Players from Trenčín won the regular season, quarter-final pairs are known

The regular season of the European University Hockey League is over; the team from Trenčín is not only happy with the first place, but also with the automatic qualification for the semi-finals. In the same way, university students from Banská Bystrica advanced from the second place.

Quarter-final pairings

The European University Hockey League (EUHL) system sends the top two teams after the regular season automatically into the second round of the elimination phase. Polish Oświęcim plays Nitra, and Košice faces Romanian Sapientia, respectively, for the next two places. The quarter-finals are best-of-three series.

Increased interest in university hockey

The already mentioned winner of the regular season was the team of Gladiators from Trenčín, which is defending the championship title. „It’s great. I am very pleased that the table was tied during the regular season. We played excellent games. The second game against Sapientia was very difficult, but we proved that we are able to win. And the same case recently with Oświęcim, when we reached the draw a few seconds before the end of regular time. I believe that we will continue the winning streak to defend the title,“ openly wished Marcel Škvarka from the Gladiators.

In addition to the matches as such, he praised the increased interest in university hockey. „I’m glad that more people started coming to our games. They support us, the atmosphere is better. We play better that way. People from the Dukla Trenčín fan club also come, we thank them very much,“ he said.

The best goal scorer of the regular season

Thanks to two goals in the last game between Trenčín and Košice, Marcel Škvarka became the best goal scorer of the regular season. He scored 16 goals in 13 games. „I’ve probably never achieved something like this,„ he laughed, „but it’s the work of the whole line, and the team.“

Thanks to five assists, he is currently the fourth most productive player in the EUHL. The point leader is his teammate Erik Smolka, who has a total record of 15+14 in thirteen games.

The most successful goalkeeper after the regular season is Andrej Julínek from the UMB Hockey team with a saves percentage of 93,7 %.