some translation...with google translate, don't get too excited!
Košice against Zvolen in the playoffs for the first time since 2013
For hockey players HC Košice and HKM Zvolen, the final of the extra league will be the first mutual confrontation in the playoffs after 10 years.
In the year 2012/2013, Zvolenčany succeeded, winning their second championship after a 4:1 victory.
In the series of the winner of the regular season against Zvolen, which took 3rd place, the Košice team is a slight favorite.
The people from Košice triumphed in the long-term part after they got to the top of it only after the last round.
The elimination battles started with a series against Nitra, in which they confirmed the position of the favorite and won 4:1 for the matches.
They struggled more to progress in the semi-finals.
The excited players of Michaloviec, who previously eliminated Trenčín in the preliminary round and Slovan Bratislava in the quarter-finals, were defeated only after seven games.
They led 2:0 in the series, but later lost 2:3, but with the imperative to win, they managed the sixth and seventh games.
Their progress to the final was decided by Brett Pollock's winning goal.
The seven-match semi-final was also completed by Zvolenčany, who also won the series, in which they were losing 2:3 for the matches.
The hero of the decisive 7th match was Peter Zuzin, who scored the winning goal from a free kick.
It was the first time since 2009 that both semifinal series went to the maximum number of games.
It is curious that none of the finalists used a single power play in the semi-finals.
In the beginning of the playoff, the Electors managed to beat Nový Zámky 4:1.
In the regular part, they did not finish and finally took 3rd place with a 9-point loss to Košice and a 6-point loss to Slovan Bratislava.
The final series will be the sixth confrontation between Košice and Zvolen in the playoffs in the history of the Slovak extra league.
The opening four were born in the semi-finals, while Zvolen managed to succeed in them only once - in the "lockout" season of 2004/2005.
Zvolen's second playoff triumph over Košice came 10 years ago.
Zuzin, defender Peter Hraško and Michal Chovan, who is already wearing the Košice jersey, were also in the squad at that time.
From the Košice team, Dominik Riečický, Radek Deyl, Oliver Jokeľ and Marek Slovák remember the final against Zvolen.
It is interesting that both sports managers - Gabriel Spilar from Košice and Ladislav Čierny from Zvolen - were still active in 2013 and also played in the final.
For Košice, the final with Zvolen will be the first since 2015.
Eight years ago, their streak of eight consecutive seasons with final participation ended.
The "steelers" have reached the finals of the Slovak extra league for the sixteenth time in history, they have won eight titles so far.
The previous Košice final, completed with a title in 2015, was completed only by striker Marek Bartánus from the current squad.
With a possible ninth title, Košice would equal Slovan Bratislava in the historical order.
The chosen ones have triumphed three times so far (2001, 2013, 2021).
Mutual balance of matches in the ongoing season from the point of view of Košice: 2:5 (v), 4:3 pp, 4:6 (v), 2:1