After returning from the World Junior Championships, you played in your first game against Vítkovice. How easy was it to refocus on Extraliga hockey?
I think it was pretty good. It took me a while, after all, it´s something different. I´m not completely over the jet lag, the last two or three days I couldn´t sleep all night and slept during the day. I have to get into it and it will be better.

How did you celebrate? How long did it last?
We celebrated it in Toronto, then all flew home to Slovakia. I was there one day and then I moved back to Prague.

What sort of welcome was waiting for you after arriving home to Slovakia?
The welcome was great, there were a lot of important people. A lot of fans came too, we signed some autographs and took pictures with them. It was very nice, but now I have to concentrate on club duties again.

In an interview before leaving, you said modestly that the aim of the team was to win the game against Germany and advance to the playoffs. But after beating the Finns, did you think that you could go even farther?
The victory over Finland did a lot of good for our psyche, but we still needed to win that game against the Germans because our group was quite tangled. So the objective was still the same, but it certainly boosted us mentally.

You led the Slovak team as captain. Was there any pressure wearing the "C" on your jersey, or did you enjoy being the leader of the team?
I wasn´t really nervous, on the contrary it was my pleasure. I enjoyed it, it was very nice. (Smiling)

Twice you played against Canada in front of a sold-out arena. That must have been a great experience...
It was certainly good and for a lot of guys it was a new experience and the experience of a lifetime. I´d already seen it before, so I enjoyed it. It´s always nice to go back there, the atmosphere there is amazing.

Being half Czech, how was it to face the Czechs in the quarter-finals and knock them out of the tournament?
It´s wasn´t anything extra special, it was a normal game for me. Of course, it was a big deal to our coaches. Mr. Bokroš really wanted to win because we´ve lost important games to the Czechs so many times.

Are you pleased with everything from the tournament, both the team´s play and your individual performance?
Of course. I didn´t go there for any other reason, it wasn´t about the points for me. I tried to play well as a team and be the best team leader. I am glad that we managed to have some success as a team.

Do you know yet the affects of what you´ve accomplished, or will that come in time?
It´s great, and everyone´s probably had time to fully realize what we did. It gives us a great sensation, because we´re a small nation, both Czechs and Slovaks. If you´re able to have some success, it´s something unreal.

Are you also thinking that that this could have a major influence on the selection of players for the senior World Championship in Prague and Ostrava?
It´s obviously a plus, but we really played mostly there as a team. What the coach does, if he wants to incorporate younger players, that´s up to him.

Now that you´re back in Prague, Sparta is now already thinking about playoff positioning...
Of course it is important to finish as high as possible for the playoffs, but we need to stabilize our play because we´ve had some inconsistency in the playoffs in recent years. That will be the most important thing.

Photo: Elena Kolpakova