Defenseman Samuel Kňažko is in a difficult situation in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization. In the NHL team and on the farm, they have so much defenders that Kňažek was sent to the farm, where he did not get a chance in the first two duels. He revealed what his situation is and how he approaches it in an interview with ŠPORT.sk.
You are on the farm of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Cleveland Monsters team, but you did not play the first two meetings. What is your situation?
“There are a lot of defensemen here and there is a lot of pressure in Columbus, so many guys with bigger contracts also go to the farm. I have no regrets from the camp that I played badly or anything like that. I did my best to hold my place. It is only up to the coaches whether they will let me play. I just have to wait for the opportunity.’
Isn’t that depressing?
“Yes, I’m sad about it and it annoys me, but I don’t show it. There are many games in the season and when I get a chance, I am ready to defend my place in the team. Now I just have to wait and hope it’s as soon as possible.’
Are you trying to work harder in training?
“Definitely yes, when I show them in training that I can do it and try and they don’t let me play anyway, then I can say to myself that I did my best for it. If I thought I was training badly, I wouldn’t say anything about it, but I know I’m doing my best for it. I sleep hard during training, which cannot be overlooked, so hopefully they will give me a chance.”
World Hockey Championship 2023: Slovakia – Canada (Peyton Krebs and Samuel Kňažko) Source: imago
Did you talk about your situation with the club management or coaches?
“I let it flow, I only talked to the coach about what I should work on and what the guys who are playing have and I don’t have it. He didn’t tell me anything specific, he knows I can play here. I also told him my stuff, but that’s private now. I can only hope that the management will give me a chance.”
Haven’t you thought about trading or returning to Europe?
“I know I’m young and I need to play. But I didn’t think about Europe, it’s still only the first matches. If I hadn’t played, for example, twenty games, I would have thought more about a trade. If no one wanted me, I would probably think about Europe. But I will not focus on that now. Someone can stop doing well, injuries can happen, and when I go to the lineup, I have to defend my place.”
Do you see any comparison there with Šimon Nemec, who was sent to the farm? If you were both in teams where there is less competition between defenders, you would probably be in better positions now.
“If I was in another team, maybe I would get a better chance, but I can’t look at that now. Šimon was sent to the farm to win even more and they know that in the future he will be the top two defender in the team together with Hughes. So he has a more pleasant situation than me. In my opinion, he should have been in the first team. We’ll see how it goes with us.”
In addition to you, the team also includes Czechs Stanislav Svozil, Pavel Čajan and David Jiříček, when he is not in the NHL. Does it help you to have them there?
“I live with Stan Svozil in the same apartment. We help each other together, and I have peers and quasi-compatriots here. It is an advantage that I can talk to them in Slovak as well. When we need something, there are at least two or three of us.”
Šimon Nemec plays in the AHL in the small town of Utica, where, according to his own words, there is nothing to do. You’re in Cleveland, it’s probably better there.
“We have everything here. Basketball team or American football. It’s a really big city, we have a lot to do here. But there is a lot of traveling in the AHL, the other teams are really far away from us. The closest is probably Utica, which is four to five hours from us. We don’t have much time for other activities. But there are many more options to do here than Šimon has in Utica, but we don’t have time to explore it.”
Are you an NBA fan, have you ever been to a Cleveland Cavaliers game?
“Last year, Šimon Nemec and I were together in Denver. This year, Golden State is coming out for me, which I also support and I will definitely go to see it. It’s really cool that as an NBA fan I have such an opportunity and we still have good seats there. I have already asked the manager for tickets, I hope he will give me some, I will be really happy. They cooperate with our club and sometimes give us free tickets.”
news-item-description">Šimon Nemec left everything on the ice in NHL preparation. Not only in productivity, in which he is always excellent, scoring two goals and adding two assists, but especially in defense. The strict New Jersey Devils coach Lindy Ruff also praised him for the enormous improvement in defense, who changed his approach to the youngster.
Are you in contact with other Slovaks?
“Especially with Šimon and of course with Martin Chromiak from Los Angeles, I am in contact with them the most. We write to each other and say what the situation is. That way we know what’s going on with us and what our situation is and how the other guys are doing.”
You have already made your debut in the NHL. Will the two of them see each other this season?
“I think yes. But they will have a hard time, both Los Angeles and New Jersey have good teams. It is even more difficult for defenders than for forwards, since there are half as many places. If Šimon plays well, even though he had a minor injury now, Jersey didn’t do well in the first matches, and if he did well, they could call him up as quickly as possible.”
Columbus experienced a rather unpleasant summer when coach Mike Babcock ended up in the team due to a controversial case. Did you manage to experience it?
“We had a rookie tournament and as soon as we went to it, the whole case started to be solved. We didn’t interfere much with it. When we came back from the tournament, it came out that he had quit the club. We didn’t experience him much, he only told us before the tournament that he was keeping his fingers crossed for us. I didn’t have a single training session with him, he just looked at us.”
What was the atmosphere like in the team then?
“She was quite tense. It is not easy to fire a coach before the start of the season, and in such a way. But a new coach arrived, who was an assistant coach for three or four years, and then everything was fine.”
2023-10-20 11:20:00
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