This year, a total of 7 Czech players presented themselves in the highest Swiss National League, 4 of which placed in the top 20 productivity rankings. Everyone got into the elimination fights, but only 3 hit the semifinals. Let’s take a look at their journeys.
Jan Kovar (EV ZUG)
After Pilsen lost in the semifinals with Třinec in 2019, Jan Kovář changed his place of work. For the first time in his career, he tasted the quality of the Swiss Hockey League. He headed straight to the EV Zug club, where he is playing his third season this year.
And it’s a good season for him. He became the team’s biggest driver and with 43 points (9 + 34) as the most productive player of his club, he led the team from the first place to the playoffs. In the quarterfinals, Zug bumped into Lugano, which he swept 4-0 in the shortest possible way.
In the semifinals, the group around Jan Kovář will run into Zurich. Kovář has scored 5 points for 3 assists and 2 goals in the elimination round so far.
Jakub Kovař (ZSC Lions)
The older of the brothers, Jakub, dealt with unpleasant knee health problems at the beginning of the season, due to which he played only one match in the KHL. But he managed to get out of the problem and his steps led to the National League in Switzerland.
While his brother scores, Jakub tries to catch them. The “fratricidal” duel with the fans occurred twice this year, and in both cases the forward Jan came out of it better. In February, Jan even forced his brother to take turns after assisting 3 times and his team crossed Zurich 5: 2.
The lions finished third after the basic part, which provided a comfortable starting position for the quarterfinals, in which they clashed with northwestern Biel. However, the battle was tough and the favorite had trouble confirming his position.
Zurich lost the first two duels and had to turn, but he succeeded and the final was 4: 3 for the ZSC Lions. Jakub Kovář caught all 7 matches and zeroed two of them. In the playoffs, it holds a 94% success rate. In the semifinals, his team encounters Friborg, in which not a single Czech player plays.
Matej Stransky (Davos)
After two successful seasons in Třinec, Matěj Stránský exchanged his place of work for the Swiss Davos. And the change seems to like the Vítkovice breeder.
He is one of the most prominent faces in the entire league. He even became the best shooter with 26 notches. And he also brought his form to the elimination fights, where he regularly enriches his team’s score with his goal contributions.
Davos literally escaped the gravedigger in the quarterfinals with Rapperswil. He lost the first three matches and had to win 4 times in a row to advance. But nothing is impossible and Davos is proof of that, because he turned the number one. Matěj Stránský’s team thus won in the 4: 3 series and advanced to the semifinals, where they will face Jan Kovář’s team-mate.
They did not make it to the semifinals Michael Frolík s Jiří Sekáčwho defended the colors of Lausanne. Jiří Sekáč scored 46 points for the basic part, which ranked him 13th in productivity.
He won’t add more matches either Roman Červenka, who absolutely dominated in the sum of assists and goals and became the most productive player in the league. A teammate also ends up with Roman Petr Cajka.
Source: NL
