Liberec – Former Tiger Academy and A-team player Adam Klapka will never forget this night. In the Calgary game against San Jose, he scored his first goal in the best league in the world!
At the same time, the 203-centimeter-tall forward managed to score his goal this season practically at the last possible moment. Calgary will not make it to the playoffs, and the home meeting with San Jose was the Flames’ last game this year.
Klapka’s moment came in the 13th minute when he reached for the puck in the left circle and fired it under the crossbar with a perfectly accurate swing. Klaps – as he is nicknamed overseas – made his NHL debut in his sixth game. Otherwise, he mainly starts on the farm in the AHL, where he has very good numbers. This year, he scored 46 points in 64 duels.
In the match, San Jose also showed its other strength – physical play. In the 23rd minute, he faced Givani Smith in a great battle.
“It’s an amazing feeling, especially here on home ice. I’ll never forget it,” beamed Klapka after the game. “I think it was time to show that I can play in the NHL. When I scored, it was more of an instinct, I mainly tried to get the puck into the goal.”
Adam Klapka is a member of Slavia Prague, but he chose to transfer to Liberec as a junior. He developed here in the tiger academy and in the program of the then farm in Venátky nad Jizerou.
In the 2019/20 season, he decided to move to an overseas junior competition, however, in the 2021/22 year, he returned to the Liberec organization. Originally, he was expected to be more of a support for Venice, but Klapka got a chance in the Tigers’ A team and he took it very well. In the extra league, he finally played 44 matches with a record of 6+12. He also scored his first starts and a goal in the senior national team.
The chief scout of the Calgary Flames flew in to see Klapka several times during the aforementioned season, and the lanky forward talked about a contract in the best league in the world with his performances.
