On Sunday, České Budějovice suffered a 1:8 debacle at Sparta, and for only the second time in the season, one of the matches ended with a seven-goal difference (on October 27, they beat Vítkovice 7:0 Liberec).
“The engine at the back is stuttering, it’s blocking very badly. The mistakes he makes are terrible. The throwing of entire formations in the defensive zone is visible and Sparta took advantage of that,” observed Antoš, who does not understand why the South Bohemians did not come to the O2 arena, where they fell for the ninth time in a row, with a different tactic.
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ADJUSTMENT: HC Sparta Prague vs. Banes Motor České Budějovice 8:1Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
“When you play against top teams, you have to get under their skin. You can’t just want to play hockey with them. The quality on Sparta’s side is huge, you have to play a slightly different type of hockey against them on their ice. Kladno, for example, showed a good recipe in the O2 arena, which played well from the back and tried to stick to some tactics. I was surprised that Motor didn’t show this at all,” adds the extraleague champion with Slavia in 2003.
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Curious goal of Tomáš Zohorna from České Budějovice at SpartaVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
The Hrabík brothers participated in the demolition of Motor with a goal and an assist. While 20-year-old Ondřej scored his first extra-league hit, Kryštof, who is five years older, is suddenly Sparta’s most productive player with 14 Canadian points.
When he joined it at the end of January, he had a not-so-successful season in the Plzeň jersey, where he scored only seven points in 40 games.
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Sparta – České Budějovice 8:1 (48. K. Hrabík) Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
“Then I was surprised by Sparta’s move. But they saw something in him that he is now showing. He is a tough and durable player who also knows how to handle the puck, skates well and has a great shot. Kryštof Hrabík grew up in hockey. He plays what he can and he shows it one hundred percent better than when he was in Pilsen,” praises Antoš Hrabíka and at the same time Sparta for having found a player whose type they needed and was able to improve him even more.
Unlike Sparta, another of the co-favorites for the title continues to struggle. The steel players have lost seven of the last nine duels in the extra league and are already third from the end in the table.
“Two weeks ago, I said here that Třinec would rise. But a third of the regular season is over and Třinec is still not getting up. That team has its stars and representatives – Czech and Slovak – and at the same time it plays so poorly,” Antoše surprises.
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CHANGE: HC Ocelarí Třinec vs. BK Mladá Boleslav 2:3Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
The Slezans are having a hard time dealing with the departure of Voženílk to Zug, another attacker, Růžička, and the defender Marinčin are also on the doldrums. Supporters are struggling, for example Nestrašil still has zero in the goal column.
“The guys who should decide the matches and be the best are not. Their points and contribution are missing,” says Antoš.
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Foul by Třinecký Sikora on DvořáčkaVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
And he finds one more reason that may be behind the Steelers’ plight. “One thing that no one really sees is the departure of Moták’s assistant coach Vladimír Országh (he went to Banská Bystrica before the season – author’s note). But the fact that Třinec has been struggling for so long down here is a big surprise to me. Most of the boys have been playing in the triple system for a long time, they know it. It’s strange that the team can’t return to the system they’ve been playing for five years,” Antoš shakes his head.
“Nothing is working in Třinec at the moment and it will be very difficult to get out of it quickly. Nevertheless, I still think that Třinec should be able to get to the playoffs, and it’s something else in it,” thinks Antoš.
On Sunday, there was also a fight between the two worst extraleague teams. A single goal was enough for Pilsen to win over Liberec, which sent White Tigers to the bottom of the table instead.
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FIGHT: HC Škoda Plzeň vs. White Tigers Liberec 1:0Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
“Josef Jandač and Filip Pešán are coaches who have been playing hockey for a long time and know how to prepare the team. I wouldn’t say that the teams are physically unprepared. The composition of the team and the injuries speak more about the complete throwing of the game. Both teams are not able to put together a concept game to fill it one line after another. They have to work on their hockey skills,” Antoš is clear.
Nevertheless, he thinks that Pešán and Jandač should stay with their teams. “There’s nothing to be confused about yet. And I think both organizations will be patient and not think about changing coaches,” he says.
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Kladno – Hradec Králové, Tamáší’s hat trick and the decisive raidVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
There was also talk of Hradec’s collapse in Kladno, where Mountfield was still leading 4:1 five minutes before the end of the third period, but in the end they only succeeded in separate raids. Also thanks to the Slovakian representative Alex Tamáši, who scored a hat-trick and also converted the decisive raid (but it is not included in the shooting statistics).
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CUT: Knights of Kladno vs. Mountfield HK 4:5 snVideo: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
