Jan Pravda | Photo: beranizlin.cz
Hockey Zlín started the second season in the Chance league on Wednesday, September 13. And also the second attempt to return to the extra league, which will be led by Jan Pravda from the position of club boss. It was the manager from Zlín who gave hokeki.cz a comprehensive interview just before the start of the season. You can feel from him that they want to succeed in Bať’s city.
At the time of the interview, there are a few hours left until the start of the Chance League. Are you already feeling healthy nervousness?
(smiles) There has to be a healthy nervousness, it wouldn’t work properly without it, so yes. We are all looking forward to the start of the competition.
I have the feeling that hockey Zlín has changed its rhetoric compared to last year. There are no more announcements about immediate promotion to the extra league, on the contrary, things seem more planned with regard to the future. Do you agree?
I probably wouldn’t put it that way. We approach it in such a way that Zlín is a traditional hockey town, to which the extra league belongs. So we want to try to progress every year, this year is no exception.
Does the current squad have the ability to realistically fight for the extra league?
I think we are very well prepared for the start of the Chance League, but our strategy is that we want to improve the team during the season. We want our performance to improve towards the end of the season and our behavior on the player market will correspond to this. We know that last year’s finish was a miracle in a way, we finished with seven juniors, which we don’t want to do again. That’s why we want to have a wider team.
“Zlín is a traditional hockey town to which the extra league belongs.”
What is the situation around Petr Šenkřeník?
Petr received an offer from us for a full-fledged and, let’s say, open contract. However, he told us that he is currently concentrating on the Extraliga, possibly abroad, so he has not accepted our offer for the time being.
When I talk to major league managers, I often hear: We can give players comparable, sometimes even better, offers than in the extra league, but even then they often decide for a higher competition for perhaps less money. Do you feel the same way?
Yes, it certainly is. Players want to play extra league or top leagues abroad and often take the Chance League as a last resort. If a hockey player is of productive age, he often takes it as a step back. Even if you give someone an offer that is better than extra-league, it is not easy to bring such a player.
“Our strategy is that we want to embellish the team during the season.”
What about the agreement on the possible alternate starts of Daniel Huf to Olomouc and Jakub Sedláček to Zlín?
We see it as an opportunity for Dan to get a peek into the extra league. He would gain good experience which can come in handy in the playoffs. And on the other hand, if – God forbid – an injury happens, for example, we have the opportunity to bring in a quality goalkeeper from the extra league, in addition, with a relationship with Zlín.
Jan Pravda | Photo: beranizlin.cz
After all, most of your summer reinforcements also have a Zlín past. Is the club returning to the philosophy that has worked for them for many years?
Yes, this is the path we want to follow. Foster children have always belonged to Zlín, and I don’t intend to change that. All the changes we’re making now, we’re making them to emphasize clubbing. In addition, we want to create conditions not only for our foster children, so that they have no reason to leave us.
“The wards have always belonged to Zlín, and I’m not going to change that.”
But can such conditions be created without a general partner?
We have a strong ownership structure, with the co-owners agreeing on how money will flow into hockey. To date, we have about 90 percent of our budget filled, so I don’t see the absence of a general partner as a problem. The co-owners and I agreed that the general must be a partner who gives hockey something extra, not just financial resources. In return, we will actively support him in his business activities.
Do I understand correctly that you no longer want to follow the path of the recent past, when these contracts were sewn with a hot needle in Zlín?
Yes, there were times when general partnership contracts in Zlín were underlined in quotation marks. This is what we want to avoid. When someone gives you four million for the extra league as a general, it is simply not good for building the club’s brand. For me, a general partnership has to work on a long-term basis, and it’s not just about money. We want our partner to live hockey and our relations to be mutually beneficial.
“The co-owners and I agreed that the general must be a partner who gives hockey something extra.”
Is someone like that emerging?
We have certain outlines, but we are not yet at the stage before signing the contract.
How are you doing compared to last year’s budget?
Both budgets are similar, but this year’s is structured completely differently. We have cleaned up the apparatus, which will allow us to invest more in the club and the players. In addition, it was necessary for us to make certain adjustments in the area of the stadium paid for from the club’s budget, so our budget this year is an investment one.
Photo: David Peška, beranizlin.cz
Is renaming both Zlín hockey stadiums a big advantage?
Yes, we renamed Luďko Čajka Winter Stadium to TRINITY BANK arena Luďko Čajka and PSG arena to CCM arena. Both contracts are signed for three years, while the funds resulting from them will be used for the further modernization of both halls, which is necessary for the club.
“We have cleaned up the apparatus, which will allow us to invest more in the club and the players.”
Although Luděk Čajka remains in the name of the main stadium, have you not thought about how the fans will take this change?
You know they were thinking. We discussed it with the city and the conclusion was that Luděk Čajka will always remain in the name of the stadium, nothing will change. On the other hand, the stadium simply needs modernization. Nothing has been done on it for fifty years, and if we don’t act on it, it will soon fall on our heads. Well, money is always needed for such investments. I believe that the fans will quickly get used to the new name and will appreciate it in time when they see that the changes are reflected in the stadium and their experience and facilities during matches will improve.
