Czech hockey coach Radim Rulik condemns referees after Canada loss

Czech Republic Olympic men’s hockey coach Radim Rulik condemned the referees for calling the men’s Olympic quarterfinals between his team and Canada on Wednesday.

Rulik spoke after his team’s 4-3 overtime loss, saying the referees were “afraid to call” any penalties against Canada.

“I feel like everyone is afraid to say something against Canada,” Rulik told reporters, according to a translation of his post-match interview.

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“The referees worry me a lot. What they allow against us is unacceptable,” Rulik added. “After every game, we send them two or three clips confirming that the opponent should have been penalized. I don’t understand it. I just don’t understand it.”

During the third period, when Czech Martin Nečas was about to escape, Canadian Devon Toews appeared to hook him in the neutral zone, but no penalty was awarded.

“I watch two NHL games on replay every day,” Rulik continued. “The play that Necas made today, when they touched his stick on the breakaway, is always a penalty in the NHL. But suddenly not here. I’m very sorry. The boys deserved a top-level performance from the referees.

“Afterwards they always admit that we were right, but nothing changes. We should have had power plays against Canada. But they were afraid.” [David Pastrnak] o Necas would score another power play goal. and if [Radko] Gudas was penalized, then Doughty should have also been penalized for the hit on Pasta.”

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Winter Olympic Games Milan Cortina 2026, ice hockey, Olympia, Canada – Czech Republic, final round, quarterfinals, coach Radim Rulik (Czech Republic) follows the action. (Peter Kneffel/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)

Rulik previously criticized the referees for officiating his team’s victory over Denmark earlier this week.

“We were basically playing against six players,” he said. “I don’t want to make excuses and no one has to agree with me, but the video supports me. In this sense, it is not a fair tournament. It even happened to us against Denmark. The combination of NHL and European referees did not work, each one calls the game differently.”

Canada was embroiled in an Olympic scandal at the Milan Cortina Olympics when its men’s and women’s curling teams were accused of cheating in events last week.

When Canada beat Sweden 8-6 on February 13, Canadian third Marc Kennedy and Swede Oskar Eriksson became involved after Eriksson accused Kennedy of an illegal procedure called double-touch stones after releasing them into the pig line.

Kennedy yelled at Eriksson: “I haven’t done it once. You can go fuck yourself.”

Kennedy and a team executive later leveled accusations against the Swedes of improperly filming their delivery.

“This was planned, from the get-go yesterday. From the words their coaches were saying and the way they were running towards the referees, it was evident that something was going on and they were trying to catch us in the act,” Kennedy said.

Curling Canada CEO Nolan Thiessen told reporters he believes the video was filmed outside the strict rules for Olympic filming.

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Canada’s Ben Hebert, Canada’s Brad Jacobs and Canada’s Brett Gallant compete in the men’s curling round robin between Canada and Sweden during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Cortina Olympic Curling Stadium in Cortina d’Ampezzo on February 13, 2026. (Tiziana FABI/AFP)

“I was surprised that there was live video about the pig line outside of OBS rules,” Thiessen said. “That seems strange to me.”

Meanwhile, on the women’s side, Canadian curler Rachel Homan had her stone removed after an official ruled she had touched it again after releasing the handle. Homan protested, but under World Curling rules, there are no official replays and the referee’s final decision stands.