KULICH GOING FOR BRONZE IN WORLD JUNIOR SWANSONG
Jan 4, 2024
By Andrew Mossbrooks | @Mossbrooks48
The Rochester Americans have sorely missed star forward Jiri Kulich over the past two weeks. Rochester’s leading scorer took a leave of absence from the team to join his native country Czechia for what will be Kulich’s final appearance in the World Junior Championship.
Kulich’s junior hockey career will officially come to a close Friday. The Czech team captain is poised to lead Czechia to a bronze medal, which will mark the team’s second straight medal finish after capturing silver a year ago.
“I’m really proud of Kulich,” said Amerks head coach Seth Appert. “I think he was really torn on going, but he felt that responsibility to his country. I appreciate that and I respect that. To have the ‘C’ and leadership responsibilities he’s taking for that group is great to see. It’s growth and maturity. He’s helping his team deliver in big moments.”
Kulich is tied for first in scoring with eight points for Czechia in the tournament and leads the team with four goals through six games. The 19-year-old Kulich now has 13 goals over his three-year run at the U20 level for World Juniors. It’s the most goals ever scored by a player from Czechia in the tournament.
After a disappointing start to the tournament with a 6-2 loss to Slovakia, Czechia bounced back in a big way with an 8-1 win over Norway that was led by Kulich, who netted a hat trick as part of his four-point performance (3+1). The highlight of Kulich’s final World Juniors to date would be the team’s dramatic late-game heroics over Canada in the Quarterfinal round, topping the team that bested them a year prior in the finals of the tournament by a 3-2 score, guaranteeing Czechia the chance to compete for a medal this Friday.
“To go back-to-back years where you’re in contention for a medal is very impressive and he’s been a big driver for them.”
The second-year Amerk was named captain ahead of the annual tournament. It’s something Appert, along with the rest of his staff, believe can help his growth as a player and as a person.
“Any time you go through experiences in your life, athletically or personally, you can grow from them if you choose to look at it that way. You can grow from the success and the confidence you earn through that success, or you can go through failure and adversity and grow through learning what you did wrong or why you failed and overcoming that adversity. If we didn’t believe this was a growth opportunity for him as an organization, we would have told him it’s not a good idea.”
“We are fully supportive of him attending this event because of the things he’s getting placed on him right now.”