Kevin Slezak is taught a lot at SC Riessersee by Lubor Dibelka and Robin Soudek - including a bit of Czech.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen – First and foremost, Kevin Slezak is at SC Riessersee to improve his ice hockey game.
Works great so far.
The 21-year-old is 19th on the scorer list.
He mostly got his 17 goals from the two best point collectors in the Oberliga Süd: Lubor Dibelka and Robin Soudek.
So far he has returned the favor with 25 assists.
But why does the interaction of the three work so well that they form the most dangerous offensive line in the league?
This question leads to the second point where Slezak improves on the SCR.
Because when trying to explain, the left-handed shooter names, among other things, the origin as a possible reason.
His two colleagues are from the Czech Republic, Soudek was born in Budweis, Dibelka in Brünn.
And Slezak's grandparents also come from neighboring Germany.
"But I only know a few words in Czech, that's all," he admits.
However, Soudek and Dibelka are currently doing something to help.
Slezak's grandparents are from the Czech Republic
But the two leading players of the SCR not only give the talent language, but above all ice hockey tutoring.
“I can brutally learn a lot from them,” emphasizes Slezak.
The native of Bad Aiblinger has already been able to internalize a lot of the tips and object lessons of the two Czechs.
He has noticed that he has better and faster perception of what is happening in the game.
"For example, I no longer stubbornly run to the disc when it's on the fence, but first look around to see where my teammates are." The series is perfect for him as a young player, Dibelka and Soudek pull him along.
But at the same time such a constellation also harbors dangers.
In the shadow of two such top scorers, a young talent quickly disappears, becomes invisible, just runs with them.
Dibelka and Soudek certainly have enough class to shine as a pair in the premier league.
Slezak had similar concerns at the beginning of the season.
"It's not easy to stand out alongside those two.
My concerns were: Do they even want to play with me?
Am I left out?” His motto was therefore not to make any mistakes.
But it quickly became clear: the two Czechs are excellent role models for the Bad Aiblinger.
They gave him lots of tips right from the start.
And since the 21-year-old has internalized this more and more, the interaction has been working better and better.
Accordingly, his concerns have gone up in smoke,
on the other hand, he says today: “This is the best price to play with the two of them.
That's worth its weight in gold to me."
Cortina praises Slezak - but not only for his goals
Of course, Pat Cortina is also pleased with the development.
The coach says that working with Slezak is "a pleasure".
The coach doesn't even have the impressive scorer points in mind.
"It's also the scenes when we don't have the puck.
Kevin is great on the rink and very attentive when defending,” Cortina praised.
Slezak sees room for improvement in precisely this point.
"I can do more checks and still have to improve physically."
But at 21 he still has enough time for that.
It is questionable whether he will also spend it at the SCR.
Although Slezak emphasizes how comfortable he feels with the white-blue team, he also emphasizes that his goal is to play at a higher level.
That's why he wishes to move up to the DEL2 with Riessersee.
Slezak and Co. can take the next step towards this goal this Friday when they are guests at the ECDC Memmingen.
It will certainly not be an easy task, and Cortina knows that too.
"Memmingen is a very dangerous team." Why?
Because the Indians need points to close the gap to the playoff spots and they're the only team to beat league leaders Weiden twice.
