Dostal has had a breakthrough season in the NHL. The Komety student feels nostalgic in Brno

“I am naturally excited about the championship. However, there is still more than a week left until its start. So I don’t want to shout anything. Anything can still happen,” explains Dostál.

He is happy that the Czech national team will take part in the training camp in Brno, where he started playing hockey. “I’ve been catching Comet here since I was little. But now I haven’t been here for six years. So now, upon entering the Brno hall, I recalled a lot of beautiful memories. It’s quite nostalgic. I’m enjoying it,” he revealed.

Dostal is excited for the Brno fans. “I myself am curious how the whole tournament will go. I focus mainly on myself. I will try to perform as well as possible,” he vowed.

His teammates in the national team are two other goalkeepers from the NHL, Petr Mrázek and Karel Vejmelka. “All three of us know each other very well. We have excellent relations,” says Dostál. He and Vejmelka share a common past in Kometa in Brno. “I really like Karlík. In the season, we caught each other twice in the NHL. In addition, in one match in preparation. And we always had a great chat after the game. It was nice,” he smiles.

Although his Anaheim in the NHL mostly lost this season, it was a very important year for Dostál. “I started in forty-four matches. I didn’t even count on such a portion. I am very happy about that. I gained enormous experience,” he values.

He knows it was a breakthrough season for him. For the first time, he completed it all in the NHL without going to the farm. “However, I still don’t dare to say that I’m permanently part of the NHL, although of course I want to stay in it. But I still consider myself a young goalkeeper, and anything can happen,” reflects Dostál.

Although he did not achieve his dream of advancing to the playoffs with Anaheim, he still sees considerable future prospects in the local club. “We had a decent start to the season, but around Christmas we didn’t do well. But the ending was pretty good. That’s something we could bounce back from. We have a young team that is rebuilding. And I believe that it will go up gradually,” he would welcome.

With the end of the season approaching, Dostál was in more and more telephone contact with the goalkeeping coach of the national team, Ondřej Pavelec. “Communication between us gradually increased in intensity. I always repeated to him that I was interested in representing and I would be very happy to come,” he revealed.

He also managed to watch the Czech extra league overseas. “However, due to the time difference, I was just recording the results. However, I didn’t miss a few games of the Comets in the playoffs. It’s a shame that the boys didn’t make it in the quarterfinals,” regrets Dostál.