Kometa Brno eliminated defending Czech champions PSG Zlin on Monday night with a convincing victory in game seven of their quarter-final series. After the game, veteran Zlin captain Petr Cajanek announced his retirement. 

by Vojtech Jurak, with contribution from Simona Fischmeisterova

BRNO, Czech Rep. – It was billed as a Moravian derby and it lived up to its name. Kometa Brno and defending champions PSG Zlin went back and forth in their Czech Extraliga quarter-final series, which concluded with a pair of 5–0 wins by the home teams. Fortunately for Kometa, they had the seventh game at home, and won the series in front of their always-raucous home fans. 

“I feel a huge sense of relief and satisfaction because we after the sixth game a lot of people wrote us off,” said centre Jakub Koreis, who had one goal and three assists in the series. “We've proven that we can beat Zlin. Near the end of the season everyone was speculating that they were a team to avoid. We just played our game and Zlin came at us. We weren't afraid of them and we've shown that we're the better team.” 

The loss marks the end of Zlin's season, their reign as league champions and their hold on a Champions Hockey League B-License. It also marks the end of captain Petr Cajanek's lengthy career.

With everything at stake on Monday night, Kometa took their first step towards the semi-finals early in the first period when Jan Kana – who incidentally is Cajanek’s nephew – netted the opening goal. After that, Zlin couldn’t get through tight and well-organized Kometa defence, who added three more goals in the second while goalie Marek Ciliak shut the door. 

“We expected hard pressure from Brno and thought that the first goal would be important. Unfortunately we were the worse team today. That’s how things sometimes go in life,” signed Cajanek, who announced his retirement just a few minutes after the final horn. “This was my last game,” he answered to a question about his hockey future. 

Cajanek didn’t really want to talk about his post-career plans. “It is too early at the moment. I did as much as I could this season and I would like to have a rest and enjoy time with my children now,” he said in an interview with Czech Television after the game.

When the 39-year-old Cajanek told his mates in the locker room, the whole team applauded him. After a 22-season professional career – which included four years with the NHL's St. Louis Blues and four more in Russia – he became Zlin's unquestionable leader over the most recent four years, leading the team to its second-ever Czech title last season. “He thanked us for those wonderful seasons and then we shook hands,” disclosed goaltender Libor Kasik. 

“Cajanek kept helping really everybody on the team – the training staff, the equipment managers, the forwards, the defence and also me as a goalie. He shared many of his experiences from around the world over to us,” Kasik told website zlinsky.denik.cz.

With Zlin out of the competition, there is now an open CHL spot remaining in the Czech Extraliga and, with Sparta Prague and Ocelari Trinec already qualified, it's between Kometa and their semi-final opponents, HC Litvinov to battle for it. Due to their second-place finish in the regular season, the spot will go to Litvinov unless Kometa wins the championship. The series starts Thursday in Litvinov.

“It's a different opponent, so everything's different,” said veteran Slovak defenceman Jozef Kovacik, who is now in his fourth season patrolling the Kometa blueline, when asked a couple of days later to compare Zlin and Litvinov. 

“Litvinov are perfect defensively and their offence is also good. Let's see what awaits us against them. We've already discussed it and watched video. We play them regularly every season and we know that it won't be easy. We have to be aware of the attack and be ready right from the opening faceoff – that will be the most important part of the games. Then it'll be about luck and who puts more heart into the game.”