After eight months out of the lineup recovering from a knee injury, HC Pilsen forward Jan Schleiss played on Saturday in Nitra. The road to recovery has been tough, and after all that time off, the tempo of the game is something he has to get used to again.

by Lucie Muzikova

PILSEN – Coming back after eight months wasn’t an easy thing for HC Pilsen forward Jan Schleiss. He was injured two days before Christmas Eve last year and has been off since then, recovering from a serious knee injury. After 250 days he finally joined his teammates in a game on Saturday, but that didn’t prevent HK Nitra from earning their first three points in Group J.

For the majority of the game, Nitra were the better team. The final score was 2-1 on goals by Cramo Top Scorer Judd Blackwater and defenceman Jameson Milam. The only goal by Pilsen was scored by team captain Ondrej Kratena. 

Jan, how did you feel on the ice after such a long time off?

“It was so fast! I'm very happy that I'm back with my mates on the ice. It felt really great to be in a game but everything was at a quick pace. Too fast for me I guess right now, but I hope that every game, every day it gets better.”

If we are not mistaken, you didn’t stay far away from your locker room during your recovery, did you?

“You are completely right. I was at the arena almost all the time. It was nice that I wasn’t kept apart from my team but the feeling that you only need to practice and to recover is nothing you want to experience. It was the kind of thing you need to go through and everybody just keeps telling you to hold on, but you pray that it will be over soon.”

So honestly, how is your knee? Is it alright?

“It is. I need to wear a knee-brace for practices and for all games but it's holding together – knock on wood.”

You already mentioned that the game was pretty fast for you. Sometimes it looked like that it was also too fast for your teammates. 

“Well, Nitra played a game great. Tenacious, fast, tough. They wanted this win really bad and they went for it.” 

Did the loud and boisterous atmosphere in the arena have any influence on your performance?

“I don’t think that it created any unwanted pressure. Every hockey player prefers to play in front of that kind of crowd rather than in complete silence. I need to give props to our group of fans too, though. I really admire that they spent their time and went all the way to Nitra to support us. They are the great.”