The latest round produced an upset at the expense of the strong Black Jokers. It was delivered by team AHS, which put in a disciplined performance backed by superb scoring. The central figure of the game was Róbert Dobrý, who put an incredible 5 points on the stat sheet, including a hat trick. In the interview he told us how his “lucky” goal came about, why the middle of the standings is home for AHS, and what unusual ritual outside the arena unites most players in the league.

The Player of the Week in RAHL 1 is HK Petržalka forward Patrik Hubek, who shone with a hat trick against defending champion Wild Thing Karaoke. In a season in which a strained groin has slowed him down and he has only been on the ice sporadically, he picked the perfect moment to make himself heard on the scoresheet, and three times at that, against one of the best teams in the league. He talked about the game, the injury and what the hat trick is now going to cost him in the locker room in a short interview.

Wild Thing Karaoke confirmed their excellent form in Round 8 of RAHL1 by handling the White Sharks team 3:1. Forward Miroslav Merschitz played a major part in the win with two accurate shots, showing that, despite the game’s early-morning start, getting up with hockey sometimes pays off. He told us more about his two-goal performance, the opponent and the traditional locker-room ribbing in a postgame interview.

The Player of the Month for September in RAHL 1 is Black Jokers forward Nikolas Ketner. He put in excellent performances at the start of the season, racking up 16 points (9 goals and 7 assists) over the course of the month. In the interview he revealed what is behind his form, how he rates the mood on the team and what he wishes for from the current season.

The Player of Round 7 in RAHL 1 is Dominik Vaniak of the Uličníci team. In the game against a strong opponent, Black Jokers, he shone with two goals and an assist, playing a major part in his team’s valuable win. Uličníci managed to turn around a 0:2 deficit and pick up two important points. In the interview Dominik assessed his own performance and the team’s, and revealed what he thinks was behind the weaker start to the season and what the ambitions are for the games ahead.

In the third round of our top league, RAHL1, Black Jokers and Wild Hogs faced each other. After two rounds played, the “Boars” had two wins with a stunning goal difference of 20:7! In the first round the Jokers had a shooting spree against the “Pezinok ducks,” whom they beat soundly 9:1. They tied their second game 2:2 with champion WT Karaoke. So an even, high-quality contest was expected from this third-round game.

The main figure of the HK Petržalka - Wild Thing Karaoke game was Ľubomír Patlevič, who shot down the opponent with a hat trick and added two assists

How many minutes did you skate today? How many shots did you take, and how quickly do you recover between shifts? SZALH brings you an app for Garmin watches that tracks your game, practice or pickup session — and will soon connect your data to your player profile on the league website.

Amateur hockey is back on the ice. RAHL1 and RAHL3 open the season on Saturday, 5 September, and RAHL2 joins in on Sunday. There are 33 registered teams at the start and 332 regular-season games.