Karel Klikorka: From Kladno to Slavia – An Open Interview with the Defender

Karel Klikorka Photo: Karel Švec, hc-slavia.cz

There are still question marks in his eyes. After a breakthrough season, defender Karel Klikorka was supposed to strive for a permanent place in the extra league, to try to wedge himself into the basic lineup of Kladno. Reality? Mutual ties were already completely severed during the autumn. He talked about this topic in particular in an open interview for Hokej.cz.

Since the beginning of the month, you have been back in Slavia, who offered you a new two-year contract. Can you describe the whole situation from your point of view?
It’s not a step back for me. I’m glad that Slavia helped me get out of a very unpleasant situation, I went through a bad period. I am very grateful to the club – I thank the coaches and the owners. I appreciate it.

Do you have any idea why it didn’t work out in Kladno? Back in May, there were rumors from the club that you could become an above-standard extra-league back.
First of all, I would like to mention that I was 100 percent ready for the extra league level. I put everything into training, I sacrificed a lot. That’s not to say I didn’t the years before, but over the summer I really focused on getting better. Everything was fine, but then I probably didn’t like one coach who wanted to send me away. If I had played more, I might have understood that I had myself to blame for it. Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance, then it was quite unpleasant. A lot of things happened there.

“I guess I didn’t like one of the coaches who wanted to send me away.”

I suppose it must have been a huge blow to the psyche. Especially when the Knights scouted you, showed interest, brought you in as a player with potential…
That makes it worse. Last year I was there for three games, everything was fine. That’s also why I decided to take the step because I felt they wanted to work with me. I toiled away all summer, worked extra hard, devoted myself to diet or sleep. You’ll have to ask someone else, I absolutely cannot answer that. Unfortunately, I ran into someone who wanted to throw sticks at my feet.

And in the end there were only five games with a minimal ice team.
I still don’t understand it, I never will. I was brought there for three years and I expected that they would want to work with me. I want to wrap it up, messing around won’t help.

Karel Klikorka | Photo: Markéta Křížová, hc-slavia.cz

The coaches or people from the management didn’t explain it to you in any way?
Nobody communicated with me in this direction, absolutely not at all. I don’t want to drag things out, it’s not done, but… There was also an incident where I was told I wasn’t playing and then I started the first shift and when I came off the ice I found out I shouldn’t have been there at all . (bitter smile) Such things happened there. I want to keep a lot of them to myself because it doesn’t fit. It’s boiling inside me a lot.

But as you say – it will be best to apply the proverb What does not kill you makes you stronger…
Sure, that’s clear. My biggest regret is that I burned myself with someone I thought was a fair person. What did it get me? Definitely looking up again and finding certain things to work on. I’ve met great players with wonderful careers. I had the honor of training in the evening with Jaromír Jágr… I will always respect that and remember it only in good ways.

“I looked up again and found certain things to work on.”

Will your thinking change in the future? I mean, if you are more careful in this regard and think three times about every decision.
Of course yes. But now I’m not going to deal with it at all, this happened and I’m not going to do anything about it. I have a contract for two years here at Slavia, I want to help them up.

What did you discover about your game during the anabasis in Kladno?
Everyone keeps mentioning skating. That’s one of the things I’m trying to work on to get it up to the level I would imagine. I think I have improved it a lot. More one-on-one battles in the defensive zone, blocking shots and things like that. This is important in extralization. I’m so glad I went through the training process and saw it. It was hard work in Kladno.

It will probably take a while to pump up the lost self-confidence. Or have you already succeeded after your comeback to Slavia?
When I came here, I was very grateful that I got a lot of space and went back to the powerhouse. It is very important for my game that I get on the ice a lot. Commuting between Kladno and Slavia was not easy, because when I was coming back, I had other hard training sessions there. It was very demanding physically and mentally. I have been here for a month and I am very happy. There are great people here.

“Whoever has experienced it knows that it’s not easy.”

On Wednesday, the club successfully entered a new chapter under coach Aleš Totter. You have to value the triumph over the strong Prostějov a lot.
That’s right, a terrible relief. We needed to get away from something, we had enough losses. I am very happy for everyone, for the coaches and for us. Great win, we need to bounce back from it.

How difficult have the past few weeks been for the team?
Anyone who has experienced it knows that it is not easy. Once it starts to take hold, it is very difficult to get out of it. Now some changes have come and we have to work to go up the table.

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2023-11-23 19:27:00
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