CHAMPIONS!!! HK Partizan - Crvena Zvezda 3:2

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!!

CHAMPIONS!!!!

CHAMPIONS!!!!

CHAMPIOOOOOOOOONS!!!!!!!!

We won!!!
Amazing, incredible, fantastic, unbelievable!!!
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!
Before the game we warmed up. Even the greatest champions have to warm up. No warm up, no championship title.

(photo: Twitter)

Again I brought quite a number of screenshots, as usual

Ready for the Big Battle

(photo: Facebook/Savez hokeja na ledu Srbije)

You know it’s something significant when the puck is dropped by a Partizan-legend

(photo: Facebook/Savez hokeja na ledu Srbije)

The first period was about fighting and hitting each other. There were no goals, only slaps and smacks.

Nemanja Janković is about to go to the penalty box for 2 minutes

In the 11th minute a Zvezda-player, namely Crnogorac hit the pale with his face during a group fight. He looked awful, half his face was covered with blood, he was taken off the rink immediately. (Then not much later he asked for his stick and came back, with that ruined face of his.)
Trifonov had fantastic saves. We can thank him that we survived all power-plays with no goal. Even the Captain had to go to the penalty box among others. After the (n+1)th group fight the referee waved him to go out to the box for two minutes. Milovanović looked puzzled, he was just shrugging, probably asking "why the hell", but there’s no remedy against police force, he had to sit down for two minutes.

At the end of the period we had two great chances. Average Fan screamed "goooaaaaal" at both, but both of them were just these "almost-goals". It was always about a millimetre or two, still Zvezda could survive both times.

The first period ended with 0:0.

Krivov discussing something with the teammate before the second period

At the beginning of the first part we had another great chance, again missing only with a millimetre.

Marko Brkušanin

Boris Gabrić getting a two-minute penalty after knocking out a Zvezda-player (after this they were in double power-play - no, they couldn’t take advantage of it)

We kept the opponent under heavy pressure. Zvezda could barely get to our goal line. Their team captain found himself at our half around the 7th minute, but Trifonov quickly inactivated him.
For the second part of the period the pace slowed down. Zvezda had some attempts, but Trifonov was always at his place.

Aleksei Trifonov

Komazec tells the referee what to do, how and especially with whom

Then he suggested the same amusement for the opponent - you can’t say Komazec is not concerned with the pyhsical and mental well-being of those in his surroundings

Only 55 seconds were left from the period when Zvezda took the lead. It was all out of the blue. They came up and scored. That was the end of the second part, 0:1.

Fight with clenched teeth - Dimitrije Filipović, behind him Marko Brkušanin

(photo: Facebook/Savez hokeja na ledu Srbije)

The third period brought another load of fight.

Then in the 5th minute we equalized with Zhukov’s genious goal.

This goal sped up the team. The match became more spectacular and exciting. We attacked, then in the 14th minute we took the lead. Vlasov demonstrated the newest tricks of escape acts (if I could see well, Szabados pushed him to the pale), then he ruthlessly shot and scored.

At this point everyone was wet from sweat. Average Fan watched the clock only, desperately couting down the seconds. Only three minutes left, only two minutes left, hang in there, boys, it’s almost the end...
...and Zvezda equalized only one and a half minutes before the end buzz.
No. Just no. Impossible.

I wish ArenaSport’s commentator a brutal diarrhea with heavy griping pains, possibly during live broadcast. Thank you.

It ended with 2:2.
Extra time.
And golden goal.
Because in the 3rd minute of the extra time Milovanović got the puck and mercilessly shot, Filipović just pushed it into the net with a delicate movement.
3:2!!!!
3:2!!!!!!
We won!!!!!
WE WON!!!!!

The entire team rushed to join the fans in celebrating

(photos: Facebook/Savez hokeja na ledu Srbije)

Time for scream, time for group hug, even for some tears of joy

(photo: Twitter)

(photo: Facebook/Savez hokeja na ledu Srbije)

It was time even for firecrackers

...and torches

"Who’s the best?! Who’s the best?!"

You are the best, Nenad Raković :)

(photos: Twitter)

Then it was time for the official ceremony. Team Captain Marko Milovanović was handed the cup.

Loud celebration (right in front of the opponent, possibly as loud as you can)

...joined by the one and only Miša Tumbas, who was there, of course, to support the team

(photos: Facebook/Savez hokeja na ledu Srbije)

Champions!

