“If there are twenty fighters sitting in the locker room after the match and they don’t feel any pain, then it’s bad!” thundered Holaň after the match. “I have to thank the fans for staying until the end of the game, in which the team of professors entered from our side. We made unnecessary fouls, we probably never played a worse third. I don’t remember that we ever gave such a bad performance,” Holań was very dissatisfied.
After twenty minutes of horror in the middle part, the Vítkovic got up. They were helped by goalkeeper Dominko Frodl’s kick behind the goal, after which Marek Kalus reduced the score to 1:4 from an angle. The difference of two goals was reduced in the 29th minute from a power play by defender Stuart Percy.
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Vítkovice – Karlovy Vary 1:4 (22. Kalus) Video: Tipsport Extraliga / BPA
“We could have added a third goal and maybe the match would have developed differently. But Frodl caught excellently and we didn’t deserve those points. We didn’t really do well today. But we mustn’t take it for granted, we are no dolls. It’s just one match, the first round. It happens to everyone. We played good hockey in the Champions League and we need to get back to it,” explained Vítkovice forward Kalus.
Two-goal Tomáš Rachůnek and Nordic raiders Ikka Artturi Kangasniemi and Lukas Zetterberg led the guests to the first points. Both scored three Canadian points in their debut in the extra league. “I’m an attacking player, I like to shoot and I’m here to score goals. I want to show everyone why I’m here,” Swedish striker Zetterberg could smile after his debut in the Czech top flight, who used both of Energie’s power plays in the opening half.
“One match is behind us, it’s too early to make an assessment. But we are well aware of Lukas’ shooting potential and Ikka’s offensive creativity. They both confirmed it and we would only like them to continue to confirm it,” Václav Eismann, a member of the Karlovy Vary coaching team, praised the summer additions.