Not many figured HK Nitra would beat HC Pilsen once, let alone twice. Few people are happier about it than former Pilsen forward Juraj Stefanka, who now plays for Nitra.

by Lucie Muzikova

PILSEN – Juraj Stefanka, a former HC Pilsen forward, came back to the rink he once called home and left with a big smile. The 40-year-old veteran's current employer, HK Nitra, beat the Indians 4-2 after coming back from a 2-0 deficit.

Juraj, how do you feel shortly after this physically demanding game?

“Perfect! I love coming back here. Last night I went for a walk with Brano Mezei (also a former Pilsen player) and we both remembered only good things here. I am happy that I also met a few guys I used to play with.”

Who did you know from the Pilsen team?

If I am not mistaken, I played here with three of the current players – Jaroslav Kracik, Jakub Koreis and Lukas Pulpan. But I also know a few others from other Czech Extraliga teams I've played for.

Let’s come to tonight’s game. It was a game made of three totally different periods, wasn’t it?

“For sure it was. We didn’t keep up with the pace of the beginning of the game, despite the fact that we talked about it and we should have expected it. Our legs didn’t work and we weren't very happy about being down 2-0. After the first period, we told each other that anything we get from this game will be a surprise, so we didn’t have to be nervous.”

Surprise?

“Yes, I tell people in Nitra, mainly during World Championships, that we have five million people in Slovakia and the Czechs have double, so we're underdogs each time.”

So I guess that's one of the reasons so many fans came to Pilsen to support you.

“It's special to us, for sure. We didn’t expect that so many people would come, but they just proved to us that they are the very best.”

How did you control your emotions mainly during the second period? There were lots of penalties, altercations, etc. 

“I was cool the whole the time (laughing) because every time something happened I was on bench. But I need to give props to our guys because we fought for each other. It was the same on both sides and it is a part of hockey. When we scored a few goals, the Pilsen players started to whine and shout about small fouls we committed, but they did the same. That's just hockey.”

During the third period, you guys went into a defensive shell and let Pilsen come at you, with what seemed like no attempt to create offence the other way. Was it your plan to play this way?

“Look at it this way – we didn’t need to score another goal, so our focus was not to give up any. They came hard at us but they didn’t score and we won, so we were absolutely right. But seriously, nobody expected us to beat Pilsen twice, so we are more than happy about it.”