Ocelari Trinec got their first win of this CHL season on home ice Friday night by beating the Stavanger Oilers in overtime. However, captain Rostislav Klesla feels that they should have won in regulation time, and the point they up in the 60th minute could come back to haunt them.
by Daniel Jezek
TRINEC – For the second time this CHL season, and the fourth time in just a little over a year, Ocelari Trinec and the Stavanger Oilers faced each other on Friday night. The Oilers won the first duel and another win in Trinec would have put them into a comfortable spot for advancing to the next round in a tough Group L. However, it was Trinec who played better for most of the game and were looking to secure 3 points. However, Josh Soares scored a goal for Stavanger to tie it with just 47 seconds remaining in the third period Zbynek Irgl then scored the game-winning goal in overtime.
With this result, Trinec still remain second place in the group with 3 points – however, KalPa Kuopio are only one point behind with two games in hand. When the two teams meet in Trinec on 5 September, the Steelers will probably be third place and they will certainly be facing a must-win situation.
Trinec captain Rostislav Klesla showed up in the game as a true leader. The veteran defenceman scored two goals for his team and added one assist. However, even his great performance wasn't enough to win the game in 60 minutes.
“We are so disappointed about the result – we should have taken three points,” the Trinec captain acknowledged.
You seemed like the better team for most of that game but Stavanger took a point. What went wrong?
“Unfortunately we gave them too many chances. In the first two periods we were better, stronger, we should have scored three or four more goals. If we'd been up 4–1 or 5–1 after 40 minutes, no one could say a thing. Stavanger is tough opponent with good fore-checking. They know how to force the other team to make mistakes. However, we should be able to handle that kind of pressure.”
They tied the score in the very last minute. What happened?
“We're pretty upset about that. We need to sit down and find out where we made this stupid mistake. Next time we have to be stronger with the puck, keep it in the other end of the rink. We lost a point, it’s disappointing.”
You faced them last season as well. Did Stavanger’s play change somehow?
“Over the year Stavanger’s play hasn't changed at all. They don’t have a lot of individually talented players – there are only a few – but they have an excellent system which is built on hard work and good fore-checking. If you pressure them with speed and team play, they can be beaten. We had a lot of scoring chances today – the game could have turned out completely different.”
This means that over the two games, Stavanger took 4 of 6 points from you.
“Norwegian hockey is rising and if you face a team which regularly wins national trophies, that can't be by accident. Stavanger are used to winning in their league, and you can tell that in the games.”
Is it advantageous for the team to face European teams?
“The Champions Hockey League is an excellent competition as for fans and for us players. I've found out that Stavanger and KalPa play a bit of NHL-style hockey. And you can’t see that in the Czech Extraliga – not every team plays like that. It’s huge advantage for us to play these games.”