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Source: Petr Tibitanzl, Motor České Budějovice
The day before Christmas, the hockey players of Olomouc managed to win on the grounds of Motor České Budějovice. But a spectacular comeback was celebrated with more than three points. Club legend Branislav Konrád returned between the three bars.
It was written on September 2, 2021. A preparatory match was played in Olomouc between the local Moravia and Hradec Králové. Ordinary day. In the 53rd minute, it turned upside down. The Hanák goalkeeper was hit by a skate in the neck, quickly covered the wound with his hand and sprinted to the switch, where he commanded himself to the ground.
The stadium suddenly fell silent, the match, which was more or less nothing, became a horror moment. Fortunately, the skate blade did not hit the artery, but the injury was serious. As Branislav Konrád himself revealed, being hit an inch lower would probably no longer live.
Conrad had severed muscles in the collarbone, including a head lifter. In addition, he had a chipped vertebra and affected nerves. For a while, it was not much decided whether the Slovak goalkeeper would return between the three poles at all.
However, the day before Christmas, it happened. After 112 days. A great gift for Olomouc fans, but also the goalkeeper himself. In addition, he showed a great performance in České Budějovice and helped to win 3: 1, scored 30 interventions, caught a penalty shootout of Milan Gulaš and had a 96.77% success rate.
And how does he evaluate his return? “From an overall point of view, it was difficult to get into a fierce match again after such a time. Physically, I expected it to get worse. Now I feel relaxed, the boys in the third period did not allow much pressure and fell into the bullets, they helped me a lot. “ he spoke for the club website.
“It has been a long wait, but the win is great. I still have a lot of work to do, I still have to go to rehab and we’ll see how it regenerates. This is a small step and I believe that it will only improve, especially mentally, ” added Konrad.
Let’s hope that the Slovak goalkeeper will soon get into his famous form, which scares even the best forwards in the extra league.
Source: HC Olomouc, Tipsport extraliga
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