Třinec Walks Off Friendly in Brno After Brutal Hit

A pre-season friendly between Kometa Brno and Oceláři Třinec ended prematurely after the first period, when the visitors refused to continue play following a brutal hit that left one of their players with a concussion. The score at the time of the walkout was 0:0.

The incident happened after a collision in which Michal Kovařčík was knocked briefly unconscious by a shoulder check to the head. “Michal was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Bohunice. He was conscious when he was transported and was able to talk to the doctors,” Třinec said in a statement issued shortly after the incident.

Diagnosis and the coach’s explanation

Later that evening, the club confirmed that examinations had revealed a concussion, while additional tests, including a CT scan, found no other injuries. Michal Kovařčík has since been released from the hospital in Brno.

Třinec’s head coach, Boris Žabka, cited several reasons for pulling his team out of the game. “We don’t want to risk our players’ health. On top of that, there’s a family connection here — Michal’s older brother, Ondřej Kovařčík, also plays for our club, and we didn’t want to risk an unwanted collision in what was only a friendly match,” he said.

The coach also noted that a scuffle broke out on the ice following the controversial play, drawing both benches into the fray. Defensemen Richard Nedomlel (who played for Třinec last season) stepped in for Brno, while David Aubrecht did the same for Třinec. Both were given game misconducts for leaving the bench.

Referees missed the infraction

The officials did not rule Ščotka’s hit a penalty, which drew a sharp response from Žabka. “After the stoppage, the referee apologized, saying he didn’t have a single replay of the incident available to him. I don’t think that should be happening,” the coach told the club’s website.

According to Žabka, pulling the team from the match was also meant to prevent excessive rivalry between the two clubs from spilling over into the regular season. “We didn’t want a situation later in the league where someone gets hurt because of aggression carried over from here,” he added.

Kometa’s head coach and owner, Libor Zábranský, said he understood and respected his rival’s decision: “I understand and respect Boris Žabka’s explanation for why the match wasn’t finished. So does our whole club. All we want is for Michal Kovařčík to be okay.”

In other friendlies played on the same day, Kladno lost to Sparta Prague 2:5, Karlovy Vary beat Litvínov 3:0, Jihlava defeated Olomouc 1:0, and Vítkovice fell to Vsetín 3:5.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz