Pardubice coach Marek Zadina grabbed all the attention after Sunday’s fourth playoff final of the hockey extra league. After the 6:2 win and the comparison of the series at 2:2, he came to the journalists in Třinec with a sharp statement about the media massage against Dynamo and also about influencing the referees. His former teammate and Pardubice legend Jiří Šejba ponders what to do with the series.
“The media massage is unreal. It’s difficult when someone is influenced by the media,” Zadina started after Sunday’s victory and later directed his comments mainly against Milan Antoš.
The long-time hockey expert mixed it up by criticizing the aggressiveness of the Pardubice players against the Třinec goalkeeper Ondřej Kacetl in the second final in the program on the Sport.cz portal.
<p data="Before the third match of the series, both clubs then received an e-mail from the head of referees, Vladimír Pešina, who pointed out that infractions in the goal area will be punished by the referees according to the rules. No freer meter. The matches in Třinec looked like that, the game changed.
<p data="“Antoš makes himself an expert in quotation marks, but for me he is not an expert. He is dirtying Pardubice, dirtying our organization and our players. He is putting pressure on the referee,” said an angry Zadina.
<p data="He was later fined 75,000 crowns for defaming the name of the competition.
<p data="Did he feel that Pardubice lost one of the weapons that helped them win home game number two? Or did he want to send a message to his own locker room to make the team even more united in the fight against their critics?
<p data="“It’s hard to say, the players have to deal with it now. Some don’t deal with things around them, they take it in stride. Some need a little provocation, others have red eyes on the ice and can’t handle the pressure,” assesses Pardubice legend Šejba.
<p data="He played a total of 394 games for Pardubice in the federal competition and the extra league, and briefly led them in his coaching career. He himself would probably react differently in Zadin’s place, although he understands the emotional strain in the playoffs.
<p data="“There is also a lot of pressure from the management, they put a lot of money into it in Pardubice. But sometimes the coach has to be on top of things, clarify things with the players in the cabin and not vent such statements,” says Šejba.
<p data="“I know that Mára is impulsive, we all have it differently, but I think he stepped on a thin line with this. I don’t know, it’s his business,” he continues.
<p data="The unintended effect could be a strengthening of the opponent’s self-confidence. Třinec can read Zadin’s words as a sign of nervousness.
<p data="Pardubice was generally talked about as the favorite for the final. Třinec has two seven-match streaks in his legs, Dynamo should have more strength. In addition, the steel players are playing without key defenders Jakub Jeřábek and Martin Marinčin, gunner Martin Růžička is struggling with an injury. Even so, the series is balanced.
Jiří Šejba | Photo: Milan Kammermayer
<p data="“It’s a cry from the darkness, as the late Zbyněk Kusý would say. It can certainly help the opponent,” Šejba thinks.
<p data="“Until recently, Mára worked as an assistant in Třinec, the boys from Třinec know him and maybe he mixed them up with his statements,” he adds.
<p data="However, he himself considers it unfortunate that the head of referees Pešina contacted the clubs in the final series in full swing. According to Šejba, the judges should have unified the meter right at the start of the playoffs.
<p data="“There is a question as to why the referees suddenly changed their mind. The rules must be followed in the first round of the regular season as well as in the play-offs. Finishing came after the break, attacks on the goalkeeper and the same fouls were not judged the same,” the 1985 world champion points out.
<p data="“The referee lets something go and then Ujča solves it (Viktor Ujčík ) with the disciplinary committee. Then again some players will be freed. I don’t think it’s good,” continues Šejba.
<p data="For example, he does not like the fact that Pardubice forward Richard Pánik continues in the final. In the first final, he unsportingly drove into the lying Patrik Hrehorčák, a day later he hit Petr Šenkeřík with a high stick in the interrupted game.
<p data="“He already had a slip-up in the semi-final against Litvínov, now two against Třinac. Kurník, a player of such stature with more than 500 games in the NHL, cannot have such short-circuits. If it had been added up to him, he should have been punished and not play in the final,” says Šejba .
<p data="Even given the advantage of the home environment, the 2:2 score gives Pardubice a slightly better chance for the title. He says 60 percent against Třinec’s 40.
<p data="“But it must be said that both teams are performing excellently. Třinec plays what it is used to and has a high utilization of chances up front. Pardubice played great in the defensive zone on Sunday, defended a lot of the opponent’s overpowers and deserved to equalize the series.” summarizes Šejba.
<p data="The fifth match will bring one of the opponents the first title match point. It will be played in Pardubice today from 6 p.m. and you can watch the duel via an online broadcast on the website Aktuálně.cz.
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