KULICH, ROSEN RETURNING TO ROCHESTER FOLLOWING WORLD JUNIORS
Kulich leads Czech Republic to silver medal, Rosen and Sweden finish fourth
Jan 6, 2023By Suzie Cool
The 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship officially concluded on Thursday and Rochester Americans rookies Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen both left it all out on the ice north of the border.
“We’re really proud of both of them with the tournaments they had,” commented Amerks head coach Seth Appert when asked about the rookies’ performances.
Rosen represented Sweden at the annual event, posting six points (4+2) in seven games while helping the Swedes to a fourth-place finish.
Despite the great showing Rosen had, Appert knows the disappointment he will have in coming back to the Flower City without a medal.
“I know ‘Rosey’ will be disappointed to not have gotten that medal because they played a heck of a game yesterday,” said Appert, referring to Sweden’s heartbreaking 7-6 overtime loss to the United States in the bronze medal game.
Kulich, meanwhile, returns home with a silver medal after coming up short to Canada in the gold medal game. In seven games for the Czech Republic, Kulich tied for second amongst all players with a team-high seven goals, including a hat trick in the 9-0 rout of Austria, and added two assists for nine points. He also scored the overtime-winning goal against Sweden to send the Czechs to the gold medal game.
“Truly, it was exceptional for Kulich to come within inches of winning a gold medal, but I think when he's able to step back and look at it from a broader perspective, helping them earn their first silver medal in two decades is going to be a pretty special moment for him to take in.”
Both Rosen and Kulich are expected to be back in Rochester at some point today, however, Appert doesn’t anticipate them playing in either game this weekend due to the taxing tournament they both just took part in.
“It's an emotionally taxing tournament. It's physically taxing. They played seven games in 11 days. They both were playing first-line minutes,” said Appert when asked when he’s expecting Rosen and Kulich to return to the lineup. “It's a very emotionally charged tournament. It's high stress and they're going to be wiped out. So, we're going to have to be smart about how we bring them back in and make sure they're energetic and ready to go and ready to get better here.”
Despite their time away for the World Junior Championship, both Kulich and Rosen are still among the Amerks scoring leaders with their 16 and 15 points, respectively. Fingers crossed, both are back in action and ready to get things rolling in Rochester by next Wednesday’s game at The Blue Cross Arena against the Laval Rocket.