photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Hockey Hall Of Fame
He plays with a style that is not often seen nowadays. He can take down his opponent with big hits but he can also score a goal which fans love. And that´s exactly what he did in the recent Czech Extraliga playoff game.
The crowd went wild when Patrik Koch made an unleashed solo. He skated up to the ice with a burst of speed that left the entire defense in his wake and scored winning goal in 99th minute of the overtime.
“The moment was amazing, and I felt such an intense emotion. I really enjoyed it,” said the Slovak defender about his semi-final goal in the play-offs of the Czech Extraliga.
It was the fourth game of the semifinal round, where Vitkovice needed a victory badly. They were down 3-0 in the series and overtime was on the way, where Patrik Koch showed off his stickhandling and great movement on the ice.
And that´s what brought him to his second nomination for the Slovak national team in the upcoming 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Tampere and Riga.
“I highly appreciate the trust of the coaching staff and the management team. I will repay their trust with my performance on the ice and not let them down throughout the tournament. For years, I´ve felt like I haven´t been at my best, but now I feel great and confident enough that I can regain their trust,” admitted Patrik Koch, who has been striving for a nomination in last three years.
He has been part of the pretournament games every time since his debut in 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. But this time everything goes better than the previous years, which 26-year-old blue-liner couldn´t describe.
“I don´t know what was the main reason for it. I felt my performance was not ideal. Maybe because I was trying to work on myself for long time… I really don´t know. Even though it didn´t work previous years, it probably pushed me up to have even bigger motivation to improve myself,” continued Patrik Koch, who remembers the specificity of the home tournament.
The pressure, madness and sadness of the fans, as well as the amazing performance, are all things that bring back memories every time he talks about that tournament.
“It´s beautiful, but also very sad memories at the same time. The atmosphere was amazing in Slovakia at that time. I was playing for Kosice that year and we also played all games at the World Championship there. It was just an incredible experience, to feel the energy of the crowd and everything around it. It was wonderful. Then memories about the games where we were winning but always lost before the end comes to my mind, that cost us a spot in the quarter-finals, remembered Patrik Koch, who spoke about tight games with Germany and especially Canada, where Slovaks lost 5-6 with goal only one second before the end.
Despite that, there is still feeling of passion in his voice when he talks about wearing the national jersey, which he showed this year again. However, he couldn´t play all pre-tournament games due to a minor injury, and he didn´t notice anything different from the past years.
“I think we had a good camp despite losing five out of eight games. We will be very hard opponent for every team because we have fast skaters and great team spirit, which will be our biggest weapon. We will stick together as a team, and each and every one of us will always sacrifice everything for each other. I think we have very well-composed team, and together we can achieve good results,” believes Patrik Koch.
But the truth is, Slovakia needs to improve their performance in the defensive zone. During the pre-tournament games, the Slovak team allowed a total of 22 goals in the five games they lost. This statistic is certainly not ideal as they prepare to face tough opponents in upcoming tournament.
“These games were here for us to learn of the mistakes we have made. It´s important to analyze what we did wrong and learn from those mistakes. We still have some time to shape our performance, and I firmly believe we are going to show outstanding performance in the upcoming tournament,” concluded Patrik Koch.
The Slovak defender has already been linked to the NHL, but only in sports articles. In a recent Czech Extraliga playoff game, he scored a goal in overtime after a fantastic solo, rush from behind his own net. With that winning goal, he kept the semi-final series with Hradec Kralove alive for Vitkovice, who were down 0-3. Czech media even compared his play to biggest NHL star, Connor McDavid.
Vitkovice finally managed to tie the series by winning the next two games. In particular, the sixth game was a historic one as it turned out to be the longest game ever played in the Czech Extraliga, while Vitkovice scored deciding goal in 139th minute.
However, Hradec Kralove performed better in game seven, once again in close game that went to overtime.
“We were so sad that we couldn´t win that series. We were so close there, but that´s hockey,” concludes Patrik Koch who completed his third season in Czech Extraliga.
But his first steps on the ice were on the other side of the country. Coming from Malacky, which is close to the Czechia border, Patrik Koch began playing hockey more regularly in Brno. “But my absolute beginnings were in Slovan Bratislava and then in Breclav. Why was it there, you have to ask my father, “smiled Patrik Koch, who fell in love with hockey after the first day.
“That´s true. I really liked this game from the very beginning. But when I was playing in Brno, it was extremely hard. For the first two years, we had to travel regularly from Malacky, which is almost 100 kilometers away. I am grateful to my parents for sacrificing their time and energy to drive me there,” continued Patrik Koch who never abandoned the idea of becoming a professional ice hockey player.
And when he saw how Slovakia became the world champions in 2002, Patrik Koch knew he wanted to one day be like his heroes.
“We all watched that tournament at home. It was a big day for whole country and since that time I just fell in love with this game. It has always driven me in some way,” said 26-old defenseman.
