Illustrative photo – 32nd round of hockey extra league Knights Kladno – HC Steelers Třinec, December 28, 2022, Kladno. From the left, Martin Růžička from Třinec scores a goal. From the right, Tomáš Marcinko from Třinec, Kladno goalkeeper Landon Bow.
Prague – Attacker Martin Růžička from Třinec dominated the productivity of the hockey extra league for the second time in his career. The 37-year-old world champion from Germany in 2010 scored 52 points for 23 goals and 29 assists in 52 games. He surpassed teammate Marek Daň by one point, who scored 29 goals in 51 duels. The 28-year-old Trenčín native and Slovakian representative was the first foreigner in the history of the independent Czech extra league to win the top scorer's crown.
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Photo gallery: Hockey extra league 2022/23
Růžička triumphed in Canadian scoring in the regular part of the extra league in the 2012/13 season as well. At that time, he collected 83 points for 40 goals and 43 assists in 52 games, setting a new record in the regular season of an independent Czech competition.
Daňo surpassed Michal Řepík from Sparta by four hits. Thirty-nine-year-old Lukáš Pech from České Budějovice became the best scorer with 38 assists for the first time in his career. He collected two more passes than Andrej Nestrašil from Třinec and Petr Holík from Kometa Brno.
“It's been a lot of years,” Růžička said to the journalists when he learned how long it had been since he won the points. “I was close a couple of times. I'm glad that it's done now. It's nice. I'd like to thank everyone who helped me to do this. The coaches, teammates, management,” added the 37-year-old leader of the Steelers.
Daňo he has yet to win the crown for the king of shooters in any competition. Last season, he helped Třinec to the title with 13 goals in 48 regular season and playoff games. “I'm glad that I managed to do it and that Růža and I shared it nicely. I believe that our productivity will benefit the team in the preliminary round as well and that we will help it to move on,” said Daňo, who finished second in the Canadian scoring (29+ 22).
The Czech extra league record for the number of goals scored by a foreigner was set three years ago by Daň's teammate Libor Hudáček. The Slovak attacker scored 31 goals at that time. “I mainly tried to beat my father (Jozef). We are now on the same points after the regular season (51). I wanted to score the thirtieth goal as well, to level it, but it doesn't matter. I'm glad that I managed to get 29, which is for me a huge number. At the same time, I believe that I saved some goals for the playoffs as well,” continued Daňo.
Both attackers from Třinec did not succeed in the last round of the regular season against Mladá Boleslav. The Steelers lost 2-3 without their contribution. “We had a few good passages, but more of them were worse. I don't know if our heads were somewhere else, it wasn't ideal at all. And we were punished for it. And I think justly punished,” said Růžička.
There are three players from the top ten in the productivity of the Czech extra league, but the defending champions finished sixth after the regular season and will play in the preliminary round for the first time since the 2015/16 season. Růžička shook his head when asked if it was because the team was pulling a few players. “I probably wouldn't break it down like that. Everyone has a role. The point is that we all fulfill it. It may happen that completely different guys will emerge in the playoffs and we will celebrate them,” Růžička said.
He acknowledged that the team is not in a good mood. Třinec lost twelve of the last sixteen matches. “The play-off is a completely different competition. I believe that we boys are in the play-off. We have gone through those struggles and we will want to continue,” pointed out Růžička. He hopes that the team will switch and that a different Třinec will be seen than in the last round of the regular season. “I don't want to announce anything here, we will go into it humbly,” he pointed out.
The steel players will attack for the fourth title in a row from the preliminary round, in which they will face Litvínov. “It's a tough opponent. But every team in the league is unpleasant. We'll see what they come up with. It's mainly up to us to prepare,” Růžička said. In the championship seasons, the players from Třinec had time off after the regular season, this time they will start their defense in just three days. “Maybe it will suit us that we will be on pace,” concluded Růžička.
Canadian hockey extra league scoring after the regular season:
Canadian scoring:
1. M. Růžička 52 matches/52 points (23 goals + 29 assists), 2. Daňo (both Třinec) 51/51 (29+22), 3. Plekanec (Kladno) 52/49 (16+33), 4 Holík (Brno) 52/48 (12+36), 5. Roberts Bukarts 52/47 (21+26), 6. Lakatoš (both Vítkovice) 51/47 (18+29), 7. Nestrašil (Třinec) 44 /46 (10+36), 8. Pech 49/46 (8+38), 9. Goulash (both České Budějovice) 47/42 (24+18), 10. Radil (Pardubice) 49/40 (14+26 ), 11. Š. Stránský (Litvínov) 46/40 (9+31), 12. Lev (Hradec Králové) 52/39 (15+24), 13. Řepík (Sparta) 49/38 (25+13), 14. Flynn (Liberec) 51/38 (22+16), 15. T. Zohorna (Pardubice) 49/38 (15+23), 16. A. Najman (Liberec) 49/38 (9+29), 17 Tomášek (Sparta) 47/37 (15+22), 18. M. Hanzl (České Budějovice) 52/37 (12+25), 19. Kubík (Kladno) 44/36 (16+20), 20. Birner (Liberec) 50/36 (15+21).
Scorers:
1. Daňo (Třinec) 29 goals, 2. Řepík (Sparta) 25, 3. Goulash (České Budějovice) 24, 4. M. Růžička (Třinec) 23, 5. Flynn (Liberec) 22, 6. Roberts Bukarts (Vítkovice), Kudrna (Litvínov) both 21, 8. Horký (Brno), L. Hudáček (Třinec) both 20, 10. Flek (Brno) 19.
Recorders:
1. Pech (České Budějovice) 38 assists, 2. Nestrašil (Třinec), Holík (Brno) both 36, 4. Plekanec (Kladno) 33, 5. Š. Stránský (Litvínov) 31, 6. A. Najman (Liberec), Lakatoš (Vítkovice), M. Růžička (Třinec) all 29, 9. Kempný (Sparta) 27, 10. Radil (Pardubice), Roberts Bukarts (Vítkovice) both 26.
