The Palace teaches the Devil: New Jersey did not jump up. The Czech Republic has a leader for the WC

Ondřej Palát has built a respected position overseas. In the regular part, he works, collects points, gains space for other offensive players with his hockey. In the playoffs? He can kick to an even higher level, scores a lot of goals, decides matches. Tampa would never give him up. But she had to because of salary caps, in the summer of 2022 the forward signed a contract with New Jersey for 6 million dollars a year.

It’s clear what the organization full of talent and young stars wants from him: teach our fighters to win, who can do the most beautiful loops and shoot through a forest of hockey sticks with their flip flops. “It was not a good season, we evaluated it negatively. It’s a shame because last year was good for us, but we have a young team. Sometimes it has to come too,” Palát shook his head at 81 points in the regular season and the fourth-worst position in the Eastern Conference.

A year ago, the Devils made it past the first round of the playoffs. They didn’t even come close to him now. “You want to do it every season. But even with Tampa, it happened that we didn’t get there,” Palat shows, however, the outlook. You’ve been through something too. “For the younger guys and for the organization, this one step back is also useful. You’ll look back at why it didn’t work out, you’ll change your view of hockey,” he thinks.

He knows that such a thing paid off in Tampa, for example. In 2019, the team rolled, won the regular season and blew up in the first round of the playoffs with a total outsider, Columbus kicked him out. In the next two years, the Stanley Cup was celebrated.

“You have to play more defensively, we can’t just score goals and be defensive. We could have Vasi (Vasilevský – Tampa’s goalkeeper) behind us, and even he wouldn’t save us,” Palát gives his view on winning hockey. “Over time, we need to focus on the things that didn’t go our way and move up,” he believes that the Devils will bounce back from the unsuccessful season.

They are led by one of the most talented players in the league, Jack Hughes. At the end of the season, he just had to have surgery, he didn’t finish it. But in him the club has a player who can regularly collect 100 points and more. At the back, Luke Hughes and Šimon Nemec will gradually start to grow up. At 33, Palat is the team’s oldest striker. “Jack Hughes is a great guy, very talented and has a lot of confidence on the ice. But even he sometimes has to step back a little,” Palát can afford to be honest. “We have an incredible hockey player in him, and overall there are a lot of skillful older players around us who can grow a lot,” he is looking forward to the future of the Devils.

Before it happens, he will try to make his skills available to the national team. At the tournament in Prague, he should be among the biggest Czech stars. No loops, no fancy pieces. He is strong on the guards and like a bulldog will push everything around the goalpost over the line. The championship will be his fourth major representative event. He made his debut at the Olympics in Sochi in 2014. “I was very young there, surrounded by Czech legends such as Jaromír Jágr, Patrik Eliáš, Petr Nedvěd, David Krejčí and others. I enjoyed playing alongside them. The same thing then the World Cup,” he remembers. Now he has the position of one of the team bosses.