Sulak, Hronek Named to Czech World Championship Team

After the Griffins’ Game 5 playoff loss to the Manitoba Moose, Czech teammates Filip Hronek and Libor Sulak will be representing their country over in Denmark for the World Championships.

The two Grand Rapids defenseman will be joining their fellow Red Wing and countryman, Martin Frk, as well.

Sulak was at the tournament last year, playing just two games and getting one assist in the process. Hopefully his dominant season with the Lahti Pelicans of the Finnish Liiga this past season will earn him a spot higher in the lineup – to show his offensive capabilities to the Red Wings supporters out there not watching playoff hockey.

With the Pelicans this past season, he led the entire league in scoring among defenseman with 9 goals, 32 points in 42 games. A powerplay specialist and capable of joining the rush, the 24-year-old Sulak displayed his offensive skill as well as providing his team with a balance of being a responsible shot suppressor.

Sulak came over to Grand Rapids to play with the Griffins for two games to get an early taste of North American hockey, in which he had two assists.

He should be a key contributor to the Griffins, or even the Red Wings next year – as you can see in a WingsNation piece written earlier this year.

Hronek was not at the World Championships last year, but represented the Czech Republic at the 2017 World Juniors. In his last eligible year for the U20 tournament, he led his team in scoring with 2 goals, 4 points in 5 games. As a defenseman this is very impressive for such a raw talent at the time.

In his rookie year with the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL, Hronek scored 11 goals, 39 points in 67 games.

A considerable achievement from the 53rd overall pick in 2016, which should be a sign of things to come and why he should be in Detroit at the end of training camp next season.

The IIHF World Championship starts May 4th and starts off with a U.S.A. vs Canada game, featuring our Dylan Larkin and Nick Jensen, at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark. Surely to be a beautiful game in a beautiful country. At least something to watch for fans while our team is out of the playoffs for the second year in a row – we should probably get used to this for a few more years.

Czech Republic will be starting off this Saturday, May 5th against Slovakia at 2:15pm EST.

There will be a total of seven players representing the Detroit Red Wings at the tournament. Gustav Nyquist for Sweden, Frans Nielsen for Denmark, and Dylan Larkin and Nick Jensen representing USA.