It was supposed to be a ceremonial start to the ice in front of more than sixteen thousand fans in the corridors of the O2 arena, i.e. the highest attendance of the current year of the Tipsport extra league.
The Spartans slide onto the ice first, symbolically Jakub Krejčík as the last. Only then the guests from Vítkovice. At least that’s what it said on the paper that hung taped in front of both cabins in front of the tunnel leading to the ice surface.
Because of the announcement of the signing of the game, I would also give a crap about it, something else would be at the Hold, etc. Again, take it easy..
— Rutinér (@captain_pyro) October 22, 2024
But Vítkovice eventually ignored him. Dozens arrived at the rink a few tens of seconds earlier, even before Krejčík.
The thirty-three-year-old defender’s one-man show didn’t happen like that. When he jumped onto the ice into the darkened arena, there were already players in the white jerseys of the visiting team on it. At the same time, they were supposed to start only when the arena was fully lit.
“It’s a shame that Vítkovice didn’t respect the plan for getting on the ice, the players rudely pushed away an authorized member of our club and jumped onto the ice half a minute earlier than planned into the extinguished hall… The whole moment suffered a lot from this, theoretically there could have been an injury,” he said on the X network Marek Táborský, press spokesman for Sparta hockey.
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Sparta – Vítkovice 5:1 (50. Irving) Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
But in the end, the botched introduction was the only dark side of the Spartan evening. The home team defeated Vítkovice 5:1, Krejčík recorded an assist on the last goal and the Praguers jumped to third place in the table.
