Czech side Vítkovice Ridera secured their place in the Semi-Finals of the 2023/24 Champions Hockey League season with a spectacular 5-1 home win against a very strong Rapperswil-Jona Lakers side.
Tomáš Vondráček, a very new member of the Vítkovice squad, was the main protagonist of the game, scoring two goals in the middle frame and one in the final period to complete a hattrick - in one of his first games for the Ostrava-based club.
It may have all ended well for the Czechs, but it didn't start well.
"We had a tough start to the game and were one step behind their every move," said Vondráček, hinting at the fact Vítkovice found themselves trailing by two goals on aggregate after just three minutes, "but the equaliser which was disallowed really hit us."
What was the turning point?
"That goal," he said, "that really showed us that we have what it takes to find the back of the net and turn the tide of the match-up and from there on I thought we played excellently."
Talking about excellence, it doesn't get better than a hattrick for a forward and that's exactly what Vondrářek, donning the #20 jersey with no name due to his recent loan from Dynamo Pardubice, managed.
"I haven't been playing a lot these past months, so I'm really hungry to play," he said, "but I was lucky to just have to get some stick on the first two and the third was just crazy, there were like three or more redirects before it got to the net and then I just launched it into an empty space."
Going back to even before the game, Vondráček wasn't sure if he would be able to even be named for Vítkovice in their Champions Hockey League line-up due to him having played seven games for Pardubice already this season.
But an update of the CHL Sport Regulations prior to the 2023/24 season means clubs can newly register a maximum of two players originally registered by another participating team during the course of the same CHL Season.
"Yeah I thought it was pretty certain that I couldn't play, but I kept training with the team and then on the morning of the game it was confirmed that I would be playing, thank God for that!"
What next?
"I'm just really excited and grateful to be able to play for Vítkovice in the Semi-Finals of the Champions Hockey League," he ended.