The hockey players of Sparta have started their preparations on the ice, they are preparing for a busy year
Update: 01/08/2022 15:37
Issued by: 01/08/2022, 15:37
Prague – The hockey players of Sparta Prague, under the baton of new coach Pavel Patera, began the next part of the preparation for the new season with the first training session on the ice in the Fortuna Sports Hall in Holešovice. They are preparing for a busy season, in which the reigning vice-champion will want to succeed in the Champions League and the Spengler Cup in Davos, in addition to attacking the highest position in the extra league.
On the ice, Patera and assistants Patrik Martinec and Jaroslav Hlinka will gradually apply the game system that the team wants to present itself with. “We will want to play as much as possible on the puck, be active after the puck and immediately lose it back. It will be a lot of skating hockey from us. But of course it must be balanced so that we don’t lose. That’s why we now need to get the players as fit as possible in order to play like this they had no style at all,” said Patera, who, together with Martin, replaced the hockey players of Josef Jandač and Miloslav Hořava.
The reinforcements are goalkeepers Jakub Kovář (Zurich), Josef Kořenář (Arizona/Tucson), defenders Jakub Krejčík (Dinamo Minsk), Michael Krutil (Växjö) and forwards Gustaf Thorell (Plzen) and Ostap Safin (Bakersfield). Goalkeepers Matěj Machovský (KalPa Kuopio), Július Hudáček, defenders Radek Jeřábek (Mladá Boleslav), Maxim Matuškin (Tappara Tampere), Tomáš Pavelka (Lukko Rauma) and forwards Zdeněk Doležal (České Budějovice), Tomáš Šmerha (Mladá Boleslav) and Gennadij left Stolyarov.
“I think it’s put together very well, but of course transfers are possible until the end of January, so we’ll keep an eye on it. But the squad is excellent, the key will be to start the season well and then I’ll see how it goes,” said Patera .
According to goalkeeper reinforcement Kovář, the first training session was brisk. “It was very difficult. I understand that there are other professions in which people are even hotter in the summer months, but here in the hall it is incredibly hot. It was hard for me to breathe and I don’t remember sweating like this on the ice for a long time. it’s like in a sauna. In addition, the weather forecast looks even worse for us. We will need to drink a lot to get through the training sessions,” Kovář described.
Sparta’s first pre-season match is on Tuesday, August 9, against first league Slavia, and two days later they will play Kladno in Beroun. Then he will present himself at the Ján Starší Memorial in Bratislava and face the host Slovan, Lukko Rauma and Davos. In the Champions League, before the start of the extra league, they have double matches with the Danish Aalborg and the Swedish team Lulea HF.
After reaching the extra league, the Praguers will face Jukurit Mikkeli in October, and at the end of December they will also compete in the Spengler Cup in Davos. Sparta was supposed to play there in the past two years as well, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the tournament was canceled in both cases.
“The Extraliga is at the top for us, but it certainly does not mean that we want to play in the other competitions. We will want to play every game, however the Extraliga is a priority,” added Patera.
Schedule of preliminary matches:
Tuesday, August 9: HC Sparta Prague – HC Slavia Prague (18:30),
Thursday, August 11: Rytíři Kladno – HC Sparta Prague (17:00),
Thursday, August 18: HC Slovan Bratislava – HC Sparta Prague (19:00; Danube Cup – Memorial of Ján Starší in Bratislava),
Friday, August 19: HC Sparta Prague – Lukko Rauma (3:00 p.m.; Danube Cup – Ján Starší Memorial in Bratislava),
Sunday, August 21: HC Davos – HC Sparta Prague (15:00; Danube Cup – Memorial of John the Elder in Bratislava),
Friday, September 2: HC Sparta Prague – Aalborg Pirates (19:30; Champions League),
Sunday, September 4: HC Sparta Prague – Lulea HF (16:00; Champions League),
Friday, September 9: Aalborg Pirates – HC Sparta Prague (19:30; Champions League),
Sunday, September 11: Lulea HF – HC Sparta Prague (15:05; Champions League),
Tuesday, October 4: Jukurit Mikkeli – HC Sparta Prague (18:00; Champions League),
Tuesday, October 11: HC Sparta Prague – Jukurit Mikkeli (19:30; Champions League).