When his team visited Sparta Prague in the first game of the Round of 32, young Karpat Oulu forward Radek Koblizek got a rare chance to play for his Finnish club in his native country.
by Karolina Antosova
PRAGUE – It was a tough game on Tuesday at O2 Arena, where Sparta Prague welcomed Karpat Oulu. Both teams had many injures, so it was a chance for some new faces to try their luck in the CHL. One of them was Karpat forward Radek Koblizek.
The 18-year-old Czech left his youth club Kometa Brno three years ago and went to northern Finland. Starting with Karpat's U18 team, he advanced to U20 and now has a few games in the Liiga under his belt. Last Tuesday, he got a chance to show his speed in Prague. “It was more like Finnish hockey than Czech,” the young forward thought.
After a long time, you got a chance to play at home in front of Czech fans. Was it a special occasion for you?
“It’s always nice to come back home. I was following the CHL Playoff Draw and I was really happy that we got Sparta this round, because I don’t play at home that often – actually, only a couple of times during the season with our national team. Also my grandfather, brother and cousin came to see the game against Sparta, so I was glad I had this chance to play here again.”
You were Karpat's 13th forward in the game, but at least you got couple of shifts in front of your family.
“One of our forwards got injured, so I played maybe three or four shifts. It wasn’t really easy to sit on the bench two hours and then jump into the game immediately, but I'm happy that I got some time on the ice, at least.”
You went to Finland from Kometa Brno, one of Sparta’s biggest rivals in the Czech Extraliga. Was this a thing for you in this game?
“It’s true that between Kometa and Sparta there is a huge rivalry. Maybe the biggest one we have in the Czech Extraliga. But I don’t know, I don’t really take it like that anymore. It’s my fourth season in Finland now, so maybe I don’t consider myself being a true Kometa player. Of course, if I had played in the Czech Republic and against Sparta, it would have been totally different.”
As for the game itself, what did you think?
“It was bit of a cautious game. Lots of defence. It was kind of a combative game – more like Finnish hockey than Czech. It was also maybe a little bit slow, so the result is what it is. On Tuesday we will fight for the next round on our ice.”
For which team is the 1-1 score better?
“Well, we'll play at home, so we should win that game, but it will be really tough. We have to get ready for that and battle hard and hopefully make it to the next round.”
And what about your team so far this season? 12th place – it doesn’t seem like Karpat are as dangerous as in seasons past.
“So far, it hasn’t gone how it should. The team changed a lot during this summer, so we still need some time to settle in the new players. But I hope it won’t last that long and we will be back where we were the last four seasons.”