KalPa Kuopio got back into the Group G race with a road win against group leader Sparta Prague. For forward Michal Birner the win was especially nice, as it came in the arena he called home the past two seasons.

by Karolina Antosova

PRAGUE – For the past two seasons, Michal Birner called Prague's Tipsport Arena home as a member of the KHL's Lev Prague. On Friday night, he returned to the arena as a visiting player for his new club, KalPa Kuopio. He picked up an assist in the game, helping KalPa beat Sparta 3-2 to move within one point of the Czech club for first place in Group G.

How did you feel at first when you entered the arena?

It was a bit nostalgic. It hit me especially during the morning skate and during the first period of the game I still wasn’t 100 percent concentrated. My head, legs, hands weren’t on the ice. But after a few shifts it was a little bit better.

How hard was it for you to lose your team so suddenly?

It was quite tough situation for me. Just a few weeks before the beginning of the season I had to find a new club. I was lucky that I know a few people in Kuopio, so the agreement was quite fast.

In Kuopio, you also play with your former teammate Tomas Kubalik. As you already played five seasons in Liiga, do you guide him throughout the life in Finland?

I’m more like his guide in the gym. (chuckling) He doesn’t even know what a dumbbell looks like. So every day we go to the gym and I try to get him into shape.

You also know some of the guys from Sparta. Did you talk with them before the game?

I didn’t have any time to talk with those guys. Everything went so fast here in Prague. Actually I was happy I could visit my family at home, so we didn’t chat.

But you beat Sparta 3-2. How important is this win for your team?

I’m happy we defeated Sparta mostly because of the young guys on our team. It’s a huge win for us because it was the last game before the start of the regular season.

With this win, you have again a chance to win Group G.

We know we lost some points in the home game against Sparta. I'd even say we were the better team in that game. We had more chances, we skated better, but we made stupid basic mistakes, so Sparta beat us in the shootout.

It should be really tough battle for points in the last two games, don't you think?

If we had defeated Sparta in Kuopio, we would be first in our group. But we're still just one point behind first place, so we're not giving up. We still play twice against Växjö, one of the top teams in Sweden. They also have many Finnish players on their team, so I think they'll be physical games full of emotions and little skirmishes.

As you said, the game against Sparta was the last one before the beginning of the Liiga schedule. Is here still something you need to work on?

As we have a really young team, we try to play with the puck as much as possible. Our coach places great emphasis on this. But sometimes we make simple mistakes just because of our team isn’t experienced enough. But all our young guys are unbelievably talented, so the older they get the better they will play. Every win really helps them.