the World Championship in May.

Sweden played better during the first two periods. Then Czechs tied the game and Sweden went down a bit. "It was a tough game, we fought for every centimeter on ice. Swedes are at home, so they wanted to win very badly. They have an experienced team, but we worked very hard. I am happy I could add my piece for our victory."

Another key player for the Czech team was a goalie Tomas Pöpperle. "He was definitely our best player. He saved many potential goals and was outstanding also during the penalty shoot out," added Nedved.

"Sweden became tired in the 3rd period, we were more active. Also the goal on the power play helped us a lot and we believed we can win the whole game in the regulation. Of course, we are happy we won in the shoot-out as well," smiled Petr Nedved.