Montreal Canadiens star forward Tomas Plekanec will captain Team Czech Republic at the upcoming World Cup of Hockey, as reported by different media outlets as hokej.cz and nhl.com. The Czech-native isn’t new to this kind of responsibility on the international stage, having captained the team on multiple occasions, most notably at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. He also wore the “C” at the most recent IIHF World Championship, again in Russia, and was the team’s top goal-scorer with five tallies.
The team’s head coach told hokej.cz that the alternate captains are already decided, but since one of them is expected to be Boston Bruins center David Krejci, they are waiting for the doctors’ green light to announce them. One of Plekanec’s assistants at the IIHF World Championship, Michal Kempny, made the team’s final roster for the tournament.
Plekanec, 33, won his lone gold medal more than a decade ago, when the Czech Republic defeated Finland by a 2-1 score in Moscow, Russia at the World Junior Championships. Plekanec has played his whole NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens, who drafted him 71st overall in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. Other than the WJC gold medal, Plekanec’s resume includes a silver and a bronze medal at the IIHF WC.
The tournament will run in at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1, 2016.
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Tomas Plekanec Statistics