10.04.2017 - Petra Pilbauerová

Spartans take bronze medals at Jan Marek Memorial

The sixth annual Jan Marek Memorial is over now. On sunday, April 7th, there were two semifinal games and then games for medals and standings of all participating teams. Sparta took bronze medals against Mannheim from Germany. In the final battle, there succeeded players of Salzburg team. Riga took the silver place.

Groups standings:

Group A
1. HC Sparta Praha 9 pts
2. Jungadler Mannheim 9 pts
3. HC Slovan Bratislava 6 pts
4. HC Davos 5 pts
5. Kloten Flyers 1 pt

Group B
1. EC Red Bull Salzburg 12 pts
2. Ice Hockey School Riga 7 pts
3. HC Oceláři Třinec 7 pts
4. ZSC Lions Zürich 3 pts
5. Eisbären Berlin 1 pt

The semifinals games

HC Sparta Praha - Ice Hockey School Riga 3:5

Spartans advanced to semifinal battle from the first place in their group so in that way, they managed very good starting playoff position. Their opponent from Ice Hockey School Riga was big surprise of the whole tournament. It took the second place of B group so Riga quelified for winning medals battle. Sparta seemed to be very confident but the most important players could not get into the game because of their responsibilities national teams. Miroslav Dani opened the score but Riga tied the game and took the lead after that. Spartans did not need to be worry about the result until the third period when Riga went ahead with 5:3 score.

Goals and assists: 5. Dani (Obadal, Čech), 28. Tůma (Čech, Dani), 35. Vorobjev (Kasanda, Vandirek) – 14. Polcs (Biskins, Ansons), 15. Prohorenkovs (Svanenbergs), 18. Polcs (Ansons, Barovskis), 40. Karklins (Svanenbergs, Koppass), 55. Rudzitis (Polcs).

HC Sparta Praha: Mičán – Kumpošt, Litvinov, Haš, J. Najman, Gajdoš, Tůma, Vandirek, Hadamczik – M. Najman, Havlín, Kasanda, Obadal, Dani, Flídr, Pika, Šubert, Smola, Čech, Vorobjev.

Ice Hockey School Riga: Bruveris – Stocls, Brikmanis, Barovskis, Vilcins, Treimanis, Meznieks – Rudzitis, Biskins, Polcs, Svanenbergs, Prohorenkovs, Koppass, Berzins, Korkus, Ansons, Petrovics, Karklins.

Best players of the game: Havlín (Sparta) - Polcs (Riga).

EC Red Bull Salzburg - Jungadler Mannheim 2:0

Goals and assists: 17. Schitz (Predan, Rattensberg), 39. Schutz (Bakos, Huber).

EC Red Bull Salzburg: Minch – Wetzelsber, Rattensberg, Kail, Wirt, Frandl, Wirth, Sander – Schutz (C), Schitz (A), Rauhala, Jentzch, Bakos, Huber, Tschierisch, Hede, Hefke, Chrobot, Vogt, Predan, Stewart.

Jungadler Mannheim: Schickedanz – Müller (C), Dziambor, Pilu, Preto, Ebi, Mass – Stützle, Elkl, Pronin, Klos, Thiel, Samanski, Majewski, Elias, Schuhmacher, Lutz, Henu.

Best players of the game: Rauhala (Salzburg) - Pilu (Mannheim).

The bronze medal game

HC Sparta Praha - Jungadler Mannheim 4:3

"We started the game kind of good, opened the score with the first goal and took the control over the game. But after that, our serious mistakes in defence showed up and Riga scored two goals. During the first break, we were talking about this together and in the second period, we were actually better on the ice than our opponent. We scored three times and it was totally different then in the first part of game," said a assistant coach Libor Plaček.

"There were some pointless penalties during the game but not only on our side, we had to tied the game. But in the end, I think we showed a great performance and our goalie was just incredible. In my opinion, we could see great games at this tournament," ended his interview.

Goals and assists: 8. Flídr (Najman, Najman), 29. Haš (Dani, Obadal), 30. Havlín (Gajdoš), 32. Dani (Hadamczik) – 9. Elias (Mass, Schumacher), 19. Majewski (Klos, Mass), 49. Thiel (Schumacher)

HC Sparta Praha: Švehlák – Kumpošt, Litvinov, Haš, J. Najman, Gajdoš, Tůma, Vandirek, Hadamczik – M. Najman, Havlín, Kasanda, Obadal, Dani, Flídr, Pika, Šubert, Smola, Čech, Vorobjev.

Jungadler Mannheim: Huwer – Müller, Dziambor, Pilu, Preto, Ebi, Mass, – Stützle, Elkl, Pronin, Klos, Thiel, Samanski, Majewski, Elias, Schumacher, Lutz, Henu.

Best players of the game: Švehlák (Sparta) - Schumacher (Mannheim).

The gold medal game

Ice Hockey School Riga - EC Red Bull Salzburg 0:4

Teams of Riga and Salzburg have already met in the group. Red Bull took the lead and control over the game until the end and won 3:0. Unfortunately for Latvian hockey players, they could not shot even a single goal in the final game too. Salzburg was playing much more better while it increased its leading systematically. Taro Jentzch shot two of four Red Bull´s goals and because the team did not loose any of its game during the tournament, it celebrated the second triumf at Jan Marek Memorial in its winning streak.

Goals and assists: 14. Huber (Schutz), 25. Jentzch (Rauhala), 28. Jentzch (Rauhala), 46. Wirth (Frandl).

Ice Hockey School Riga: Silovs – Stocls, Brikmanis, Barovskis, Vilcins, Treimanis, Meznieks – Polcs, Biskins, Rudzitis, Koppass. Prohorenkovs, Svenenbergs, Ansons, Korkus, Berzins, Karklins, Petrovics.

EC Red Bull Salzburg: Minch – Wetzelsber, Rattensberg, Kail, Wirt, Frandl, Wirth, Sander – Schutz, Schitz, Rauhala, Jentzch, Bakos, Huber, Tschierisch, Hede, Hefke, Chrobot, Vogt, Predan, Stewart.

The best players of the game: Silovs (Riga) - Jentzch (Salzburg).

Final standings of the tournament

1. EC Red Bull Salzburg
2. Ice Hockey School Riga
3. HC Sparta Praha
4. Jundgadler Mannheim
5. HC Oceláři Třinec
6. HC Slovan Bratislava
7. ZSC Lions Zürich
8. HC Davos
9. Eisbären Berlin
10. EHC Kloten Flyers

The best players of the tournament

EC Red Bull Salzburg - Justin Schutz
Ice Hockey School Riga - Rudolfs Polcs
HC Sparta Praha - Erik Čermák
Jungadler Mannheim - Jan Schumacher
HC Oceláři Třinec - Adam Raška
HC Slovan Bratislava - Lukáš Drdan
ZSC Lions Zürich - Raphael Cahimiglia
HC Davos - Nicholas Heini
Eisbären Berlin - Sandro Grannas
EHC Kloten Flyers - Greg Halberstadt

Individual awards

The best goalie: Florian Minch (EC Red Bull Salzburg)
The best defender: Daniel Wirt (EC Red Bull Salzburg)
The best forward: Raivis Ansons (Ice Hockey School Riga)
The Top Scorer: Ondřej Pšenička (HC Sparta Praha)