Now he has a great chance to imitate them. He confirmed it when we asked him at the and what his biggest hockey dream is. But after longer silence, he said: “Winning the World Championship, for sure. And becoming an NHL player,”
The crowd went wild when Patrik Koch made an unleashed solo. He skated up to the ice with a burst of speed that left the entire defense in his wake and scored winning goal in 99th minute of the overtime.
“The moment was amazing, and I felt such an intense emotion. I really enjoyed it,” said the Slovak defender about his semi-final goal in the play-offs of the Czech Extraliga.
It was the fourth game of the semifinal round, where Vitkovice needed a victory badly. They were down 3-0 in the series and overtime was on the way, where Patrik Koch showed off his stickhandling and great movement on the ice.
And that´s what brought him to his second nomination for the Slovak national team in the upcoming 2023 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Tampere and Riga.
“I highly appreciate the trust of the coaching staff and the management team. I will repay their trust with my performance on the ice and not let them down throughout the tournament. For years, I´ve felt like I haven´t been at my best, but now I feel great and confident enough that I can regain their trust,” admitted Patrik Koch, who has been striving for a nomination in last three years.
He has been part of the pretournament games every time since his debut in 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship. But this time everything goes better than the previous years, which 26-year-old blue-liner couldn´t describe.
“I don´t know what was the main reason for it. I felt my performance was not ideal. Maybe because I was trying to work on myself for long time… I really don´t know. Even though it didn´t work previous years, it probably pushed me up to have even bigger motivation to improve myself,” continued Patrik Koch, who remembers the specificity of the home tournament.
The pressure, madness and sadness of the fans, as well as the amazing performance, are all things that bring back memories every time he talks about that tournament.
“It´s beautiful, but also very sad memories at the same time. The atmosphere was amazing in Slovakia at that time. I was playing for Kosice that year and we also played all games at the World Championship there. It was just an incredible experience, to feel the energy of the crowd and everything around it. It was wonderful. Then memories about the games where we were winning but always lost before the end comes to my mind, that cost us a spot in the quarter-finals, remembered Patrik Koch, who spoke about tight games with Germany and especially Canada, where Slovaks lost 5-6 with goal only one second before the end.
Despite that, there is still feeling of passion in his voice when he talks about wearing the national jersey, which he showed this year again. However, he couldn´t play all pre-tournament games due to a minor injury, and he didn´t notice anything different from the past years.
“I think we had a good camp despite losing five out of eight games. We will be very hard opponent for every team because we have fast skaters and great team spirit, which will be our biggest weapon. We will stick together as a team, and each and every one of us will always sacrifice everything for each other. I think we have very well-composed team, and together we can achieve good results,” believes Patrik Koch.
But the truth is, Slovakia needs to improve their performance in the defensive zone. During the pre-tournament games, the Slovak team allowed a total of 22 goals in the five games they lost. This statistic is certainly not ideal as they prepare to face tough opponents in upcoming tournament.
“These games were here for us to learn of the mistakes we have made. It´s important to analyze what we did wrong and learn from those mistakes. We still have some time to shape our performance, and I firmly believe we are going to show outstanding performance in the upcoming tournament,” concluded Patrik Koch.
The Slovak defender has already been linked to the NHL, but only in sports articles. In a recent Czech Extraliga playoff game, he scored a goal in overtime after a fantastic solo, rush from behind his own net. With that winning goal, he kept the semi-final series with Hradec Kralove alive for Vitkovice, who were down 0-3. Czech media even compared his play to biggest NHL star, Connor McDavid.
Vitkovice finally managed to tie the series by winning the next two games. In particular, the sixth game was a historic one as it turned out to be the longest game ever played in the Czech Extraliga, while Vitkovice scored deciding goal in 139th minute.
However, Hradec Kralove performed better in game seven, once again in close game that went to overtime.
“We were so sad that we couldn´t win that series. We were so close there, but that´s hockey,” concludes Patrik Koch who completed his third season in Czech Extraliga.
But his first steps on the ice were on the other side of the country. Coming from Malacky, which is close to the Czechia border, Patrik Koch began playing hockey more regularly in Brno. “But my absolute beginnings were in Slovan Bratislava and then in Breclav. Why was it there, you have to ask my father, “smiled Patrik Koch, who fell in love with hockey after the first day.
“That´s true. I really liked this game from the very beginning. But when I was playing in Brno, it was extremely hard. For the first two years, we had to travel regularly from Malacky, which is almost 100 kilometers away. I am grateful to my parents for sacrificing their time and energy to drive me there,” continued Patrik Koch who never abandoned the idea of becoming a professional ice hockey player.
And when he saw how Slovakia became the world champions in 2002, Patrik Koch knew he wanted to one day be like his heroes.
“We all watched that tournament at home. It was a big day for whole country and since that time I just fell in love with this game. It has always driven me in some way,” said 26-old defenseman.
Now he has a great chance to imitate them. He confirmed it when we asked him at the and what his biggest hockey dream is. But after longer silence, he said: “Winning the World Championship, for sure. And becoming an NHL player,”