Martin Kézr tries to find something positive in the quoted passage. In the 8+8 system, teams see the possibility of playing more quality matches. “Honestly, I don’t know if it wouldn’t be better to go to twelve teams,” he admits and also recalls one of the arguments of hockey boss Alois Hadamczik, that the competition will have three stages and there will still be something to play for. “But that also applies to twelve,” he repeats.
Bednář thinks young players should move up to the Chance League, or the third highest league. “Those guys should be given two years in the Junior Extra League, let them prove themselves, then they should move on. I would like to keep the competition with fourteen teams to myself, but I think the expansion is unfortunate. In my opinion, the best way is reduce the number of participants,” adds Bednář, adding that his Slavia and Přerov were against the idea. At the same time, the Pragues would like to return to the top youth league as soon as possible. possible.
There was also talk of the approaching World Cup of 20 years, which will start on December 26 in Canada. In this category, Czech hockey has been waiting for a medal for eighteen years. “On paper, the Czech team doesn’t look bad judging by the names,” the journalist points out. At the last championship, which was played in an unusual way in the summer, the Czechs finished in fourth place, and many names are nominated for this tournament as “The team has prospects, but it will mainly depend on how they handle the crucial quarter-finals. You won’t be able to choose your opponent there,” explains Kézr.
The former outstanding striker then spoke about the plans of Slavia hockey in the pipeline and recalled the derbies he played during his career. And not only with rivals in Prague, but also in several European countries. He also added some curiosities.
What did Bednář say about why he didn’t play for the national youth teams? And which coach probably did not draw his attention to him, because he ended up repeatedly under his leadership? You will learn all this in the Příklep program, which you can also listen to as a podcast.
