János Vas is in training camp with KHL club Medvescak Zagreb
Vas has been with KHL Club Medvescak Zagreb since July 18th, first in an open tryout and now part of the preseason training camp where he hopes to make the final team. The Nemzeti Sport daily sports paper was able to catch up with him after he found out that he was invited to training camp with the Croatian club.
“So far I have only made it to the next round, this past week was really hard work, we had two practices a day. In the morning we had a hard skating practice and in the afternoon we had a 3x12 minutes scrimmages with two lines on a team, which is as if we would have been playing 3x20 minutes with three or four lines. We were really worked hard but there was a point to it, this way the coaches could tell who was in what condition and who could have value for Medvescak.
Vas showed up in shape for the tryout camp as he had spent time near Vienna Austria getting ready for the upcoming season. Former Blue Jackets, Canucks, Black Hawks and Coyotes assistant coach Newell Brown held a summer conditioning camp in which Vas took part in with a number of other elite players.
“It really helped my that I was in the training camp in Austria, when I got to Zagreb I was in shape and everything went smoothly. At the start of the season everything is new, the stick still doesn't have the right feel as in mid season. But I had a perfect preseason conditioning camp” said János Vas.
It is a big deal that after the tryout not only was he invited to the KHL preseason camp but also got a half day off. The KHL after all is the second best league in the world, this would be the highest level Vas had ever played regularly. Árpád Mihály and István Sofron had been in this situation before in the not so distant past with Jekaterinburg and Prague respectively but neither was able to make the final cut.
“On Saturday the entire roster was in camp, in the afternoon we received our equipment which was followed by a meeting and at six we had our first practice.” Vas’ name is listed on the official roster however a number was not yet assigned to him.
Two seasons ago Zagreb was knocked out of the playoffs in the quarter finals but they missed the playoffs last season. Their first preseason game is on August 7th in Besztercebánya Slovakia.
Photo and quotes: Nemzeti Sport