After all, both stadiums underwent significant modifications already during the summer. How satisfied are you with them?
I’m mainly glad that everything worked out. Everyone did a great job. We renovated the cabin of the first team, which had not been touched for a long time, we have newly equipped spaces for regeneration, the gym received new equipment, and we also solved the club restaurant. In the CCM arena, we also succeeded in renovating all the facilities for youth training with a new store with hockey goods. We have solved the problems in the buffets, we have a new fan zone with a fan shop in front of the stadium and many other small things. For me, it is a big piece of work that can be seen and I am very grateful to all the companies that participated in it.
“Renaming arenas? Stadiums need upgrades, which require money.”
Can you calculate how much it cost you?
If I also count the reconstruction of the roof and the sewerage, which is carried out by the city, we are in the tens of millions of crowns.
Bedrich Köhler | Photo: beranizlin.cz
For many years, Zlín hockey was famous for its youth, but it tends to wither over the years. You may even lose your academy status. How to restart the youth?
In the last few years, we haven’t made much progress at the club in terms of youth. The Academy is evaluated five years ago, so unfortunately we are reaping the fruits of past work. However, I don’t want to evaluate the past. Although we can really lose the academy, I believe that the introduced changes will significantly help the youth of Zlín. We have practically sixty percent of new coaches, we are training in a new system, in a new facility, but it is clear that these changes will not manifest themselves immediately, even if some expect it. We can’t do miracles and we will have to work conceptually for a long time in order to gradually move up, and it is clear to me that not everyone will be able to handle these changes.
“I believe that the introduced changes will significantly help the Zlín management.”
So how long can the changes really take effect?
It is very individual. If I’m honest, we have problems in some years that we need to supplement, the junior team is already beaten, where we practically have no players from the year 2004, and unfortunately, the situation is similar in some younger years as well. We have a long way to go, but we are all very motivated to succeed. As the saying goes: as long as it falls, it grows back up. The changes will start showing up later, I estimate it for at least three years.
The fate of the Zlín academy will be decided by the executive committee of the hockey association. Do you believe that the renovation of the stadiums and the proposed changes will tip the scales in your favor?
We want to inform ČSLH about developments in the club. We are one of the few clubs in the Czech Republic that has three ice surfaces at its disposal, we have a completely solved background for the academy, from accommodation, catering, education to quality training. Together, we opened a secondary school focusing on coaching, and from next year, a follow-up course will be opened at T. Bata University. In addition, the 9th grade, teenagers and juniors play in the extra league competition, so from my point of view it would be a shame for such a traditional club, which celebrates 95 years of hockey this year, to have such a problem. I dare to say that our facilities are top-notch. So I will certainly appeal in other contexts as well.
A to?
I see the problem on several levels, but I will mention only three. The first is the tie extraliga vs. Chance league. Historically, no team has gone through the current model. If we want to close the extra league, then of course that is the way, maybe it is easier to admit it publicly. In any case, in my opinion, there should always be a real way of advancement, from a sporting point of view it would contribute to the sport. We will certainly remind the association of this point. Another problem is the scoring of the academies, where there is an inequality of conditions between the Extraliga and Chance League teams. Currently, only points from the draft to the NHL, starts in the extra league and, of course, starts in the national team are recognized. If you play in the Chance league and give a chance to juniors, no points are credited to you, but in the extra league you are. Last year we allowed eight juniors to play for the A-team, this year a teenager also joins the A-team, most of the boys have moved on with this step and today they also have contracts in the senior competition. I also find a paradox in the decision of the best scorer of the junior extra league, Lukáš Heš, who also played for the Czech Republic, now plays overseas and, for some incomprehensible reason, was not even nominated for the national team. Another paradox is the state of the junior competition, currently four players cannot play in the senior competition and the junior competition at the same time. It is a real pity. We give space to players to play in the men’s, but because they don’t have enough space there yet, they could continue to win in the juniors, but unfortunately they can’t because there is a stupid rule that doesn’t allow this. On the one hand, we want the transition to men to be more frequent, but on the other hand, we forbid it for young players. Unfortunately, there are more problems, but I believe that the new management of ČSLH is monitoring these issues and will respond to them over time.
“On the one hand, we want the transition to men to be more common, but on the other hand, we prohibit it for young players.”
By the way, your predecessor Robert Hamrla communicated quite a lot through social networks. How are you set up in this regard?
I like to communicate, but I will not go the individual way. We’re a club and that’s how I’m going to do it, so we’ll post all communications through the club’s news channels, then anyone can share. The second important thing is that we have significantly strengthened marketing, we want to make it attractive, active and together with the fans, and I believe that thanks to this, the overall image of the club will turn for the better. Our new claim is Rams are WE, which means we want to connect the management, players and fans into one club and thus create one team that will create an amazing hockey atmosphere and experiences at the stadium.
Photo: David Peška, beranizlin.cz
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2023-09-14 19:04:00
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