Crane on skates: Those who do not know our group will not understand. Squirrel? It is…

A seemingly ordinary thing for a hockey player, standing on skates. But what is it like after what you have experienced?
“I have an incredible feeling! I wouldn’t risk it without trying. I got permission from the physiotherapists and the doctors. It’s great, but I’m not going to fool around and rush.” (smiles)

I assume you tried it on skates for the eventual celebration on the ice. Were you afraid of shouting the title?
“It was secret, the guys didn’t know about it. In the end, one photo slipped by, but I wouldn’t deal with that. I gradually gave the boys information on how I was improving, I tried to motivate them a little. This was the last thing and my dream. Put on the skates and raise the cup.’

How is it possible that Třinec managed it again? Already the quarter-final with Budějovice was a tough test, not to mention the semi-final with Sparta…
“I can’t explain it to you. Because this is something unreal. I already said last year: Anyone who isn’t in our dressing room and doesn’t know this group inside out, won’t really understand it.”

How did you learn not to give up even when everyone else would have given up? A lot of teams would like to figure it out…
“There is a huge heart here and above all a great character. And also tenacity.’

Did you really believe every moment? Even if there was a second left before the end of your season and Daniel Voženílek threw the puck from behind the goal to Jakub Kovář?
“I believed. He believed… I was pulling my hair and believing. We still believed.”

After the surgery, you soon started traveling with the team to away games. What was it like to move around on crutches?
“Since the fifth match at Sparta, I’ve been riding with the guys as a mascot… (smiles) Even from this position, it was incredible for me to be with this group. They were returning the results to me. I thank them all very much.’

Is the injury healing well?
“It’s going well, I must say. I believe I’ll get better over the summer. I just can’t do shit, I have plenty of time. Hopefully everything will go on as it should again.”

Have you experienced the famous Třinec DNA somewhere else? At least hinted at?
“Indicatively, when I was part of the team in Washington.”

Zdeněk Moták took over the team after Václav Varaď. And he immediately accompanied you to two titles. What is the coach like in your eyes?
“A coach who gives the team great calmness. Also insight and an incredible experience. And what is also very important is his humanity. What are we talking about, a lot of people don’t realize in certain situations that hockey is still just a sport. Mr. Moták can also put empathy into it, which is important.”

And he doesn’t drive himself, I might add. Which the team will also appreciate a lot, right?
“Hundred percent.”

Another thing. When I see the owner Ján Moder, how he breathes and lives with the manchaft, you can’t see that everywhere either. Your view?
“You don’t see the owner going to the boiler room and cheering there. I hope he won’t be angry with me if I reveal my current incident with him. When the injury happened to me, Mr. Moder was in America. Around 9:30 in the morning, someone knocks on my hospital room. I wonder who it could be, I’m not expecting anyone… And Mr. Moder appeared in the doorway, he came to see me.”

No surprise. How did your sister Markéta, an excellent handball player, experience your serious injury?
“She experiences everything to the fullest. As I with her, so she with me. When she saw the footage on TV… We write and congratulate each other. The first thing my family and I will do is to visit my sister in Denmark.’

HC Ocelarí Třinec

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