He looked out about Sparta: Before there was a cramp, Gross keeps the team in line. Title? If not this year… | Hokej.cz

A highly successful career in Sparta was framed by titles. In the spring of 1990, as a teenage rookie, he helped win the first cup since 1954, seventeen years later, Jiří Vykoukal took the fourth (and last) gold with the domestic giant. Since then, the club from the metropolis has been constantly postponing the championship party.

A link between the former excellent defender and the current Sparta? For example, coach Pavel Gross. The recognized expert, who spent years building his reputation in Germany, is, like Vykoukal, signed under a Czechoslovak title from 1990.

They even lived together in a hostel for a while. In an interview with Hokej.cz, the Spartan legend discussed not only the coaching job of his partner at the time, but also a number of other current topics.

Sparta tamed Liberec in the quarter-finals in the fastest possible style, but we can probably agree that the 4-0 score for the matches does not completely correspond to the progress. What do you think?
Exactly. The first two games were overtime and overtime, both extremely close. In the third, Sparta turned the result again. From what I saw and read, Liberec did not play badly at all. For Sparta, on the other hand, it is extremely important that they were able to win such difficult matches.

What was the key to the rapid progress? Before the series, the wicket became a hot topic, and Jakub Kovář then caught excellently.
Mainly converting chances. Liberec had plenty of opportunities in the home matches, but Sparta used them more. As for Kovy, I think it’s a certainty in the playoffs. He already tried it for Sparta last year and knows that this year he has to make it to the most important match, after which the team will lift the cup over their heads. I think he’s ready for it and these four games have shown that.

Did you assume that in the playoffs, the implementation team will bet on him? With Josef Kořenář, they formed an absolutely equal tandem…
Honestly, yes, experience spoke in his favor. It is great that Sparta can also reach out for Pepa Kořenář. He had an excellent regular season, but the playoffs are still a different competition.

During the quarterfinal set, the club surprisingly announced the end of Zack Kassian, who arrived with fanfare two months ago as a backup with 661 NHL starts. Your opinion on this case?
I don’t know much about it, Sparta only released such a short statement. This is good, because of course he needs to focus only on himself and not blur it somewhere. Something happened that the club didn’t like, so they terminated the contract with him. The squad is strong and wide enough that it doesn’t have to be dealt with.

Is it a certain warning to foreign players that the extra league is definitely not a competition where it will go by itself?
I honestly don’t think that the foreigners in our league are particularly great. If I compare it with the way I played in Finland for seven years, then such a position is more demanding there. You often have guys here who are bland. I think it is at the expense of our players and not every foreigner has the quality they should have. In this regard, I am sometimes surprised that teams fill so many places with players from abroad, when they do not even play an important role.

Just before the transfer deadline, Sparta roped in several foreigners…
I don’t really like these moves to be honest. I’d rather see some spartan foster in there if he’s able to jump. But the club chose the policy of foreigners. On the other hand, it is not so easy to bring someone from the Czech extra league at the end of the season, the transfer window ends, then you won’t be able to find anyone. A lot of teams are still playing for the playoffs, so they won’t let you go much. The only chance to strengthen the team is foreigners. But to what extent it will help will be seen in the playoffs.

Some refer to the team as the strongest in recent years. How do you see him?
I agree. I like the manuscript of Pavel Gross and Miloš Hořava. At the beginning, it seemed to me that as soon as they finished the season, they started it again. But during it, Sparta went up a lot in quality and level of play – it is strong on the puck, has a good mix, four lines, which can decide. This is terribly important. If you bet everything on one or two attacks in the playoffs, you probably won’t get very far.

Last year, after the elimination from Třinec, there was a lot of debate about the fact that the leaders did not manage to be leaders in the decisive moments. The pressure has eased a bit now, hasn’t it?
It’s good, but… He has to be able to work with it. They have been there ever since and bear the biggest responsibility for the team. They are supposed to be the ones to push the team through the playoffs. Of course, others need to join. It’s not like you only have three fighters on whom it all rests and they have to play it out. But it will always be about the most important articles bearing the greatest responsibility. He goes into crucial situations, power plays, at the end of matches. The coach uses them the most.

Can Pavel Gross squeeze the most out of them in the elimination fights?
I think yes. In my opinion, Sparta lacked this in previous seasons, when they had excellent players in the team and managed the basic part very well. But it just didn’t work in the playoffs. There was always some kind of slump, something happened and the team couldn’t follow it up. When I look at how Pavel and the whole club present themselves, it seems to me that it all matches the basic part. As I say, I like it. Before, she had felt a spasm from Sparta, suddenly she found herself in a situation where she did not know what to do.

For me, Coach Gross radiates great poise, as if he is passing the calmness on to everyone else…
I have to agree with that again. I don’t know how it looks in the dressing room, how Pavel communicates with the players. But I definitely think it’s going in the right direction. It looks absolutely great on the shifter, it just follows on from how the basic part went. No one can tell that suddenly we are in the playoffs and we have to win to move on. Pavel goes his own way, keeps the line and the team in what they have to play. The boys do it all in the final. It’s one thing to transfer information, but then you’re on the switch and the biggest responsibility lies with the players.

What about his right hand Miloslav Hořava? He would probably also be quite high in the ranking of the best domestic coaches…
Like that… There are a lot of good trainers here. This pair is of course very experienced, they have both playing and coaching experience. But fitting someone into such a position is not entirely easy. However, they can bring success to Sparta.

For a long time it seemed that Sparta would repeat the showdown with the Steelers in the semi-finals. Would this be the series that really tests the manchaft thoroughly?
First of all, Třinec has to go over České Budějovice, who are playing great now. I would wait to see if they can do it. If we take it purely hypothetically… I know the style of Třinec and I believe that this year Sparta is able to learn from previous years. Especially the players. Management and coaches can help, but the guys on the ice have to know what to do better than before.

You are dedicated to mentoring and personal coaching of athletes. From your point of view – do the annual playoff meltdowns plant a grain of doubt in their minds?
They may and may not. I know some of the guys, but the coaches and management know them the most. At this level, when you have it really clear that the only success is winning and you can’t judge the season by the regular season… Yes, you will find positives there. But in the final, success is only when you lift the cup above your head. At their age, they should be mentally mature and strong enough to take their experience, sell it on the ice and lead Sparta to a title. It’s one thing how well they can work with not admitting how old it is, another if they can focus on winning.

I confess that I have no idea how many or if you even have clients in the current team. Do you possibly discuss this with them as well?
In A, I work with Kuba Konečná – he made great progress this year – or Tomáš Tomek, who showed himself in a very good light at Sparta this year, but he still has a long way to go. And yes, we discuss everything that revolves around success, how to achieve it and how to work with obstacles that can prevent us from doing so. This is exactly what I work on with all my athletes. That’s why I’m very happy that Litvínov went over Kometa and if Budějovice managed to complete the turnaround against Třinac, then I will be extremely satisfied with the number of players in the semi-finals with whom I work, or have worked on exactly these things.

Last question… So will Sparta climb to the imaginary Olympus this year? And will we see a super final against Pardubice?
(smiles) I was waiting for you to ask this question. If I take it from the point of view of the two giants, they will consider the season a success only if they lift the cup above their heads, otherwise it is a failure. If Sparta can do it… I wish it very much. I always tell myself that if not this year, then never again. It is often mentioned that Pardubice has the strongest team, but I believe that Sparta has it more. He should stop waiting for the title. But there will be other teams here who will want the same thing.

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