Final play off hockey extra league – 4th match: HC Oceláři Třinec – Mountfield Hradec Králové, April 23, 2023, Třinec. From left, Libor Hudáček from Třinec and Hradec Králové goalkeeper Matěj Machovský.
Hradec Králové – The Třinec hockey players will have a second attempt today to end the final series and extend their extraleague dominance, this time on the ice of Hradec Králové. In the fight for gold, despite their last home loss, they lead 3:1 and are missing the last step to another triumph. The match will start at 17:00.
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Photogallery: Play off hockey extraliga 2023
Hradec Králové showed great resilience last time when they did not let themselves be broken by three defeats in a row after another good performance, which only lacked better productivity. They won the fourth duel 2:1 in extra time thanks to a goal by Radovan Pavlík and kept the chance for the first title alive. To strengthen their hopes of the first turnaround from 0:3 to 4:3 in the playoffs of the Czech extra league, they now need to succeed at home, where they lost the first two games of the final series.
“Of course, the matches are very balanced, it's about the details. I believe that we finally disenchanted the bulletproofness of the Třinec goalkeeper Ondřej Kacetl. I think we improved the game in the area in front of the goal, it finally brought us fruit and the first point in the series. And we will try now get another point at home,” said coach Tomáš Martinec.
“The victory recharged us with energy and we will focus on the next match to win it again,” said defender Bohumil Jank. “It is necessary to turn our fighting spirit, dedication and energy into goals. To push into the goal as much as possible and get a lot of pucks there. The first goal on Sunday was already scored after he did not see much of 'Kác'. The second was from the stop. This is exactly what recipe for us to be successful,” added Jank.
According to Radovan Pavlík, whoever scores the first goal will once again play a crucial role. “We thought we had to lead, because they have an excellent defense and it's difficult to compare matches and take the lead when you concede the first. I hope that the winner's cup will still be wrapped here in Hradec Králové. Then hopefully we will go to Třinec again and we'll see what happens,” said Pavlík.
The Steelers lost for the first time in the series on Sunday, but still went for a fourth straight title. After equalizing, they had several great opportunities to score the winning goal in the final minutes of regulation time. Instead of celebrating, however, they had to absorb a narrow defeat and prepare to return to the White Tower.
“We're sorry that it didn't work out, we were on the horse after the scored goal, we had chances. But you play for goals, it's it doesn't matter who has more of the game. We told ourselves (after the game) that nothing is happening, that it's just one game and that we still need to win one more game. We played a good game. We must not hang our heads,” said fullback Marian Adámek , who was the only successful scorer for Slezan on Sunday.
Třinec can rely on an experienced team. “One takes into account both options. It's not about us being the headliners at the celebrations, by no means. As they say, the last step is the hardest. Hradec stole it from us last time, so we will want to steal it there. We wanted to rejoice with the fans at home. Instead, we have a trip to Hradec,” said striker Erik Hrňa, who won all four titles in the club's history with Třinec and is playing in the seventh final.
“Most of all, we need to score goals. We have to stuff it in so that we can score more next time,” emphasized Hrňa. In both home final matches, the Ocelarí scored only one goal each.
Statistics before Wednesday's match:
Mountfield Hradec Králové (4th after the regular season) – HC Ocelaři Třinec (6th) .
Start: 17:00 (ČT sport and O2 TV Sport).
Series status: 1:3.
Results of matches in the series: 2: 4, 1:2 in ext., 0:1, 2:1 in ext.
Most productive players in the series: Bohumil Jank, Aleš Jergl, Kevin Klíma all 4 games/2 points (1 goal + 1 assist) – Daniel Voženílek 4/5 (3+2).
Most productive players in the playoffs : Oliver Okuliar 16/10 (3+7) – Martin Růžička 20/17 (9+8).
The team's most productive players in the regular season: Jakub Lev 52/39 (15+24) – Martin Růžička 52/52 (23+29).
Goalkeeper statistics in the series: Matěj Machovský average 1.69 goals conceded per match and 92.78 percent save success rate – Ondřej Kacetl 1.19, 95.58 and and once kept a clean sheet.
Goalkeeper statistics in the playoffs: Matěj Machovský 1.48, 94.39 and one clean sheet, Henri Kiviaho 2.66 and 91.76 – Ondřej Kacetl 1.47, 95.27 and three clean sheets, Marek Mazanec 2, 31 and 91.67.
