It is said that you need many factors to win a title, including a proper portion of luck and a goalkeeper in life form. Especially in the playoff finals, every detail decides. To a great surprise, this time it may not be the goalkeepers who decide the fate of the new Masaryk Cup holder.
Goalkeeper posting is the most critical factor in hockey. Unlike a player on the field, he cannot “ride” and hide behind the performances of others. When a jerk just comes in, you don’t do anything. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a preparatory match or a title fight.
The problem is that every single mistake counts twice as much during the finals. Each other can be absolutely crucial.
Ondřej Kacetl and Július Hudáček could tell you about it after the fifth match of the final series between Třinec and Sparta. It is match number five that is considered (apart from the very last) to be the most important in the whole series. Especially when both teams have two victories in the same way.
Sparta has been dealing with patalia in the goal area for a long time. For many years, she has still not been able to find the optimal masked man who would be said to “close the gate.” This season is the highlight of a number of failed tramps.
A team full of stars with the parameters of the national team, but still one big uncertainty behind. After all, neither Matěj Machovský nor Július Hudáček (the current pair of Sparta goalkeepers) belong to this year’s finalist from the beginning of the season.
At the beginning of it was the wizard Alexander Salák. However, at the beginning of the year, he struggled with an injury and then hurt Sparta more in the goal area than he helped. He ended his end at the turn of the calendar year with tabloid affairs, in which his wife also played.
In the end, Sparta’s management is probably very happy that it got rid of him, because only after his departure did the club from the capital begin to play the role of aspirant for the Masaryk Cup.
This in Třinec was resolved by more pleasant worries during the season. Last year’s play-off phantom Ondřej Kacetl regularly took turns with Marek Mazance. Both had rather above-average statistics, so it was practically the same who the Steelmen would point to before the elimination fights.
FOUR GOALKEEPERS IN ONE MATCH
It is not often that more than two goalkeepers come into play in one match. Sometimes, of course, the match fails, the coach wants to send an impulse towards the team, so he reaches for an emergency solution and sends a two on the ice.
In the mutual matches between the Steelmen and Sparta in the 2021/2022 season, this is practically the rule. At least one goalkeeper was replaced four times, three times all four goalkeepers that the coaches had at their disposal for the match even three times this year.
September 17, 2021 – (Winning Třinec 7: 4)
- At 27:08, Sparta replaces Neužil with Salák.
- In the time of 29:18 Třinec replaces Mazance with Kacetl.
December 23, 2021 – (Winning Třinec 8: 5)
- In the time of 25:32 Sparta replaces Machovský with Salák.
- At 29:03 Třinec replaces Mazance with Kacetl.
February 4, 2022 – (Winning Třinec 4: 1)
- At 20:01 Sparta replaces Machovský with Hudáček.
April 26, 2022 – (Winning Třinec 7: 3)
- At 22:50, Sparta replaces Hudáček with Machovský.
- At 25:28 Třinec replaces Kacetla with Mazance.
HISTORICAL STATISTICS ATTENTION
But for something similar to happen in the finals, where defense plays a key role, this is a rarity.
Only for the third time in the history of the independent Czech top competition did it happen that one team scored at least seven goals during one final match. Only Vsetín managed in 1996 and Karlovy Vary in 2008.
Now the final series is moving back to Prague’s O2 Arena for match number six. From the goalkeeper’s position, the Steelmakers are definitely better off. For Kacetl, one can probably assume that he simply did not have his day. However, his substitute Marek Mazanec showed that he is also ready for title fights.
On the other hand, the Sparta goalkeeper did not do very well. Neither Hudáček nor Machovský sent a pleasant signal to the coaches in the key part of the season. As if Sparta had really caught up with what has been bothering her for several years.
In addition, Hudáček himself did not help at all with his unfortunate statement after the fourth match, when he said that Třinec is running out of breath. In less than two-thirds, he had something to think about at the Werk Arena on Tuesday under the blanket.
No matter which goalkeeper uses Sparta for match number six, it will probably be the last choice this season, regardless of the result. Because there will be no more Praguers. They will either go back to Třinec with the winning team, or after seven years in the finals they will just wipe their noses again.
Source: Tipsport Extraliga
