Hockey teams of HC Košice among the most successful ones in Slovakia
“We will keep improving ourselves, so that our boys excel not only with their skills on ice, but also in terms of discipline and overall image, “ those were the words of the hockey manager of HT categories, Alexander Valentín, in mid-November at the second Community Forum organized by our club. New approaches and methods implemented in the club of HC Košice seemed to reap success not only among players, but also among parents. This is how the season of HC Košice looked like from the players’ perspective.
HT5 U11
Season of this category was divided into three parts. Players led by coaches Ľubomír Micák and Anton Bartánus started with preparation at the beginning of May. At first, team of 33 players completed the 8-week high-quality preparation outside the rink. This preparation was focused mainly on speed, strength and stabilization exercises with emphasis on coordination. Later, the boys also practiced in a swimming pool. Quality work is also about analyzing imperfections which the coaches wanted to minimalize throughout the season. The 8-week training period was followed by the 5-week pre-competition period during which the team played one tournament in Michalovce and another three warm-up games, so that the boys would be as well prepared as they could for the 5th year of U11 League.
Competition period started on September 14, 2019. Boys together with their coaches were dialed in the training process. From Monday till Friday, the team practiced on ice. On Monday they had also an extra practice outside the rink. Saturday was a game day. HT5 played 12 rounds in the regular season within the regional group, after which the team was ranked 4th with a 6-point loss to leading Poprad. This ranking ensured our young players participation in the extension part in Group A, where 6 best teams competed against each other. During this part, our boys managed to improve their ranking and after thirteen games they ended up 3rd with a positive overall result 95:70. Unfortunately, as well as other leagues, this league was also cancelled prematurely due to the current worldwide pandemic.
Coaches were satisfied with the season, and they appreciated players’ attitude who were coming to practices regularly, on time and always tried to give their best. The coaches wanted every individual to perfect his technique at all levels of the game. They wanted players to use their strengths and to develop their mindset in cooperation with other players. Players Lukáš Trusa, Lukáš Bojčík, Matej Medvec and Lukáš Antol deserved a special recognition.
Staff: Ľubomír Micák (head coach), Anton Bartánus (assistant coach), Ladislav Bata (team manager)
Roaster: Lukáš Antol, Leonard Bata, Lukáš Bojčík, Bruno Boris, Tim Borovský, Samuel Červinka, Jakub Garaj, Dávid Janočko, Simon Kačmáry, Kai Marco Karabas, Jakub Kiss, Alex Knotek, Lilly Laura Lipnická, Matej Medvec, Christian Michaľčo, Peter Paľa, Alex Pohl, Dávid Ratkoš, Oliver Redžepovič, Marcus Ruščák, Martin Šoltys, Tobias Tomko, Lukáš Trusa, Maxim Valkovič, Ladislav Boroš, Jakub Milanič (U10), Dominik Domonkos (U10), Adam Jurči (U10), Kristián Jaroš (U10)
HT6 U12
From the perspective of HT6, year 2019/20 was developing quite well, similarly as it was with younger categories. The team started with the 8-week preparation, led by the head coach Anton Bartánus, the aim of which was to work on conditioning, coordination, skillfulness, strength, speed, stamina and other aspects.
The whole preparation was guided mainly towards the 6th year of U12 League. After a regular period, the score was quite tight, and our team was ranked 5th in the table with 2-points loss to first ranked Michalovce. First 11 matches proved that the team has the second-best defense in the league. In the extended period, our boys improved the overall game and the result came in the form of a second place behind victorious Poprad. Program of the season included also other international tournaments with many good players participating. Young Steelers won a golden medal at Stano Mika Tournament in Ružomberok. Against tough competition at the international tournament in Sanok, the team ended 6th out of 12 teams, and a third tournament was the international tournament T+T in Žilina where the team won a silver medal.
Anton Bartánus, the head coach of the team, talked very positively about the players. According to him, the players went to those matches with good mindset, they tried hard, and I could see their effort, they were enjoying every game. When we look at it from the perspective of their development, I think they acquired valuable experience.
Staff: Anton Bartánus (head coach), Ondrej Sabol (team manager)
Roaster: Adam Bartoš, Alex Bodnár, Patrik Cienky, Jakub Ďurčo, Maxim Farkaš, Timotej Havír, Jakub Husár, Sebastián Jankuš, Samuel Kažimír, Slavomír Kolbašský, Ondrej Koník, Róbert Krajňák, Jakub Liba, René Mižišin, Damián Murín, Ján Oros, Adam Patlevič, Matúš Petro, Juraj Rejta, Adrián Sabol, Patrik Soľár, Adam Štefanov, Mário Takacs, Nicolas Takáč, Peter Váczy, Michal Valent, Dušan Vasilík
HT7 U13
Clear purpose and responsible attitude adopted also another team category, HT7 U13, led by the head coach Peter Čížek who had set important goals for the upcoming season. As an example, we can mention improvement of skating, technical skills, theoretical preparation, teaching players good habits, emphasis on good nutrition, analysis of matches and many other.
