The hero of the World Championship match between the Czech Republic and Switzerland in Prague was a Czech-speaking hockey player. Unfortunately for the home team, it was Kevin Fiala, who represents Switzerland. At the end, he responded to the audience with a provocative gesture.
The 27-year-old Fiala was absent from the Swiss nomination for the championship, as he and his wife Jessica were expecting a child later in the tournament.
Even though the birth eventually came earlier, the general manager of the Swiss, Lars Weibel, didn’t count on the fact that the star winger of overseas Los Angeles would join later.
But Fiala flew to Prague. And he shone in his first performance.
Against the home country of the Czech Republic, the country from which his parents come, he scored in the game and in the final drives to help in a two-point 2-1 win.
In total, he shot three times (only Swiss defenseman Roman Josi had more attempts) and managed a huge ice time of 22:17. He only spoiled the impression with a two-minute suspension.
“He played unbelievably, I’m very happy for him,” said Switzerland coach Patrick Fischer.
At the same time, Fiala himself was not feeling 100% after the long flight from LA. “To be honest, at the beginning of the match it was fine, but then I was a bit tired,” he recounted in one of several post-match interviews.
In front of the journalists, he alternated between German and English, but he also managed to respond in Czech, which he understands and which he himself controls, albeit imperfectly. He was born in Switzerland to Czech parents.
When he now arrived at the venue of the world championship, he was picked up at the airport by a Czech grandmother. “It was nice to see her, it doesn’t happen very often because I live in the United States, while she alternately lives in the Czech Republic and Switzerland,” Fiala recounted.
“I was really looking forward to Prague. I was here for the championship nine years ago and also in my childhood, quite often. I have to see it here again and go home to my grandmother,” he added.
He showed hockey in Prague why he collected 73 points (29+44) in the last regular season of the NHL. He surprised the goalkeeper Lukáš Dostál in the power play with a shot under the lid and in the raids he took him around with loops.
After a transformed raid, which was accompanied by loud booing in the Prague arena, Fiala decided to irritate the fans. He raised his hand to his ear to indicate that he couldn’t hear anything.
“I didn’t plan it, I was just full of emotions. People were cheering really loud, which I thought was great, but I wanted to quiet them down a bit,” he explained the gesture.
Fiala can do it in Bohemia. He already troubled them as a teenager from Benjamin at the World Championships in Prague and Ostrava nine years ago, when he also scored in the group stage in the power play and in the final raids.
At that time, however, the Czechs took a two-point win 2:1, because they found more attacking shooters. One of them was Jakub Voráček, who did not play in the Prague hall on Monday evening, but co-commentated the match for Czech Television.
“We have to admit that it was nice,” he assessed Fiala’s successful attempt.
And what about the Czech loss Fialova babicka? “I asked her who she was going to cheer for. And of course she cheered for us,” laughed the star Czechoslovak.
Kevin Fiala’s converted raid:
