Incredible atmosphere, the win belongs to the fans. Welychka introduced himself in Prešov by Hetrik – ŠPORT.sk

The duel of the 1st round of the Tipos extra league against Banská Bystrica was liked by 2483 spectators, the biggest applause was enjoyed by the Canadian Brett Welychka. “The atmosphere was incredible,” said the three-goal scorer.

The Canadian scored three goals and one assist in his debut match in the highest Slovak competition. The goal for 1: 0 from the 4th minute was originally attributed to Viliam Čach, but he did not get to the end in the goal action, so a correction in the official record could be expected.

In several videos, Welychka appeared as a goal scorer, but was eventually attributed to Jonathan Charbonneau, who was probably the last to touch the puck in the scrum. The Welychka man stayed to his liking for the rest of the match and was the main engineer of the victory 5: 4.

“Scoring three goals is always amazing. The team was able to win in their opening match, which is a big deal. The atmosphere was incredible and I know this is the first time in 23 years, which is the highest hockey competition in Prešov. This victory belongs to the fans, let “Let’s hope we can follow up on him and continue like this.” said Welychka for club website.

18-year-old defender Denis Bakala will also have exceptionally pleasant memories of the opening match of the new year. He also belonged to several players who came to Prešov from Detva. In his previous career, he started in 14 matches, in which he did not score, but he scored his first goal in the first league match in the Prešov jersey.

“I’m very happy that I did it. I just threw it on the goal and it fell there,” noted Bakala, who, like the other players, was happy for the spectators’ return to the stands. In the Detva jersey, he played the 2020/2021 season in front of empty stands, in Prešov he was welcomed by the second highest visit of the first round. “It was really unreal. I’m very happy that so many spectators came, I appreciate every single one of them. It’s a much better feeling when there are spectators at matches. The atmosphere is then about something else.” said Bakala.

It is the domestic environment that should be a powerful weapon for the people of Prešov, as the Extraliga has returned to the city after more than 22 years. The club expects a fan boom, which was indicated by a high visit to the border with the allowed capacity. “This victory belongs to the fans. We hope to build on it in the next matches and continue like this,” Welychka remarked.

Hetrik has made a name for himself in his debut match in the Slovak extra league, and according to coach Ernest Bokroš, the performances of the legionnaires will be important for success. “The Extraliga will be about goalkeepers and different players. They are mostly foreigners. There will be many matches, they will be decided by wide staff and possible injuries. We want to collect as many points as possible from the beginning. Personally, I think that the Slovak Extraliga Czech, “ said Bokroš.

Not even the four goals scored helped the Banská Bystrica players to score a point. During the match, they withdrew the opponent’s lead from 1: 3 to 3: 3, they were able to react quickly to the fourth goal of the Prešov people, but equalizing to 5: 5 was already beyond their strength.

“It was played up and down. It was the first match of the season, everyone wanted to win it. We stretched with the home team, but we paid for our mistakes. I think a lot of goals came from mistakes in the defense systems. chances and goals, ” noted forward Miloš Bubela, who opened a shooting account in the third period in the season.

Although the solid goal production pleased the coaches of Banská Bystrica, they criticized the charges for other aspects: “Our indiscipline cost us the goals collected,” said Tomáš Surový, who completed the league premiere as an assistant on the day of his 40th birthday.

Until December, his charges will play all matches on the opponent’s rinks, as the home stadium in Banská Bystrica is undergoing extensive reconstruction. “We have to deal with it and deal with it as best we can. It will be important to win as many matches as possible so that we can have it easier at home.” Bubela added.