The schedule of the season for individual categories was the same, so this one wasn’t the exception. Category HT7 practiced from Monday till Friday. On Wednesday the team practiced twice a day, Saturday was a game day and Sunday was dedicated to rest and recovery. The team played 7th year of U13 League in the east region group. Within this group, the team belonged among the best ones and with a high score of 190:62 and a 6-point lead stayed on the top of the table. Within their region, the Steelers had the best offense as well as defense and dominated in all statistics. They played one extra Christmas tournament, Žigmund Pálffy Cup. Our team had the youngest players in this international tournament, and the confrontations with older experienced players are going to help our players a lot in their future careers.
For this category we have also individual statistics available. When we look at the eastern region, the leader in terms of statistics is our player Ricardo Pavlík who gained 67 points. The second one from the team of Košice is Samuel Tomka with a 7-point loss. We would also like to point out to our goaltender, Oliver Tóth, with percentage of achievement 87.05%. Head coach praised the performance of all players, especially the performance of Samuel Tomka who was the teams’ captain.
Staff: Peter Čížek (head coach), Alexander Valentín (assistant coach), Branislav Friedl (team manager)
Roaster: Oliver Balogh, Peter Buchla, Bekin Danko, Patrik Fodor, Nikolas Friedl, Timotej Hamari, Patrik Juhás, Kristián Kubáni, Matúš Kuzma, Ivan Mikita, Dárius Murín, Dominik Ovčarik, Ricardo Pavlík, Martin Ragan, Nikolas Regináč, Adam Seliga, Thomas Oliver Tóth, Patrik Timko, Samuel Tomka, Patrik Tóth, Adam Vojtko, Miroslav Zeleňák, Damián Zupko, Emanuel Buchla, Tobiáš Jaroš
HT8 U14
The oldest age category among these hockey groups led by the head coach and team manager of all hockey categories, Alexander Valentín, competed similarly as the above-mentioned teams. With this team too, we could feel huge determination and desire to represent HC Košice.
The team played 8th year of U14. According to the head coach, the team gave 100% in every match, regardless the opponent’s strength, score or the time of the match. I can say, that the boys gave everything in those 60 minutes, and the results speak for themselves. After the regular period, the team ended second with only a single loss against their biggest rival, Poprad. In the extension part, the scenario was the same, the team was performing high-quality game and at the time of league’s termination, Košice were ranked second, 3 points behind the leader and one match to go. Our offense and defense were evaluated as the second best in the league. It needs to be point out, however, that boys were excellent when playing short-handed. This game just fitted them, and in the extension part, no opponent managed to punish their indiscipline, so the young Steelers showed us that this category too, they belong among the best teams.
The most productive skater of the team was Martin Kuzár with 69 points on his credit. The second best was Dominik Pinďár with 65 points. Dominik was also announced the best shooter as he managed to score 42 times. Third place belongs to Martin Adámy who gained 56 Canadian points. In the “table of truth” first place belongs to Sebastián Mitro (102+/-). We are also satisfied with our goaltenders, Kristián Krafčík and Matej Kiss, who played equally well during the season. Besides individual statistics and great performances, the staff was also happy about one more thing – great discipline of the team.
Staff: Alexander Valentín (head coach), Peter Čížek (assistant coach), Marek Laciak (team manager)
Roaster: Kristián Krafčík, Matej Kiss, Adam Beluško, Branko Drančák, Branislav Barger, Adrián Jacko, Marek Oravec, Peter Novák, Dávid Havadej, Marek Laciak, Šimon Janke, Sebastián Mitro, Erich Tóth, Filip Majoroš, Theo Kiss, Peter Buchla, Thomas Guillermo Piquet, Tobias Faith, Martin Kuzár, Dominik Pinďár, Matúš Hudák, Michal Liščinský, Alexander Duhoň, Tobiáš Jaroš, Marcel Kimák, Róbert Horňák, Martin Adámy, Markus Saxa
We would like to thank each of the above-mentioned coaches, players, sponsors, parents and all people who participated in the functioning and development of our hockey teams, you all have our greatest admiration. We believe that also thanks to HC Košice, hockey is becoming an integral part of children’s life and development, and we hope that they will continue to represent our club in the upcoming seasons!
(HC KE Media tim : SB)