The great talent of the Třinec organization is experiencing a fairytale year so far, striker Petr Sikora collected medals with the youth and junior teams in the spring, he was at the great success of the national team at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup at the weekend and now he has joined the training with the Steelers’ first team. He will also wear their jersey on Thursday, against Frýdek-Místek in the same formation with Richard Pánik.
Even in his dreams, he wouldn’t have painted the last months of his hockey career more rosy, forward Petr Sikora is in a sports slump. First, he won the title with the juniors, then the silver with the juniors, and he also followed up the club successes in the national team.
“It’s probably not possible to come up with anything better, this is great,” said Petr Sikora on Tuesday, when he got off the ice. He trained with the Ocelarů team for the very first time, and already on Thursday he will also have his premiere in the adult category.
The 17-year-old Czech representative will start as the center of the second formation in the opening preparatory match of the season against Frýdek-Místek. “I appreciate it very much, I’m very happy for this chance. After all, it will be my debut among men, and also directly for Třinec,” says the club’s alumnus with enthusiasm.
He returned home with it even after a fantastic national team event. At the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, the Czechs also had Canada on their bucket list, but no one expected them to advance to the finals. Sikora and four other teammates from the Třinec academy on the national team’s roster drove the entire Břeclav crowd crazy, and the stadium filled to the ceiling pushed them forward. “It was a great experience, a tournament that we will remember for a long time. It was a ride, we played great and had a lot of fun. And most importantly, I have never experienced playing in such an atmosphere, maybe five thousand spectators came and everyone chanted, it was crazy ,” Sikora beams even now.
And that’s also thanks to the fact that the next experience may come soon. Petr Sikora should play in the same formation with Richard Pánik, one of the biggest summer signings, in the Steelers’ first preseason match. The Slovakian representative, who fourteen years ago, also at the age of seventeen, started for Ocelář in the extra league, and subsequently played more than five hundred games in the NHL.
“That’s one of the other craziness that’s happening in my career right now. Hopefully it will work out and I’ll actually play alongside him, it would be a great experience and a great school for me,” says Sikora modestly. In the last season, he played both in the Třinec junior team and in the junior team. He collected twenty-one points in fourteen games in the juniors, then he also shined in the golden playoff.
Now Sikora is fighting for a place in the A team squad, and will spend the next year in the organization. And it will be up to him if he grabs the first minutes in the adult extra league, or if he heads to partner Frýdek-Místek or Třinec juniors. “The motivation to play for Ocelar is huge, it’s a great honor for me. I will try to play some matches. At this moment, even one would be great, but I want to play as many as possible,” says Sikora. “At the first training session, I realized that the boys are stronger and faster, but otherwise we just play hockey,” he says.
