Liberec – When the Tigers’ 2022/23 season ended less than a week ago, Petr Jelínek announced right after the match in Hradec Králové that it was his last match in a Tiger jersey. However, he is not saying goodbye to the organization, starting from the new season he will become the main roller of the White Tigers.
The fifth quarter-final match between the Tigers and Mountfield HK was Petr Jelínek’s last as a player. Many may have thought that his tenure at the club was definitively over. But that is definitely not the case. After several years of being the helmsman of the tiger cabin as a captain, he is now moving to a different helm – he is taking up the helm. Fans will be able to see him on the ice of the Home Credit Arena in the future.
This decision is not a big surprise. You could already read between the lines in the post-match interview. “My season is ending at the moment, but the possibility of continuing at the club is certainly not ending,” he told reporters. And at the end, he outlined the program for the next few days: “I’ll wait on the phone and drink beer for a few days. Otherwise, my studies for the B license begin.”
While most fans and media representatives thought that the end of the sentence meant a coaching license, the reality was different – it meant a license to be able to drive a car. And it must be added that taking on this function at a time when ice skaters and roller skaters are experiencing problems with the ice in more than one extra-league stadium is definitely a challenge.
Now his main task will be to get used to the ice, which he knows very well from his playing years. After the dry part of the preparation, after re-freezing the ice, he will make his roller skating debut, and then he will present himself in front of the fans for the first time in his new role already in September, when the new extra-league season starts. However, one thing is certain – the fans will not lose their long-time captain for the time being!
