Kocún’s comeback in grand style: A shorthanded goal, a win and points at last for HK Petržalka!

HK Petržalka had to wait longer for its first points of the season than this team is used to. Only in Round 4 did the bad luck finally end, when the Petržalka side beat Lions convincingly, 4:0. We talked about the breakthrough win, a shorthanded goal “Handzuš-style,” and how important a pregame buffet can be with Jozef Kocún – the RAHL2 Player of Round 4, who contributed to the win with a goal and an assist in his season debut.

1. A shorthanded goal doesn’t come along every day. How did you manage to score in that particular situation?

Jozef: “Yes, we were actually killing a long 5-minute penalty, where all the boys were doing a good job on the penalty kill, and on one of the clears Ivo Zatkalík, like a true offensive defenseman, threw it nicely from behind the net into the ‘fire,’ and I managed, ‘Miško Handzuš’-style, to jam it past the Lions goalie on the second try. Moments like that, shorthanded and right before the buzzer, are always twice as sweet.”

2. A shutout and a 4:0 win. What worked best in your team’s game?

Jozef: “I think it was a collective effort by the whole team, backed by good leadership from the bench with Andy calling the shots. After a few rounds played, we needed to find our lost HKP identity, that winning ‘we’ of ours. I think it started with Zelo’s phenomenal buffet before the game and continued on the ice, when the first goal came on the penalty kill, the second on the power play and the third on the penalty kill too. For those feats on special teams in the first part of the game, there might be kind words from coaching staffs even at higher levels of hockey :D Of course I can’t forget our ‘Mr. Zero’ Vizzi, who pulled down the shutters and rode that wave for a good while after.”

3. How do you rate your contribution to the game? There were whispers in the locker room about some golden helmet. Can you tell us more about that?

Jozef: “Hahaha, a lot gets said in the locker room :D Anyway, I’m mainly pleased that in my debut this season I could help snap HKP’s negative streak from the start of the season; after all, our fans are used to wins :D At HKP we’re always an outstanding group, and you always look forward to being with this bunch, which can work miracles on the ice and especially off it :D When the mood in the locker room is good, it often shows on the ice afterward too.”

4. Your team came up empty on points in the first 3 rounds. Do you think this win has kick-started the team toward better results, and what is HK Petržalka’s goal for the season?

Jozef: “I firmly believe this win will start a long positive streak for HKP, with which the club will gradually return to the higher places in the standings. I feel the team is going through a certain rebuild this season, so the important thing will be to focus on each upcoming game and go step by step. I think that in past years wins had come to be taken somewhat for granted. In that sense it’s maybe a good thing now that the club didn’t quite get off to the start it wanted, and that certain changes and a fresh new breeze in the club’s organization were needed. It has borne fruit: through hard work we fought our way to the first win, and I think the joy from it was all the more genuine for that. The journey is the goal. We’re not musicians, to be playing our way to a win every day, so we all need to humbly do our best in every game, and when the cherry on top comes at the end, we’ll all certainly be glad if our last game of the season is a winning one. We know the opposite feeling well enough from several finals already :D”

5. For you this was the first game of the season. Was summer training so demanding that you could only get on the ice in Round 4?

Jozef: “Well, my life in the tourism industry is very demanding and hectic, hence not until the Round 4 weekend :D All the more reason I enjoy the moments when there’s time for hockey. After the game my brother and I were laughing about whether I shouldn’t just end my season right after this game, since keeping up 2 points a game à la Žigo Pálffy in the Extraliga won’t be easy :D”

After a rough start to the season, HK Petržalka has caught its breath again and produced the kind of performance its fans know and expect. If the team stays on course and the “rebuild” bears fruit, it may soon return to where it was used to being – among the elite of RAHL2. And Jozef Kocún? He confirmed that even though he only shows up on the ice “once in a while,” he can instantly add the right dose of spark, humor and quality. As he says himself, when the mood in the locker room is good, it takes care of itself.

The Player of the Round gets a €20 voucher from our partner WILD THING and also a voucher from partner LMTAuto.sk, who will take professional care of your car. From league partner Diamant Sóda he receives a drinks voucher worth €30.