Playoff quarterfinals: 6th match Litvínov – Brno
ADJUSTMENT: HC Verva Litvínov vs. HC Kometa Brno 4:1
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0:25
Litvínov – Brno 1:0 (6. Koblasa)
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0:25
Litvínov – Brno 2:0 (10. Sukeľ)
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0:26
Litvínov – Brno, stick of visiting Gazda
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0:35
Litvínov – Brno, Pospíšil didn’t even finish
0:25
Litvínov – Brno 2:1 (26. Moses)
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0:24
Litvínov – Brno 3:1 (26. Koblasa)
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0:27
Litvínov – Brno, Jurčík fouled and then pushed the referee away
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0:25
Litvínov – Brno, Koblasa attacked for a hat trick
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0:26
Litvínov – Brno, foul by Zbořila on Kirk
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0:23
Litvínov – Brno 4:1 (38. Koblasa)
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1:28 a.m
Litvínov – Brno, Koblas’ hat trick
0:23
Litvínov – Brno, Zaťovič threw Tomek
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0:23
Litvínov – Brno, banner of Litvínov fans
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2:42 am
Litvínov – Brno, Verva celebrates advancing to the semi-finals
In recent seasons, the Comets have not been able to get further than among the top eight extra-league teams. And the memories of the championship titles from 2017 and 2018 are gradually starting to fade.
At the same time, this season, during which the club celebrated its seventieth anniversary, raised high hopes. Although it was not possible for the Kometa hockey players to enter the extra league in the fall, after four defeats in a row, without coach Patrik Martinec, they began to gradually improve in terms of play and results under his successor, Jaroslav Modry, who was promoted from the position of assistant.
In the end, the fourth place after the regular part of the top competition was even better than in the mentioned seasons, in which the Brno team reached the extra-league championship. It meant for them a direct advance to the quarter-finals and a two-week rest before the start of the quarter-final battles, acknowledged with great gratitude.
But in the series with Litvínov, they unexpectedly got the short end of the stick. Kometa responded to the first two surprising failures in its arena with two triumphs at the opponent’s and it seemed that it was already starting to fulfill the role of the favorite. After that, however, everything broke in the fifth quarter-final duel under Špilberk. In the first period, the people of Brno did not take advantage of the overwhelming advantage in some places with a higher than one-goal lead and eventually fell in separate raids.
In Litvínov, with a knife on their neck, they could not find the moral strength to bring the series to at least a decisive encounter on Tuesday. By entering the match inexplicably lukewarm, they allowed their opponents to gain a key lead, which they were unable to catch up to even with an enormous effort in the end. In the end, goalkeeper Matej Tomek, who worked in Brno in the past, but did not win the role of long-term number one, celebrated the progress with his Litvín teammates. Now, Flek, Zaťovič, Pospíšil, Cingel, Marcinko and others are on the Slovakian team. they broke their teeth.
What were the other causes of the wasted season? The club’s management was not very pleased with the arrival of some new players, from whom it had high hopes. This applies especially to foreign fighters. Backers Moro and Osburn did not make their mark, and even the American world tourer Steve Moses, despite scoring twenty goals, certainly did not become the new Peter Mueller, as many expected.
The pre-season transfers of two players from Karlovy Vary were a separate chapter. Goalkeeper Štěpán Lukeš, who was part of the national team a year ago until he left for the world championship, did not have the confidence of the coaches even when Dominik Furch was absent due to a long-term injury. Priority was given to the talented junior Jan Kavan. And the unproductive striker Martin Kohout mostly just played in the fourth formation.
Kometa boss Libor Zábranský now has to find a replacement for the goalkeeper position, because Dominik Furch is headed to Mladá Boleslav after his contract expires, mainly for family reasons. According to behind-the-scenes information, he could be replaced by representative Marek Langhamer, who had a brief spell at the Brno club in the past. Jaroslav Modrý should continue to have the main say on the substitutes’ bench. The current coach of the first league Třebíč, Kamil Pokorný, who was in the implementation team in the seasons at the end of which the Komety players lifted the cup above their heads, is to become his assistant.
Kometa supporters have no choice but to believe that the Brno boss will have a luckier hand when choosing reinforcements this time, so that the wait for great success does not drag on for another year.
Tags: Stopped quarter finals Hockey Kometa waiting great success change bench
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