Goalkeeper statistics in the regular season: Henri Kiviaho 1.85, 92.45 and seven clean sheets, Matěj Machovský 2.03 and 91.49 – Marek Mazanec 2.07, 92.01 and kept a clean sheet four times, Ondřej Kacetl 2.43 and 90.34.
Interesting points:
– Třinec is in the final for the eighth time and is attacking for the fifth title after 2011, 2019, 2021 and last year's triumph. He won silver in 2008, 2015 and 2018. His medal collection is complemented by a bronze from 1999.
– Hradec Králové is playing in the final for the first time. He is certain of a second medal after winning bronze in 2017.
– Třinec has won twelve consecutive series in the playoffs. The last time they did not succeed in the final was in 2018, when they lost to Kometa Brno 1:4 on matches.
– Hradec Králové is playing with Třinec in the playoffs for the second time. In 2018, he lost 2:4 in the semi-finals.
– The new champion will secure participation in the upcoming season of the Champions League, where they will join the winners of the regular season Pardubice and the second Vítkovice.
– Hradec Králové has won only two of the last eight games.
– Mountfield at home lost four times in a row.
– Třinec won seven of the last ten duels.
– Steelers have won five times in a row and seven times of the past eight matches.
– Třinec won five out of eight mutual duels this season.
– No one in the playoffs of the domestic top competition has yet turned around the unfavorable situation from 0:3 to the matches.
– In the series of four winning matches, it has so far managed to turn the tide after two home losses and progress to only one team out of 15 cases . In 2019, Třinec did it in the semi-finals against Plzeň (4:3 on matches).
– Striker Martin Růžička from Třinec is the record holder of the independent Czech extra league (since 1993) with 60 goals in the playoffs and two hits he lacks overall leader Viktor Ujčík, who also scored 62 goals in the elimination round with the federal league.
– Goalkeeper Ondřej Kacetl from Třinec has already kept 13 clean sheets in the playoffs of the domestic top league and is tied for second place with Roman Málek. Record holder Petr Bříza kept a clean sheet fourteen times.
– All four titles with the Steelers in 2011, 2019, 2021 and last year were won by strikers Erik Hrňa and Martin Růžička from the current squad. Three years ago, the year before and last year, defenders Marian Adámek, Milan Doudera, Jan Zahradníček and forwards Aron Chmielewski, Vladimír Dravecký, Tomáš Marcinko and Petr Vrána were at the triumphs. In 2019 and last year, striker Vladimír Svačina was in the team. Goalkeeper Ondřej Kacetl and strikers Patrik Hrehorčák, Daniel Kurovský, Miloš Roman and Michal Ramik were involved in the last two triumphs. Back Vladimír Roth also celebrated in 2019, last year goalkeeper Marek Mazanec, defender Martin Marinčin and forwards Marko Daňo and Andrej Nestrashil were also in the squad.
– Striker Martin Růžička, world champion in 2010, was also in Sparta's championship squad in 2006. Goalkeeper Marek Mazanec and defender Jakub Jeřábek triumphed in 2013 with Pilsen.
– Polish striker Aron Chmielewski celebrated a triumph in 2013 in Poland with Krakow, Slovak striker Vladimír Dravecký has gold from his native country in 2010 and 2011 with Košice, his compatriot Tomáš Marcinko celebrated with the same club in 2014, and another Slovak, Libor Hudáček, in 2012 with Slovan Bratislava.
– Defender Jakub Jeřábek was on the Stanley Cup winning teams of Washington in 2018 and St . Louis a year later, but did not play enough games to be among the holders. Slovak defenseman Martin Marinčin won the Calder Cup in 2018 with the Toronto Marlies, forward Andrej Nestrašil in 2013 with the Grand Rapids Griffins. Slovak forward Patrik Hrehorčák won the Memorial Cup in 2019 and also won the QMJHL with Rouyn-Noranda Huskies.
– Slovak assistant coach of Třinc Vladimír Országh, a former forward, is the 2002 world champion from Gothenburg and a year earlier won in the Swedish league title with Djurgaarden. As a coach, he triumphed in the Slovak Extraliga in 2017 and 2018 with Banská Bystrica.
