NHL | When rats were flying on the ice and Jágr didn’t understand… Straka remembers Florida’s run to the finals. What does he say to Tkachuk?

But for you, that famous season, which only ended in the final, was quite a journey. You started it in Ottawa, then you moved to the New York Islanders and ended up in Florida. How did it go?

The beginning was quite unsuccessful, mainly my fault. Physically, I was not well prepared. And it dragged on. But Florida was the tipping point for me to take me as an undrafted player. Manchaft was walking, people were walking, besides Florida is beautiful, there was always something to do. I enjoyed it very much.

Did you get on well with coach Doug MacLean?

We had some things there, I was a young guy, and he bet a lot on the players who had been there for a long time. Overall, it was a team without stars, just fighters. But goalkeeper Vanbiesbrouck got into the shape of his life. The coach rotated me a lot there, I haven’t played the first round with Boston yet, but I only went there against the Flyers and then against Pittsburgh.

Radek Dvořák and Slovakian fullback Róbert Švehla also played with you for the Panthers.

The guys helped me. A lot was relied on Švehlík, the defense depended on him. But as I already said, the life around was also beautiful. If you were traded to a worse destination, the feelings would be different.

But before the playoffs, you were certainly not among the favorites.

But the coach prepared a great system, based on the defense and the goalkeeper. No one was allowed to go 2 on 1, 3 on 2, so the opponents always went full. The center stayed behind and the left and right wingers had the task of getting the puck when attacking. And when the opponent had the puck, he went to at least three, that was a genius move, we already started playing like this five or six games before the end of the regular season to get used to it.

The Flyers led by the ‘Legion of Destruction’ (LeClair, Lindros, Renberg) must have been watching, huh?

They didn’t get anywhere. That they would go to the gate alone did not exist. And when, exceptionally, it happened that the attacker forgot somewhere, our boys chased the opponents from behind again. I talked about it with Jarda Jágr after the series with Pittsburgh (4:3 for the games) and he told me that it was terrible. He didn’t understand that they had no time for anything at all. Someone kept pushing them.

What about the finals, was there any chance against Colorado (0:4 in games)?

We ran out of physical strength and unfortunately we didn’t have personalities like Colorado.

You never played another final, do you remember Florida more often because of that?

Yeah, I remember for sure. We got a mini cup from the owner (H. Wayne Huizenga) as a souvenir, which was fantastic. We also had an event in our hall, where 14 thousand people came. Amazing.

Back then, spectators threw artificial rats onto the ice after Panthers goals. (At the beginning of the season, Scott Mellanby killed a rat in the cabin and scored two more goals in the game with the same stick, completing the rat trick. The rat then became a symbol of Florida’s run to the finals – note.) What was it?

Mania! We always had a full cabin after the matches. But then the NHL banned it after the season and nothing was allowed to be thrown on the ice.

The Miami Arena, where you played back then, no longer exists. What hall was that?

Beautiful, but a little sideways. We had a training camp about 50 minutes from the arena. For those home games, so as not to get stuck in traffic somewhere, we stayed in a hotel nearby and were only allowed to go home after the game. And then the next day, after training and lunch, we went to the hotel again. But it also had its charm.

In the NHL, you are mainly associated with Pittsburgh. Do you consider Florida a little more like your team?

It is mainly a wonderful memory for me. I tell the boys today that the worst thing is when you lose the Stanley Cup final at the age of 19 or 20. You think about how you will win it next time, but then 12, 15 years go by and nothing. When the chance is there, you need to use it.

What this year, will the Panthers make it?

I think so. I saw a lot of their games already in the first round against Boston, where Florida was better. They beat them from the first minute. And when they got over the Bruins, it gave them a kick and a boost.

Especially Matthew Tkachuk has shown that he is an ideal player for the playoffs.

He is exactly like his dad Keith. Classic pig (laughs). It’s exactly the same thing. He pokes you with a hockey stick, slashes, then simulates himself, but also decides many matches.

Have you had a similar experience with Keith Tkachuk?

He blew out my shoulder when I was traded from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles (2003). The Kings were on a trip, so I flew to St. Louis, where the physio and medical staff were already waiting for me to see how I was doing. It is common for them to look at you if you have any problems. I had previously had two knee surgeries, but my shoulders, elbows, everything was fine, which they immediately checked on an MRI. So I went to play and in the fifth minute Tkachuk blew out my shoulder… They put it back on me in the cabin, but I couldn’t play for about two weeks and then I played with a brace until the end of the season.

And your guess for the number of games in the final series?

It will definitely be good hockey, these two teams are very balanced.