2016 World Cup of Hockey: Tomas Hertl, Roman Polak named to Czech Republic team

Both Tomas Hertl and new Shark Roman Polak were named to the 2016 World Cup of Hockey preliminary roster for the Czech Republic. Unfortunately for Hertl, his hero and mine, Jaromir Jagr, was not named to the team.

Czech jersey pic.twitter.com/dOBQTnJzHJ

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) March 2, 2016

The selection of Polak should give you an idea of how deep the Czechs are on the blue line: not very. Mind you this is only a preliminary roster, with the final team being named on June 1. You can see the rest of the roster, and the schedule for the remainder of the day, in the press release below.

TORONTO (March 2, 2016) — The Czech Ice Hockey Association announced
today the first 16 players named to its roster for the World Cup of Hockey
2016, the best-on-best international hockey championship from Sept. 17 to
Oct. 1, 2016, in Toronto.

Named to Team Czech Republic are:

G Petr Mrazek, Detroit Red Wings
G Michal Neuvirth, Philadelphia Flyers
G Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg Jets

D Radko Gudas, Philadelphia Flyers
D Michal Kempny, Avangard Omsk (KHL)
D Roman Polak, San Jose Sharks
D Andrej Sustr, Tampa Bay Lightning

F Michael Frolik, Calgary Flames
F Martin Hanzal, Arizona Coyotes
F Tomas Hertl, San Jose Sharks
F David Krejci, Boston Bruins
F Ondrej Palat, Tampa Bay Lightning
F David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins
F Tomas Plekanec, Montreal Canadiens
F Vladimir Sobotka, Avangard Omsk (KHL)
F Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers

Eight teams — Team Canada, Team Czech Republic, Team Finland, Team
Russia, Team Sweden, Team USA, Team Europe and Team North America — will
compete in the two-week tournament, featuring more than 150 of the best
players in the NHL. All tournament games will be played at Air Canada
Centre in Toronto, home of the NHL Toronto Maple Leafs.

All eight teams competing in the World Cup of Hockey 2016 are
announcing their rosters of at least 16 players today. The announcement
schedule for remaining teams (all times Eastern):

Team Sweden: 1:15 p.m.
Team Europe: 4:30 p.m.
Team North America: 5:15 p.m.
Team Canada: 6:05 p.m.
Team USA: 6:45 p.m.