The ice hockey players of GIJS HEPRO Groningen suffered their sixth defeat in a row. OG Capitals Leeuwarden was far too strong in Kardinge: 1-5.
It remains a bad season for GIJS HEPRO Groningen. While City’s ice hockey pride made such a nice series of 20 wins in a row last season, coach Csaba Kercso’s team is now yearning for a single victory. Since November 25, when Red Eagles defeated Den Bosch in overtime, GIJS has had a string of defeats.
Krukovski and Ozolins eliminated
The cause of the misery at the moment mainly lies in personnel problems. GIJS recently lost two important imports for the rest of the season: Ricards Ozolins broke his ankle in the match against Heerenveen, the Latvian will no longer play for GIJS.
And captain Tomas Krukovski was recently told that he has serious heart problems, which will keep him out for at least the rest of the season. The Lithuanian will have to do some more tests in the near future to see how serious the injury is.
‘Make sure the puck moves forward quickly’
GIJS coach Csaba Kercso did not have to look far, because his assistant Ricardo Dijkema was prepared to put on the ice hockey skates again. The 51-year-old forward already played as a defender in the away game against Eindhoven and was also on the ice against OG Capitals.
“The game remains fun, of course,” Dijkema, who was captain of GIJS 1 for many years, reported afterwards. “I am of course an offensive mind and that is why I don’t always have to fight defensive duels. I usually make sure the puck moves forward quickly. That also makes it easier for me.”
Fairly simple
Dijkema could not prevent the Frisians, who are considered one of the title candidates in the Premier League, from winning quite easily. Joonas Huovinen opened the score after 11 minutes, but GIJS did not play that badly in that first period. Capitals, led by former GIJS coach Arjan Peters, had every effort to increase the score, partly thanks to a good goalkeeping Danylo Douma.
That only worked in the second period, which was clearly less on the GIJS side. Tristan Houben scored 0-2 shortly in the second period and after goals from Ratislav Veres and Tobias Meijer it became a hopeless mission for GIJS.
‘Stand still’
Vainius Jankauskas did something back at the beginning of the third period, but David Bartos hurt his old club some extra in the final phase with the 1-5. “We have stood still,” said coach Kercso afterwards, “the other teams in the Premier League have made progress. Look at Leeuwarden. We really need more good players.”
GIJS will have to make every effort to reach the play-offs. The gap with eighth place, which entitles you to dessert, is no less than 9 points.