By now you've probably seen the amazing goal scored by Kloten Flyers forward Vincent Praplan on Friday in Jönköping (if not, follow the link in this article). Now read as the 20-year-old describes it in his own words, as well as talks about his hockey career in general.

by Andreas Reiner

Vincent, how do you feel after the first two games in the CHL where you scored two goals?
Actually not too bad, but surely not what we expected. We didn't play bad but the results were obviously not what we wanted, but now we're working hard so that we'll be ready in two weeks.

As you've probably heard, your second goal against HV71 Jönköping has created some hype in the media. Many European and North American media outlets have replayed it and written about it, and also your previous club, the North Bay Battalion, Tweetted the goal. On the official CHL website your goal was one of the most watched. What do you think of all that?
Well, I've had a lot of feedback actually. Just like many of us, I'm on Facebook and Twitter so I received a lot of messages, also from friends and from ex-teammates in Canada from when I played there last season. So they were surprised when they heard that I'm playing back in Switzerland and they saw me on TV. I also got many text messages.

Lead us through that crazy situation!
It went pretty well. I think it was a 3-on-3 situation, I got a pass from Tommi (Santala) to the left side, I wanted to go through the middle but saw the defenceman, I deflected the puck so that it got past him, I made a 360-degree turn, took the puck on the other side, skated down the boards, I saw two more defencemen and the forward rushing back, it went really fast. I faked a shot, shoved the puck through the middle, jumped passed the defenceman and somehow all the opponents were concentrated on the puck but didn't catch it while I received it behind the bunch, got past the goalie and scored the goal backhand. It happened so fast.

Watch the game highlights here and see Praplan's goal starting at 2:00.

What was going through your mind at that moment? Is this something that you planned or trained for specifically?
The first move I did at the blue line, that's not something you can practice, it's just instinct and just happened. The second move where I got through the middle I actually did train all week with Kimmo (Rintanen, assistant coach) and Bodi (Simon Bodenmann). Not like trained for a special situation during the game, but this is a trick Kimmo used to do as pro so he showed us but it never worked in practice, but in the game you don't think too long, you just do it and it went well.

Vincent, you almost had a two-point-per-game average when you played with the Kloten Flyers junior (U20) team in 2012-13 and transferred to North Bay of the Ontario Hockey League a season later where you produced very good numbers as well (19 goals, 34 assists in 61 games). Was the previous great year a reason you went to Canada?
Canada is a dream for every hockey player and you never know if you'll get another chance to play overseas. And I knew after that great season that I had a possibility to play in Canada and I didn't think twice when i got the offer from North Bay to play on their team and accepted. It was a dream, I just wanted to know how it feels to play there.

Was it planned to only play one season over there?
Yes, it was planned to only play only one season in the juniors. Basically, I could have played another season but I knew that after that season I wanted to take the next step towards becoming a pro. But sure, I would have liked to stay another season if it all had worked out but I didn't have a chance to stay and play pro hockey. So Kloten was the logical solution. I always played here so that was a great option.

What are the differences from the Swiss Junior League to the Canadian?
It's more intensive, there are more players, the competition is much tougher, every day you have to give your best, the rink size is smaller, you have to be ready at all times and the game is played faster than here with the juniors. The players are taller, stronger and there are more checks and in general the level is just higher than here in Switzerland.

Is there any difference in what the coaches emphasise?
First of all, it's about how you appear. They don't care how good you played previously, they want you to give all you have, every day. It's not necessarily about talent but that you're prepared to work hard and enjoy and it's a different culture for sure than over here in Switzerland. Over there, as a player you know if you can't make the NHL or AHL, it's basically over with a career as a hockey player, that's why those guys work so hard.

You'll play the next three CHL games at home and have a chance to make up ground for the two losses you've experienced. Has head coach Felix Hollenstein given you guys some advice for the next games?
We haven't analysed the game yet but we know it ourselves. The five goals we gave up were all while we were killing penalties. We know that we need to work harder on that. We had many power play chances but couldn't score a goal. Those are two points that we need to work on for sure, on special teams. We flew back home pretty quickly after the second game, so yeah, we didn't have much time to talk about the game but we'll surely do that during this week or next.

The Swiss league regular season starts in a little more than two weeks. Are you looking forward to getting back into that routine or are you enjoying the pre-season and the CHL?
You become a hockey player for the games, not practices. Pre-season games are good to get into a rhythm, but it's nice now to be playing games that count, and since the season ended we've all been looking forward to the new season. It was a long training camp all summer and we trained hard and didn't actually have many days off.

What are your goals for this season?
It's difficult to say. It's the first year for me in the National League A with Kloten. We have a great team but I want to get a regular spot. I know it's a long path, it's hard work but I want to be one of the 12 forwards who play. So basically I'll work hard and give my best.

Good luck this season.