For the first time in 37 years, the Rapaces de Gap are Magnus Cup Champions in France. One of the players who helped them is Roman Vondracek, who has gained a perspective of how big hockey is in the Alpine town.

by Pavel Kuba

GAP, France – In this year's Ligue Magnus finals, the Rapaces de Gap rallied from a 3–1 series deficit against Epinal to win the championship. One of the players on the team was 30-year-old Czech right winger Roman Vondracek. In his second season in Gap, which was shortened due to injury, he recorded 11 points (5 + 6) in 14 regular-season games, then 8 points (2 + 6) in 11 playoff contests. Despite his limited number of games, he was a big part of Gap's offence when healthy, and is fully enjoying the team's victory.

Congratulations Roman. You probably don't have anything to complain about right now.

Absolutely not. On the whole, the season was fantastic. Everything resulted from good preparation. We started with a win over a strong Rouen club, then we lost three games in a row, but our play subsequently improved. In both cups, which are big in France, we reached the semi-finals and lost both times. In the league we moved up during the season into the top four, but we lost the last game and finished third. This actually help us, though, as we avoided the fate of the big favourites Rouen and Grenoble, who were surprisingly eliminated.

How do you evaluate the whole season from your personal point of view? In the course you has injury troubles.

That's true. Things were fine until just before Christmas, when I tore my anterior cruciate ligament. I managed to return to the line-up for the start of the playoffs, and I played well, but in the third game of the final series I hurt my arm and that finished my season. I was very disappointed, especially because of the decisive seventh game at home. Fortunately, the boys were able to get it done.

The team changed significantly from the previous season. Did that take any getting used to?

That might have been the reason why we had such a weak start. Only six players remained on the team from last year, so we all had to get used to each other at first. Also, all players had to realize that they have been strong defensively and avoid mistakes. By the time we got to the playoffs, we weren't making many.

One of the biggest changes your team made was hiring coach Luciano Basile, who last year won the French title in nearby Briançon. Would you say his experience was a factor in this championship win?

Coach Luciano is probably the most famous person involved in hockey in France. He's very strict, he wants the best from everyone, and not just from the players, but also from management and other people who work for the club. Our victory is the result of being able to get a maximum effort from everyone. I don't think we would have done anything similar with any other coach.

The celebrations had to be unreal.

Oh, they've been great! But that's what happens wherever a team wins the title. We celebrated on Easter Monday, when people have time off work, and we drove through the crowded town on the back of a truck, something in the style of the NHL. Of course Gap isn't Los Angeles (laughing). Gap won the title after 37 long years, so the celebrations in the city, where hockey is the number-one sport, were a truly spectacular event.

With the title you have secured a place in the Champions Hockey League. What does that mean for the club?

For the club it's great, because it becomes more visible in Europe. Everyone will try their best to get respectable results.

Did you see any CHL games this year?

I watched it this year and I think it's great. I hope this project gets even bigger in the future and continues to draw even more attention. And even in the Czech Republic. I think it's a great way to compare European clubs. I believe that a lot of fans will come to the games in Gap.

Assuming that you continue in Gap next season, where would playing in the CHL rank in your career?

If I continue in Gap, I'll gladly play against the giants of Europe, but we have to be realistic. Not that I underestimate Gap, but the level of the top teams that we'll encounter is entirely different. For me it would be a great novelty, and if we managed to win a game, that would be really nice.

You could easily end up playing against a team from the Czech Republic. Is that an interesting prospect?

Sure it is. My parents would surely come to watch, as it's a little far for them to go to the Southern Alps in France (smiling). But we'll see how things turn out.