“Interview with Hradec Králové Captain Radek Smoleňák: Emotions, Learning and Potential after Extra League Finals”

Radek, what are your emotions right now?

They are mixed feelings, because one feels that Třinec was meant to be. It would be different if we lost four times and didn’t tap. But I feel we had them. But Třinec is an experienced team, they play in the finals every year, and we went into it as complete novices and learned as we went. This was also the thing that played for Třinec, that he had played these matches.

Explain what you had to learn?

So there are thirty of you journalists here for the finals instead of the usual two who travel around the entire league during the regular season. People stop you, there is interest in you. And then… Třinec will score the first goal, then they’ll score a red flag… That’s what we’ve learned. We learned to play smart. If someone screws up in the regular season, they get a goal, but it’s still November. We saw it today – first period, one mistake and boom, goal. These are things we have to learn to deal with. Such situations must not happen to us if we want to beat a team of such caliber as Třinec.

But you were close, weren’t you?

Třinec deservedly won, beating excellent teams. Hats off. On the other hand, we outplayed them in many things, we knew how to deal with them. Unfortunately, our lack of work around the goal, our hunger for goals and skill to score them condemned us to second place.

Even so, it is a historic success for Hradec.

Yeah, but I have it in me to either win or nothing. People only remember the winners. I had in my head how we played the Champions League final and lost at home. But the euphoria in the winter and in the city, so I wanted to experience it one more time. But what our spectators and people have shown in home matches and the atmosphere they have created has surpassed any match I have played. And that’s what I’ll remember from this final. Fans come to see us, it costs them a lot of effort, money and time off work. We can only reward them with performances. Hopefully they can see that we didn’t slouch.

Power. What has happened this year, one cannot imagine even in a bad dream. Even what happened to us in the playoffs. We put it together in such a way that whoever was healthy and had the morale to play went for it. Everyone deserves credit for that, we played with brutal self-denial.

Yeah. A person in their twenties thinks that the chance will come ten times, but this was my second final that I played and lost again. God knows what will happen next year. I wish I could experience it again, but I don’t know what tomorrow will bring.

I don’t give a fuck about it. That’s why I like hockey so much. And how I got through all the injuries this year. So I’m going to shut down now because it’s a total blank. But I have the motivation to play the whole season, to return to some standard.

You personally missed that in the playoffs, didn’t you? You were more of a mentor, often on the edge of the lineup.

I had an injured hip and when I came back I unluckily broke my heel. Then after four weeks I fell into it, which was also a fluke. And in the last match of the regular season against Pardubice, I broke my arm. I just chose it, but there were more guys in the squad who played with injuries that are not compatible with hockey. I’m sorry I didn’t play as well as I would have liked. The guys who were given priority but played excellently, which proves that we are in the final. I can’t even say ash, the coaches put guys there who were in the lauf, whom they trusted. After the broken hand, I told myself to get at least a minute in the playoffs. I would like to play more, I am an athlete, but I took the role as it was.

Your friend Jakub Voráček already said during the quarter-finals that the winner of the series Sparta – Třinec will win the title.

Kuba knows everything, but in his mind he was definitely rooting for me. If you look at Třinec, who did he beat… If you have to lose, then with a team like Třinec. For example, today I felt that we have more energy, more strength. Unfortunately, Třinec knew when to pull, when to do what. Not that we were pounding like deaf people on goal, but we missed shots, someone in front of the goal. Káca (Kacetl) catches what he sees. We missed a lot of ferocity around the goal.

But the team has a lot of potential, right?

Yes, and I think the boys are far from showing what they can do. I keep an eye on them every day, I see what they can and can’t do. I still wish them to aim even higher, so that Hradec is not the last stop for them, to play somewhere outside. And it would make me happy if I could help them.