Extraliga types – HC Slovan as HK Nitra? Haščák: Maybe a hybrid – ŠPORT.SK

today 16:10 | HC Slovan Bratislava will enter the new season with several changes. One very significant is the arrival of Ota Haščák to the position of sports director. Read also HC Slovan Bratislava officially introduced a new coaching pair and the names of five … Unofficially, he confirmed his arrival at the World Hockey Championships, when after the elimination of Slovakia in the quarterfinals he revealed that he was finishing assistant to the general manager of the national team and leaving to work in the main team. towns. “Slovan has approached me more than half a year ago. We talked at the level of consultation about the players, the owners were interested in my views on the team and whether I could imagine working in Slovan. But I was an assistant general manager and scout for the New York Rangers, so I considered that for a long time. In the end, the pros and cons said that I should try it, “said Haščák, with whom the new head coach Ján Pardavý, the head coach from last season Andrej Podkonický, also came to the club. Both were Craig Ramsay’s assistants, it is still questionable whether they will continue in this position. What were the pros and cons for Hascak? “When I compare it to scouting, which I’ve done for 19 different clubs for 19 years, it’s less travel, more time with my family. I have an 88-year-old father who needs more care. During scouting, I was on the road for many months and less with my family. Scouting is about the fact that a person cares more or less about himself and there is not a great burden on him in the form of pressure. It will be different in Slovan, the responsibility is much greater. But I am ready for this challenge and I want to do everything to make Slovan a successful last year and to get further with the young players, “said 58-year-old Haščák. General manager of the Slovak national hockey team Miroslav Šatan and his assistant Oto Haščák. Source: TASR He will be able to use his knowledge or contacts from the work of a scout in a new position. “Scouting the players is the most important thing. When choosing typologically and conceptually players for a team, you have to rub it off, look away and leave. The advantage is that the team is and has been well composed last year. So I haven’t made many changes, at least not yet. Of course we are just getting started. The team is malleable and will change to the form that I think Slavs could take in the future. I mainly come across working with young players, we have coaches who know how to work with them. Something similar to what I tried to do in the national team at the level of assistant general manager, “said Haščák, under whom Juraj Slafkovský, Šimon Nemec or Adam Sýkora came to the Slovak national team. Slovan currently has several young players on its roster. From the defenders of 17-year-old Luc Krakovsky or 18-year-old Boris Žabka, in the attack of 18-year-old Alex Šotek. Will they be given more space following the example of representation? “Certainly yes. Goblin is at the base, we are also thinking about Žabek. But I don’t want to guarantee anyone and I never will. There is also a young Dej, who has a great perspective, has an excellent somatotype, I saw him at 18, I really liked him. Players have to fight for it, no one gets it for free just because he is young. Of course, they must be given an adequate chance to show themselves, convince us and confirm their qualities. In the future, we want to build on these younger players so that we have some future and perspective. ”Šoteka, in his idea of ​​the composition of the team, included Haščák in the fourth attack. František Dej is a 17-year-old striker who is 194 centimeters and 91 kilograms. Will Slovan thus function in a similar way as in recent years HK Nitra, which gives the most significant space to young players? “Maybe a hybrid. I wouldn’t say like Nitra. We will also play the Champions League, we probably have other goals for the future than Nitra, which of course did a good job with young players. I am not saying that I will use the same model, but if there is a good young player with a perspective that shows that he has character and that he wants, he will definitely get a chance, “said Oto Haščák. In addition to pulling players out of their own structures, there is also a way to get a young player from another club. Šimon Nemec, for example, is a native of Liptovský Mikuláš, but has been playing in Nitra since the age of 15. Adam Sýkora is from Piešťany again, he left for Nitra at a similar age as a German. Does Slovan plan to work that way? “It simply came to our notice then. Find players who are 13, 14 or 15 years old and give them the conditions to develop. If possible, move them to Slovan, but under certain fair conditions to other clubs, so that it is not that we steal their players or something like that, I would not like. I would like fairness to be maintained here. ”One of the younger players who could land in Slovakia in the future is 19-year-old Oleksij Myklucha. The youth representative of the last season worked in the overseas junior QMJHL. Is it included in Slovan’s plans? “I think he dealt with Nitra. I’ve been thinking about it, but we have centers of a slightly different quality, whether it’s Rapuzzi, Harris or now Minárik. Myklucha needs to play in the first three attacks to improve. But in the future, one never knows where we will end or where Myklucha will end. ”Is the arrival of another youth representative in the game? “It simply came to our notice then. I can’t say or make up any names, but I have something on my mind and on paper. For the first three or four months in office, I will see how the team will work, even with the supervision of Modrá Krřídla and the junior, so that we can try to do the best possible work with them as well, “Haščák added at the end.