We were rewarded for our work
26/12/2022 Jakub Houžvička
With a great performance and several key saves, especially at the end of the second period, Josef Kořenář helped defeat favored Canada at the start of the Spengler Cup. “The guys did what they had to do, everyone did their job. We were rewarded for that, the match turned out the way it should have turned out,” praised the twenty-four-year-old goalkeeper after the match.
Have you ever made a catch like you did in the opening game against Canada?
I don’t remember that, I caught it well, I have to say that we played excellently, except for small lapses. The guys did what they had to do, everyone did their job. We were rewarded for that, the match turned out the way it should have turned out.
In the second period, you seemed for a while to have had enough, you were exhaling after a series of difficult interventions.
That’s right, for the first seven to eight minutes of the third period we didn’t let them into our defensive zone and then we got a goal from the first shot, after that the situation turned around. The work was then enough, moreover, at this high altitude one does not play very well, the air here is thin and it takes some getting used to, otherwise it is difficult for one to breathe. I felt that during the match.
A large part of the defense was missing, so space was given to young players. Was there room to play with them more before the match?
We agreed on basic instructions regarding the play, so that the puck on the hockey stick does not turn too much towards its own goal and the puck goes out of the zone. I think they did it well during the game, only after we scored two goals we eased up a bit and had to tell ourselves to go back to what was working, which we subsequently did.
We were taken as underdogs before the game, how does a clear victory over a Canadian team full of great players taste?
Great, maybe they underestimated us a little, we flew into the game from the start and had a clear plan, we were duly rewarded for that with a victory.
How do you yourself enjoy the atmosphere of Davos and all the events surrounding it?
The atmosphere here is great, the local fans mainly cheered for good hockey today, considering the teams playing. It was great, against Davos it will probably be a bit more difficult for us in terms of atmosphere, but we will definitely enjoy it.