(photo: hotsport.rs)

The cup is for the fans, too

(photo: Twitter)

Finally, the match highlights (as well as mocking the eternal opponent):

Crvena Zvezda - HK Partizan 4:5 (play-off, 1st match)

This game was like an adventure.

I watched the first period on sportuzivo.tv, without commentary. I realized only later - when I could find a working ArenaSport 2 link - how lucky I was to watch it hearing only fans’ chantings, and not the commentator.

Warming up

(photo: Twitter)

Face-off

(photo: hockeyserbia.com)

We skated out to the rink and immediately scored two goals. Seriously. In the 3rd minute Zhukov said ’hi’ to Zvezda’s goaltender, in the 6th Ogrizović came, saw and scored. We were leading to 0:2, Tikhonov made great saves, Zvezda struggled. They had attempts, but our domination was clear. All was going fine, it all looked like a smooth game.

Then right at the beginning of the second period Zvezda scored, from power play, of course, what else. Čuković had to stay on the penalty bench, after he (if I could see it well) had a verbal fight with a referee. Both teams fought hard. Filipović was thwarted right in Zvezda’s goalmouth, the red player earned a 2-minute penalty, but we got no penalty shot. We caused upheaval quite a few times in Zvezda’s goalmouth, they were all these screaming-shouting-collapsing-cursing kind of chances. It was always very close, but never a score.

Komazec, some time during the game

(photo: Twitter)

Only three and a half minutes were left from the second period, when Zvezda equalized.

And 43 (fourty-three!!!) seconds were left, when they took the lead.

No. Just... no. It can’t be. It’s impossible. Cold shower. The second period ended with 3:2.

The third one had a tough start. Vlasov clashed with a Zvezda-player so hard that our Russian player had his mouth covered with blood. He had to be carried off the rink (he couldn’t even stand up for long minutes, he was just laying on the ice).

The match continued, sometimes on the verge of a major fight between players. Then around the 14th minute there was a huge upheaval at Zvezda’s goalmouth. All that was visible was a big pile of players making traffic at the goal line, then Partizan’s players suddenly raise their hands, make happy dance and Nenad Raković skates along the bench high-fiveing with everyone, while teammates were hugging him. The slow motion replay showed him crashing heroically through the red wall and push the puck into the box. 3:3

Less than 30 seconds passed and we took back the lead. Filipović came and BANG, scored. 3:4

The commentator of ArenaSport 2 was amazing. Any time Zvezda had an attempt, he was screaming on the top of his voice. Seriously, the speakers next to my monitor were about to give it up. When Partizan scored, he just announced it with a totally casual voice, as if he was about to ask for a piece of bread.

(Okay, okay, I know that ArenaSport is one of Zvezda’s sponsors, but for hell’s sake, let’s not have double standards.)

Zvezda desperately attacked. As a result they knocked out Milovanović in the 6th minute so heavily that the Captain also had to leave the rink.

Milovanović, when he was still healthy

(photo: hockeyserbia.com)

Only 5 minutes were left, when Zvezda equalized. 4:4. Impossible. Only a few minutes are left, goddamn it...

But Partizan is Partizan, not a bunch of whining pussies who just give it up.

Because Janković scored such a GIANT goal that the echo came from the Genex Tower, when only 2 minutes were left. We were leading again (4:5), we just had to survive the last seconds. 

It wasn’t so easy. Only 30 seconds were left, when Tikhonov stayed on the ice in a painful pose after a big save. Zvezda tried everything to equalize. They failed. We won, return match will be on 14th March.

(photo: Twitter)

HK Partizan - NS Stars 5:1 (Serbian ice hockey league)

I don’t know which round this one is supposed to be - there have been so many postponed and cancelled matches in the past weeks that I lost the thread. At the end of the championship I will put up here the final league table, that will be 100 % sure.
Yesterday our sons clashed with NS Stars from Novi Sad. In the first period the guests were leading, some reports say their defense line was like concrete.
In the first period.
Only in the first period.
Because in the second one Marko Milovanović equalized (assisted enthusiastically by Nemanja Janković and youth national team member Lazar Leštarić, who just returned from a one-year field trip in the US). Five and a half minutes later we took the lead. Srđan Ristić scored, Marko Brkušanin assisted. Three minutes before the end of the period Dragan Komazec came, saw and scored, we entered the final with 3:1.
In the last period the Novi Sad team got a row of 2-minute penalties, and it paid off. Their defense broke to pieces, Nemanja Janković took advantage of it (4:1, assist: Marko Milovanović). Finally Marko Brkušanin got the puck, ran up and scored, just as it’s written in the Great Book of Ice Hockey. 5:1
Photos from the game:

