|
LEV BATTLES THROUGH INJURIES, NAT'L TEAM CALL-UPS
December 1, 2020
After a strong first month back in the KHL, Lev faced many difficult moments throughout November. Despite battling a slew of injuries and missing a number of key players from its roster at various points during the month, Prague was able to stay near the top of its division, its record currently being a decent 17-9-1. Currently, the newest club in the competition is third in the west behind Dynamo Moscow and Severstal Cerepovets, and shares its position with Jokerit, as both clubs have amassed 35 pts so far.
A decent number of Lev's loses came due to the club's periodic offensive struggles, as it hasn't been able to score more than three goals in a single game for over a month at this point. However, the team's defense stepped up and was able to steal a good chunk of games, recording two shutouts during November.
The decreased quality of performance led to the first changes on Lev's coaching staff, as Roman Vopat was removed from the position of offensive coach and was replaced by Canadian Wendel Clark. Vopat is still a part of Prague's bench, however, he no longer has a specific role assigned.
The roster also experienced minor mixups. G Vladislav Habal was sold to ELH's Liberec on November 20, appearing in just one game for Lev and recording a SVS% of .885. Prior to being traded, he spent most of the season so far in Slovakia, where he started in 7 games for Slovan Bratislava (SVS% .890, GAA 3,11).
LW Dominik Lakatoš has been on injured reserve since Nov. 14th, after hyperextending his knee in a game against Chelyabinsk, and is expected to be back before Christmas. LD Michal Čajkovský is unfortunately out for the rest of the season due to a ruptured disc, and the club has began searching for his replacement. The 28-year-old blueliner played 23 games for Lev, recording 4 assists in the process.
LW Adam Liška and C Martin Hanzl are expected to miss the upcoming games against Dynamo Moscow (Dec. 1) and Sochi (Dec. 2).
__________________
Player since FHM2 or so, beta tester and researcher since FHM6
"Off the floor, on the board, Paul Kariya!"
|