Release from 19.04.2023

Gaber Glavic: "I am very satisfied with the team"

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HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice is just one win away from winning the Alps Hockey League for the first time. Head coach Gaber Glavic's team beat S.G. Cortina Hafro 4:1 at home on Tuesday to take a 3:2 lead in the best-of-7 series. After the game, the 45-year-old, who has been coaching in Jesenice since 2011 and is currently in his second full season as head coach, talked about game five of the final series and why his team is struggling to score goals and win games in Cortina.

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Congrats on the win and the 3:2 series lead, can you sum up the game from your point of view?
"First of all, thank you very much for the congratulations. Today we repeated our home performance. We are really good at home. I could say that today's match was also in a some way a response to the last match in Cortina, which was not our best one. To summarize, I am very satisfied with the team and of course with the victory. Now we are waiting for the last trip to Cortina this season."

Your team had a great start. Already after 65 seconds Joonas Larinmaa scored the 1:0. How important was the "perfect" opening frame?
"Of course, it is much easier if you start game with a goal, but if there are two of them, it is even better. As we have seen, Cortina is not the easiest opponent and they do not give up, even when the score is 3:1 or 3:0. We were well aware of this. As I said at the beginning of the final series - they are a strong team, skating fast, they know how to be organized, they know how to fight, and I was not wrong. I don't think we could get a tougher opponent."

Your team scored four or more in any home game during the finals, at Cortina you scored twice only one goal. What makes it so difficult scoring over there?
"Let's leave goals on the side. Goals are just a consequence of the match. In fact, in Cortina we do not find the key to the same or at least similar game as we play at home. We have a problem with the Cortina hall and this city. If I knew the reason for this, I would be happy to share it, but I don't know it."

What will be important to cheer the titel on Thursday?
"Unfortunately, I don't have an answer to this question. The team's motivation is simple - the final puck is ours and I don't think I can give the team a bigger motivation than that."

Game six of the finals takes place on Thursday at 20:30 in Cortina. Watch it live here.