Július Hudáček in 2019. (source: TASR)
Slovak hockey goalkeeper Július Hudáček recently ended his career in the top Czech league team Rytíři Kladno - two days after signing the contract.
“We made this decision after considering all aspects,” the club said on its website.
Last season the Slovak played hockey for the Kazakh club Barys Astana in the Russian Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), which Kladno fans did not like. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian Hockey Federation sent KHL clubs a letter ordering them to support the “special military operation.”
However, Hudáček wasn’t jobless for long after leaving the Czech club.
The 35-year-old has already agreed on a contract until the end of the season with the German club Frankfurt Löwen, which plays in the top Deutsche Eishockey Liga competition.
“We are glad that we managed to sign Július. He is an experienced goalkeeper who has already proven his quality in many leagues and at the international level,” said interim sporting director Franz-David Fritzmeier.
Frankfurt is not doing well in the German league.
Fans reject Hudáček
The Czech club, whose co-owner is the Czech hockey legend Jaromír Jágr, signed a contract with Hudáček until the end of the season on January 3. The Slovak was a free agent.
However, the signing of Hudáček immediately caused a wave of criticism on social media. Famous hockey players such as Dominik Hašek and hockey scout Jiří Hrdina criticised the club’s move, noted Sportnet.
“You just have to open your eyes and realise that the KHL is propaganda for aggression that kills thousands of innocent people,” said Czech water slalom canoeist and Olympian Vavřinec Hradílek.
Some of the club’s supporters also protested against the decision. They didn’t like that their club signed a goalkeeper who played in the Russian KHL even after the Russians invaded the territory of Ukraine.
Hudáček wants to return to the KHL
Hudáček played in the KHL for the last six seasons. He played for Cherepovets, Spartak Moscow, and Dinamo Riga. In the summer of 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he signed a contract with Barys Astana.
“They called me and I’m glad that I can join such a big club like Barys. I was dealing with a moral dilemma. But whether I, as goalkeeper, or any other hockey players who play in the KHL, I think this won’t affect whether the war in Ukraine will or won’t be, and whether or not Russian aggression will continue,” he told the Slovak public broadcaster RTVS at the time.
He was out of contract after the season in Astana. The offers he had from the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria did not interest him. He said that he would go to the KHL again.
“I’m definitely inclined to go back there if a good offer comes along,” he told Sportnet.
He also commented on the criticism by part of the public, which points out that the KHL serves as a propaganda tool for the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I try to ignore it. I don’t follow what is written and said in the media. All of us who play in the KHL firmly believe that the situation with the war will change. But it's not at all about us or what we want,” he said.
Other people decide about it, the Slovak concluded.
Slovak players enjoy the KHL
Dozens of players continue to work in the Russian league, mainly Canadians and Americans.
Slovaks make up the largest group of Europeans, according to Sportnet.
In the current season, goalkeepers Patrik Rybár and Adam Húska, defenders Michal Čajkovský, Christián Jaroš, Mislav Rosandič, Martin Gernát and forwards Adam Liška, Michal Krištof, and recently Tomáš Jurčo, are all playing in the KHL.
