STYL
Vítkovice Introduce an
Extraleague Superstar!
‘We Are Aiming Even Higher!’ Roman Šimíček Says
HC VÍTKOVICE RIDERA finished eighth last season and are now aiming even higher for
the upcoming season. As proof of their conviction, the team’s leadership managed to
acquire the Extraleague superstar Peter Mueller, an American striker whose statistical
record was second-to-none last year. Roman Šimíček, sports director of HC VÍTKOVICE
RIDERA, talked to us about upcoming changes in the club and revealed the elite team’s
plan for the upcoming season.
Preparations for the new Extraleague
season are in full swing. What changed in
the Vítkovice team? Will last year’s lineup make
a reappearance?
Our goal is to push our performance and results to
a level higher than what we had last season. We began
intensified training of our lineup in January, starting
with our coaches. We elected to keep Miloš Holaň
and Radek Philipp as our trainers. Havel and Horyl will
also continue to serve the roles of video coach and
conditioning trainer, respectively. The progressive, yet
experienced, Martin Faltera will now be our goalkeeper
coach. We knew that we had a couple players signed,
while for others, it was about exercising the option.
This made negotiation simple, whether it came to
goalkeeper Stezka, Lukáš Krenželok, Koch, Lindberg
or younger players.
100 ǀ POSITIV 2/2022
Who will not be moving forward with the team?
Mainly players whose contracts have ended and
we have elected not to extend them. This includes
defenders Plášil and Pedan, strikers Bondra, Flick,
and Hruška, and goalkeeper Dolejš. Unfortunately,
defender Alexei Solovjev will also not be joining us for
the next season as his visa application was rejected
due to his Russian citizenship. On behalf of the team,
I would like to thank everyone and wish them good
luck in their personal lives and hockey careers.
Unfortunately, the current team captain, Roman
Polák, will also not be part of this year’s lineup. He
decided to retire from his successful hockey career.
How hard was it to accept this decision?
Sadly, that is how life goes in the hockey world. Speaking
from personal experience, I can tell you that making