Jakub Rezac: ESC Geretsried relies on Czech defensive strength

Created: 07/27/2022, 2:00 p.m

By: Thomas Wenzel

The contract has been signed: With 28-year-old Jakub Rezac, the Geretsrieder River Rats have brought in a strong Czech defender.

© River Rats

ESC Geretsried signed Jakub Rezac (28) for the second contingent position

Geretsried – ESC Geretsried will continue to rely on the tried-and-tested Czech ice hockey school in the coming Bavarian league season: Instead of the originally planned transfer of a defender from Canada, Jakub Rezac (28), a second defender from the Czech Republic, is now strengthening coach Stefan Roth’s team.

Czech defensive strength

The commitment was made possible because the long-standing top scorer Ondrej Horvath now also has German citizenship and one of the two permitted contingent positions has become vacant.

And because German defenders are rare, those responsible soon went abroad to look for them.

"We had a lot of talks and explored various options," says ESC Vice Peter Holdschik.

Club boss Markus Janka would also have been open to the transfer of a young Canadian.

"But there were too many imponderables in the end." This certainly includes the fact that it's not always easy to assess how strong the North American minor leagues are compared to the German Bayern and Oberliga.

Defensively oriented man

"In the end, our traditionally good contacts with Czech ice hockey paid off," says Holdschik happily, emphasizing: "Jakub Rezac was our absolute dream candidate." can".

benefits confirmed

The fact that the 28-year-old newcomer has these advantages was confirmed to the ESC by former TuS striker Tomas Valasek, among others.

He coached Rezac in the HC Zlin youth squad, where the defender won the Czech U18 championship in 2010/11.

And even better known is the newcomer with ESC defender Marek Haloda, with whom he played together at Draci Sumperk.

While Haloda moved to Geretsried in 2020, Rezac stayed with the Dragons after promotion.

In the meantime he has played 214 games in the 3rd league (including at VHK Vsetin) and most recently 57 in the 2nd league.

In the past season, the 1.81 meter tall and 79 kilogram defender scored 5 points and 20 penalty minutes in 37 matches.

Peter Holdschik speaks of a "transfer coup" and is already looking forward to Rezac's arrival in August: "He is a well-trained athlete and will play an important role in our defense with his technical strength."