In the last few games, the team has fallen behind early. What do you think is the reason for that?
In the Hradec Králové and Liberec games, those teams started with a lot of energy and we were a bit slow to start. Against Vítkovice, I thought we started well and were mentally in the right place, but got a couple of unfortunate bounces. I would like us to start every game like that, except the part about falling behind.

Does that have anything to do with the fact that you were on the road in Hradec Králové and Liberec, while you played Vítkovice at home?
I think it had more to do with those being two really good teams. We have to play our best to be able to hang with those teams. Those teams started really well and pushed us into a defensive role, and then we had to play from behind. That’s not ideal, but fortunately, we found ways to win.

Does having to play from behind take a lot of energy out of the players?
Oh yes. Not just physically, but mentally too. We’re a hardworking team, and when you play like that, it takes energy and coming from behind takes even more.

Do you find it difficult to stay calm after the team starts poorly? Do you ever want to get angry?
Well, what good does it do to get angry? Who does it help? Only me. A player wants to hear what he needs to do to win the game. I was a player, and I didn’t need a coach to yell at me and tell me how bad I was. Maybe when the game’s over and you just don’t think the effort was good enough, or there were some stupid mistakes, that’s a reason to get angry, but most of the time, they need to hear what they need to do to win the game. We can work on the mistakes later in practice.

What’s the biggest thing you need to work on now?
My biggest thing right now is, I don’t like the number of shots against. On average, we’re being outshot 34-28 per game. I’d like to turn that around. I’d like to cut down the shots against and increase the number of shots we get. We need some of our guys to shoot more.

Last time, you said that most of the shots against were from a long distance and not good scoring chances...
Yes, but it’s still a shot. When I’m defending the players, I’ll say the shots are from the outside. If I’m being critical, I’ll say that it’s still too many. Especially now, with some of our better shot-blockers out of the lineup, we’ve got to do a better job. “Macho” shouldn’t see 40 shots.

Speaking of your goalies, you managed to get David Honzík into a game recently, and you lost 2-1 to Litvínov. How do you think he played?
He gave us a chance to win, but I don’t think we did a good job in front of him. That was the Tuesday game against Litvínov, and it was a similar game to Vítkovice. I think we played a little bit better against Vítkovice than we did that game. He only gave up two goals and we had chances to score but we couldn’t bury them, just like against Vítkovice.

There seems to be no clear first line on the team, with all four lines playing the same. Is that the way you want it?
I think it’s important for everybody to feel they are a part of the team. Situations come up in games that force us to play some guys more - power plays, killing penalties, playing from behind - but otherwise, I try not to overuse one line if I have that luxury. Some teams have to rely heavily on one or two players to get all their points and other teams, it’s more of a team effort, and that’s us. We’re a better team when all four lines are contributing. Also, with the way the schedule’s gone the past while, with back-to-back games, we’ve gotta play four lines.

The schedule has been pretty irregular recently...
Yes, it has. I think everybody’s looking forward to the break. We’re going to give them three or four days to get away from hockey and spend time with their families.

When everybody gets back, what will you work on?
It’s almost like a new start, so we’ll have to go over all aspects of our game: special teams, defensive-zone coverage, forechecking, 5-on-5 play, faceoffs, etc. I can’t say any one thing will be a priority because, after a break like that, you have to refresh everything. We might change some things too, depending on what players we have available to us.

What are your plans for the break?
I’m going to go visit my mom in Cologne. I don’t get to see her very often and she’s an old lady now, so the whole family’s going over there for a few days.