“Vítkovice’s Coach Reflects on Close Playoff Run and Off-Season Plans”

“I tell myself that we could have played the final in peace. But I don’t want to be uneaten. We wanted to advance when it went so incredibly from 0:3 to 3:3. But we just didn’t take the last step,” said the 52-year-old coach.

Do you feel that you had the finals?

Maybe yes. It was very balanced against Hradec Králové. Not a single match ended 6:1 or 6:2, it was a struggle for a few goals, extra time was played. The last match could easily have been decided in our favor, when Frigo (Petr Fridrich) got away in overtime and was completely on his own. The same in the power play, we were able to turn it to our side there as well. But we didn’t progress, so we probably didn’t have it.

Have you figured out where you fell that tiny bit short?

Maybe it bothered us that the shooters didn’t make it. Those who made us advance to the semi-finals, Mueller and Bukarts arranged the advance with their goals, but they were not seen so much in the final. I don’t want to say they let down the shooters, it’s a team sport. But the power plays did not go as well as we would have imagined. Or how they worked for us before. We have players who should be able to handle it. In each case. It’s the little things. It can also be seen in the finals, where small things, puck bounces, decide again. It’s really a lot about luck.

How will you rate the season?

I wanted to be happy with the season, but it’s messing with my head. It was really close to moving on. Perhaps it is enhanced by the fact that we went from 0:3 to 3:3. If the series had ended 4:1, then one would say that they were better. Or we messed something up. But we were really close. And when I see the final – I think, jesus mary, we could have easily played that too.

The star of the team was supposed to be Peter Mueller in the playoffs, in the end it was Aleš Stezka. Do you feel the same way?

Ales was our number one. All season long, not just in the playoffs. He was the difference player who kept us hoping that we could progress further and further. Aleš made such a huge progress, and so the boy who was catching for Havířov two years ago kept us. And now he’s signing an NHL contract! This is perhaps a bigger leap than the bricklayer Gewies made to the extra league. Mueller had some minor injuries with his triceps, he had a virus, but we were counting on him to score the difference. He was great in the regular season, keeping to a point per game. And he dropped out because of a rib injury, he had problems with his ankle. At that moment, Laky (Lakatoš) pulled in, who collected a lot of points and goals. Hockey is teamwork, but everyone has a role to play. Even if the opponent is preparing. Nevertheless, there are moments of the game, for example in the power play, when Mueller should have struck.

It will not be easy to replace him. But I believe that we will be able to get someone of quality. Not only for me, an above-standard goalkeeper is the basis of success. We have something under discussion, we’ll see how it goes. The goalkeeper is the basic building block.

Matěj Machovský is offered, who is free for next season. Do you deal with him?

Any names are speculation now. It’s not easy, it’s being worked on, I’m curious myself how it will turn out. The goalkeepers we approached are under contracts, it’s not easy. It will be hard work to maintain the bar that Aleš has set. But I believe that it will be successful. Or the defense will have to work even harder to hold the goalkeeper.

Could it happen that Lukáš Klimeš will be number one?

Of course it’s an option. Although he did not catch regularly, when he did, he always performed excellently. As he works in every training session, he is also worth considering.

In addition to Stezka, Patrik Koch and Tobias Lindberg are also leaving. Are you sorry?

Patrik Koch has an agreement with Třinec, but he also has offers from the NHL. On the one hand, I’m sorry that such a player is leaving, but I’ll certainly prefer him to play in the NHL than for Třinec (smiles). I wish him that. He is not injured or sick, he has played practically all the matches, unless he has a stopwatch for the flight that belongs to him. When he’s on the ice, the opponent knows it. Similar type to Roman Polák. Honza Bernovský is also leaving, there is talk of Karlovy Vary. He didn’t make it for a long time, I believe that if he gets an offer elsewhere, he will fight. I’m sorry to see guys go, but there’s no reason to keep them if they’re stagnant.

It was supposed to be a creative center, but it didn’t take off in those two years. He is a good skater, but he has a big deficit in defense, in won pucks, but mainly in creating chances for the wings and productivity. Plus, he’s a foreigner, so he should be visible, and he wasn’t.

It is said that Vítkovice want defender Stuart Percy from České Budějovice, Jan Káňa from Olomouc…

… we don’t want to let it out yet. It is the club’s strategy to gradually prepare the fans for this and I believe that in the case of some names they will be pleasantly surprised. And we will be happy to get such players here.

Mueller, Bukarts stay, what about Lakatos?

He has a contract, but also a clause that he can go abroad. It will be a matter of negotiations if something comes to him. He didn’t make the national team, but he had a good season. We will wait to see how it turns out.

Will you keep Richard Jarůšek, who arrived before the playoffs?

It was a help until the end of the season. We sat down with Šimon (sporting director Roman Šimíček), we will talk about it, but it is not currently our priority.

What should Vítkovice’s next step be? Final?

The owner (Aleš Pavlík) or the sports department have those goals. Who shouldn’t? I also want to win the title. But I don’t like to say it before the season. Of course I would like it, but just the fact that the number one goalkeeper is leaving is a problem. We have to wait to see if the Trail can be replaced. The margin of success and failure is thin, but we won’t lie to ourselves. Taste grows with food. But we should stay grounded and not have castles in the air or big mouthed statements. People want to hear it, who wouldn’t want to win the league, but the road to that is awfully long. Sparta or Pardubice were not afraid to declare it, and then they were eliminated. I’d rather have a gradual joy set in me than have it at the beginning of the season, and then not even make the playoffs.

Are you watching the finale? Are you wondering how you would be doing right now?

Exactly yes. I think we could have played it easy. But who knows, every opponent is different. Before the season, I read how Martin Růžička said that winning is contagious. And experience is decisive. It is related to the fact that we do not have many people in the team who would win something. I could probably count them on one hand. Maybe that also played a role with Pardubice, which was hastily put together, but they don’t have many types there that would win anything. This will then decide in favor of Třinec, where there are maybe sixteen or seventeen of them out of twenty. I don’t even know if Buky (Bukarts) or Mueller have ever won anything. They are stars, but they never reached the top. Maybe that’s why they didn’t make it to the semi-finals.