“I’m happy that I’ll be able to play for the national team again. These are matches that mean something. It is super. From around November-December, it didn’t have such a charge in the season. I last experienced playing at home in front of family and friends in 2018 or 2019. I’m already looking forward to it,” said Rutta, who returned to the Czech Republic last week.
The 33-year-old native of Písek played 69 games in the season, scoring five goals and 14 assists. “I feel good health-wise. I didn’t play a full portion of 82 matches, but I still managed quite a few. I was pretty happy from that point of view,” said Rutta, who was traded to San Jose before the season from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Before that, he also played in Tampa Bay, with which he won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.
In the “Sharks” team, he got used to the opposite pole of the table. San Jose was the weakest team in the competition with 47 points. “It was already clear before the season that we would not fight for the top ranks. The beginning was not easy, especially since I was lucky enough to play in organizations that had the biggest goals in the previous years. From that point of view, it was a new experience. But the cabin was good in that we didn’t break up all year and finished it with some honor,” Rutta described.
It helped that he found the role of a mentor. “I quite liked it. The organization is in a slightly different position, so there are more younger guys. I’ve already played some hockey, so I enjoyed passing on experience to younger players,” Rutta said.
Photo: Pravo
Jan Rutta brought the Stanley Cup to Prague.
He started in the team with compatriots Filip Zadina and Tomáš Hertl. But Hertl left for the Las Vegas Knights in March. “I was with Tomáš every day and I had no idea that something like this was going to happen. So that day when the transfers were closing and Hertlik came to coffee in the morning saying that he was going to Las Vegas, I watched it a bit. But I am very happy for him. He is an excellent player and it is only good that he can fight for the biggest targets. However, losing a Czech in the team in America sucks,” Rutta admitted.
He believes that San Jose will improve in the years to come. “We finished last, so it has to go up. In America, competitions are set up in such a way that sometimes leaner years have to come to make it better. I believe the organization will do a good job in the draft and signing free agents. I’m an optimist in this,” said the Czech defender.
Now he is looking forward to the national team. He knows coach Radim Rulík from the past. “I experienced him as a junior in Pilsen and as a junior in Chomutov. I like it, experiencing him on three different teams. I look forward to. All the teams he led played well,” said Rutta.
He is ready to play at the Czech Hockey Games in Brno, and he would take participation in the home World Cup as a great motivation. “As soon as it was announced that the World Championship would be held in Prague, probably every Czech hockey player was looking forward to it. I never had the opportunity to represent, for example, at the Olympics. So the championship in the Czech Republic would be amazing,” he explained.
He follows the performances of Chomutov in the second league, he also watched the final of the extra league between Třinec and Pardubice. “Třinec’s story is amazing. Despite the injuries and how tired they must have been from previous seasons, they found a way to win. But I was also with Zadina (Zadina) for a whole year, his dad (Marek) also came to see him and I wished him the same. I was not polarized. I wished it both and hats off to Třinec,” added Rutta.
