But the union’s unobtrusive press release, which bears the number 130, also has a certain taste. For example, hockey boss Tomáš Král does not mention Pacin’s health or any wish for healing at all, but his comment begins with the sentence: “I am sorry (leaving), because I convinced him and brought him to the union, even though I knew that his everyone will not like the difficult approach and straightforward views. “
And here is probably the core of the poodle.
Pacina spoke very critically after the Beijing Olympics, where the women’s national team broke through for the first time in history and ended up even higher than the men’s. He was hard on himself, he admitted to mistakes, but he was also hard on the players and their character, and it bothered him that they blamed others but themselves for the failure. “These sports work here with friends, to connect with the past. Unfortunately, it’s toxic. And as long as we point the finger at others, it will be deeper,” he said, among other things.
The general public praised the man, who had lived in exile for more than 30 years, for his openness and for popularizing women’s hockey with girls, but a revolt broke out within the women’s section itself. And so a series of texts was published in the daily Sport last week, where, for example, Příbram coach Roman Kosina spoke out against him. “An uncle came from Canada and started teaching and insulting us all here. But where did he get that right? What is it? Petr Novák (predecessor) got the countryman somewhere. I don’t mind if someone replaced him. he doesn’t move any further, but he returns to where he was many years ago. And people are still building a monument to him, how great it is that he got it somewhere here. Unbelievable. “
He questioned Pacino’s erudition and accused him that many players had returned from the Olympics trampled on.
He did it not only in the newspapers, he also wrote to the union, which would be wrong to perceive as reporting, but it can be considered a relevant step by him as a member of the movement. Just as relevant, he kept Pacino’s executive committee in office.
No, even though I have a female name, I was not in the girls’ national team booth, so it is difficult to say a fair trial, whether Pacina was just a strict and demanding coach or a pseudo-expert who did not move women’s hockey anywhere and mentally ruined the staff.
However, I believe that he was a visionary who could enrich the local sport in general. His public opinions suit me and I was very happy for his sincerity and calling things by their real names, because it often rubs off in the Czech Republic. It’s weird how many people call for a fresh breeze that would stir up the musty air here, but as soon as it starts to blow a little more, we hear the scream that we’re cold and we didn’t imagine such a piece. That he is simply a better “stinker, but a warmth”.
Maybe that’s why Pacina announced that he was leaving, although a guy who wants to be a national team coach and stands up for his own should resist critical voices more firmly. “Of course, we respect his decision and wish him every success,” King wrote.
However, Pacin’s departure also comes at a time when Finn Kari Jalonen will soon be introduced to the men’s national team. His election is a matter of days, perhaps hours, and voting on the executive committee will probably be more formal. But with the arrival of an expert from the north, it is also expected that his influence will not remain with the A-team, that with the success of the Finnish hockey school he should enrich – not re-educate – national teams across categories and in fact the entire hockey base. However, this goes hand in hand with the fact that we should also hear from him the unpleasant truth as to why domestic hockey is now where it is.
The truth will hurt a lot again.
But it can help us see, so it would be hard to turn the whole mutual disputation into rhetoric like, “some immigrant will advise us here.” If we can’t do it, if we can’t get rid of our strange pride, we’d better consider choosing a foreign coach.
Don’t let the news come again in a few months that one coach is leaving at his own request, because he has allowed himself to teach us too much.
Robert Sarah
A graduate of Masaryk University (history – journalism) has been involved in sports journalism since 1999. He focuses mainly on hockey, as a reporter he has participated in a number of world championships, motorsports and sports policy. He worked at MF DNES for more than 20 years, in 2021 he joined Sport.cz.