A player of NS Stars is trying to deactivate Pavle Ogrizović - in vain

Nenad Raković

Marko Brkušanin escaping with the puck

Mass scene with Srđan Ristić in the middle - Kravljanac arriving on the right to support him, while Milovanović is watching from the distance

Marko "The Unstoppable" Milovanović

Ogrizović fighting for the puck

(photos: Facebook/Hokejaški klub Partizan (Fan page))

HK Partizan - HK Vojvodina 12:1 (Serbian ice hockey league, round 2)

Meanwhile the basketball team was wrestling with the Croatians, our ice hockey team rushed through Vojvodina with another easy training match.
An interesting background for this match might be that the two teams met during the 2008/09 season last time (and even then the game was cancelled, because a fire broke in Vojvodina's locker room and their whole equipment was destroyed).
This time Marko Milovanović and Dimitrije Filipović took the team on their back; the first one achieved a hat-trick (as well as two assists), the latter one added five (!) assists to wash off the Novi Sad team. In the first period the standing was 3:0 after 12 minutes (goal scorers: Milovanović, Korshikov, Nemanja Janković), then within the next 4 minutes we scored 4 more goals. After the first part we were leading to 7:0. In the second period Raković flashed (8:0), Janković scored a second goal (9:0) and it was still only 26 minutes gone from the game. Then the pace slowed down - for us the standing was more than perfect, as for Vojvodina, nothing seemed to work out. Finally, after long struggle their player Milan Nikolić scored from power play, achieving the only goal of Vojvodina. Yet the period was still not over. 26 seconds before the end buzz Vlasov scored another goal. Partizan headed to the final part with 10:1.
In the last period Čuković scored two more goals. The first one he threw in the beginning, the second around the end.
Then it was time to celebrate.

(Nota bene: Our Russian player Stanislav Izvekov also joined the goal scorers’ list with one goal.)
Partizan won this game to 12:1, our next match will be the eternal derby tomorrow (if all goes well...) at 17:30 in Pionir Ice Hall.
Some photos from the game:

(photos: Facebook/Hokejaški klub Partizan (Fan page))

Current championship standings:
1. Partizan 6 points
2. Tisza Volán 6 points
3. CZ 3 points*
4. NS Stars 0 point*
5. Vojvodina 0 point
6. Red Team 0 point
7. HK Vitez 0 point**

* - played only one game so far
** - no games played yet

Red Team - HK Partizan 1:12 (Serbian Ice Hockey League, Round 1)

The ice hockey season has started at long last. In the first round newbie Red Team welcomed Partizan’s ice hockey team in Pionir Ice Hall.

Don’t mix them up with the eternal opponent that is mockingly named "red team" sometimes by Partizan fans. This Red Team was formed in 2008, their original intention is to make ice hockey popular among children. So far they had only youth teams, this is the first season they entered the senior championship.

After this last year’s champion ran through the home team just like a steam roller with a difference of 11 goals.
In the first period we were leading to 4:0, for the second period it grew to 10:0. Finally in the last part we scored two more, that was when Red Team scored their only goal, as a debt of honour.
The two heroes of the day are Pavle Ogrizović and Russian player Stanislav Izvekov, they both scored 3-3 goals. Nemanja Janković, Nenad Raković, Marko Brkušanin, Boban Čuković, Miodrag Pavlović and Russian player Artem Korshikov all scored 1-1 goal.

If there’s any photo or video or any further details about the game, I’ll update the post. (Usually there is, the ice hockey department consists of agile people who selflessly share photos and other material, maybe we just have to wait a bit.)

Update: photos from the match

(photos: Facebook/Hokejaški klub Partizan (Fan page))

Current championship standings:
1. CZ 3 points
2. Partizan 3 points
3. Tisza Volán 3 points
4. Vojvodina 0 point
5. Red Team 0 point**
6. NS Stars 0 point*
7. Vitez 0 point*

* - no games played as of yet
** - two games have been played