From the point of view of the results of recent years, there must be disappointment under Ještěd. After all, they have reached the finals four times in the last six years. And maybe they would have fought for gold for the fifth time during that time if it weren’t for the cover and the two-year-old playoffs, before which they were among the biggest favorites for gold as winners of the basic part.
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Only twice since 2016 have they not been among the top two teams. In 2018, when they also dropped out in the quarterfinals after a seven-match battle with Hradec Králové. And now that Sparta had just won one triumph.
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Nevertheless, I think they can also consider this season a success. Not only because they eliminated the ambitious Comet in the preliminary round, but above all with a view to the future. If you look at the Liberec roster, yesterday’s historic match in Sparta was soaked with a group with an average age of 25.8 years! Just for comparison, the Spartan one was almost three years older. And for example, Steelmakers have a staff of almost thirty on average.
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Jan Šír from Liberec (middle) receives congratulations to the goal from his teammates.Photo: Michal Kamaryt, CTK
There were 7 players aged 22 and under at the Liberec substitute: Ivan, Štibingr, Rychlovský, Šír, Najman, Faško-Rudáš and Klapka. We can also mention 23-year-old Zachar, a year-old phantom in the goal of Petr Kváč or 21-year-old Aubrecht, who was prepared as the seventh back. And all the young men were very visible on the ice, which made their mentor in the cabin, Ladislav Šmíd, very happy. The fourth line Najman-Šír-Rychlovský grew in an admirable way during the season.
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From this point of view, the descent of Benátky nad Jizerou from the first league, which functioned as its farm in the quarterfinals with a strong Sparta, can be a bigger problem for Liberec than eliminating them in the quarterfinals, and their cooperation at this level ends after fourteen years. The North Bohemian club is now looking for a replacement where other players would follow the example of Klapka or Šíra. Litoměřice could be in the game, or the role of the reserve team could be spread to several first-league clubs all the way to Prostějov.
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In any case, white carnivores have shown great potential. Although Šmíd is over and the question mark hangs over David Gríger or Jakub Klepiš, if Michal Bulíř strengthens Liberec from next season, which is considered a done deal under Ještěd, or speculation about the return of Radan Lenka or greater involvement of former national team coach Filip Pešán in club events will come true. next season, coach Patrik Augusta could have a very interesting team at his disposal, for which the quarterfinals would be short.
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Hynek Preisler
He has been working as a sports journalist for over thirteen years. Since 2008 he has been working as an editor of the daily Sport as a reporter in Liberec, since 2017 he has been writing for the Liberec editorial office of the daily Právo and the most visited Czech sports website Sport.cz. He not only informs about sports events, but also likes sports. He ran the Jizera Fifty ten times and Vas’s run twice, and so far he has always reached the finish line. He graduated from the Faculty of Arts, Charles University.
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