“I think both sports could be combined. But there was a problem with that in football Hradec, so I left for the local Olympia. For three years after that, I still went to play hockey with my friends, I didn’t want to give it up completely,” says Vlkanova.
Some habits from hockey are also useful for him in football. “I’m not afraid to fight, even though I’m smaller. Of course, everyone has a different physical disposition, if I collide with someone in shape, it doesn’t matter what I do in the fight,” laughs the 28-year-old midfielder, who last held a hockey stick in the pre-covid era.
“I’m afraid I’d get hurt. But if the whole team went after the season, I would like to join. “I haven’t played hockey for a long time,” notes Vlkanova. He says he doesn’t go to the Czech Extraliga, he watches the Canadian-American NHL on TV. He doesn’t really have a favorite team. However, he wishes for the Czech hockey players he played against in his youth – Boston star David Pastrňák and Detroit forward Jakub Vrán.
“We don’t know each other personally, but I wish them the best. I remember especially the Crow. He was two years younger than the rest of us, he played for Letňany. We always watched before the games to see if he would play. If he wasn’t, we knew we would win by maybe ten goals. If he played, we got ten zero. He was already incredible back then,” describes Vlkanova, who made a huge leap during the fall.
Although he had one foot in Slavia or abroad after last season, in mid-August it looked like he would end up staying in Hradec Králové. Thanks to Pilsen’s progress in the Champions League, which was saved from collapse by a hundred million bonus, he moved to the Doosan Arena. He soon became a mainstay of the defense.
“I had it in my head that either something would work out at the last minute in the summer or I would go for free after the season. I was glad that Pilsen came out. I was able to experience the Champions League, I have a better chance to be in the national team. I made my dreams come true. But I will appreciate the autumn for longer,” says Vlkanova. What next move does she want to make? “I didn’t win the title, so this is my next goal,” concludes the midfielder.
