Martel loves hockeybal, he´s looking forward to meet Černák in Košice

In a previous season he played in 9 matches in the NHL for Tampa Bay Lightning, in a profileague he recorded two as sistances. Perfect hockeyball player consideres this tournament as a preparation for the new season and consideres Slovakian team to be the biggest rival te am for Canada.

How long have you been playing hockeyball?

„I´ve been playing hockeyball for two ye ars now. I began to play at the hockeyball stadium in Quebec, I just love this sport.“

Do you happen to know which one of your teammates from Tampa is originally from Košice?

„Yes, absolutely, it´s Erik Černák. I told him I will come over this year. We keep in touch, so possibly we will meet up.“

Who do you consider to be the biggest opposition or biggest rival on this tournament in competing for the title?

„For the very first time I played on the world tournament in Pardubice. We lost in the final g ame against team Slovakia, so this is our biggest rival.Although you have changed some players, you haven´t got that much of experience but still you´ve got a great team.“

What is your opinion on Slovakian team?

„They work very hard and what´s more, th ey´ve got full suport from their fans who attend their matches in r eally big numbers. Your players are very skilled and they are in a perfect condition.“

Do you consider hockeyball also as a good preparation for a new season in NHL?

„Yes. This is a good cardio, chasing a ball helps a lot during the summer. Hockeyball is also very popular among fans so I consider this as a good preparation.“

How do you like Košice so far?

„I´ve always loved hockeyball, I really like it here. We´ve got many great people in our team who take care of us. The fans are taking pictures with players, it´s a great experience. The organizers are doing really great job.“

In Slovakia we tend to say, that good hockey player cannot be a good hockeyball In Slovakia we tend to say, that good hockey player cannot be a good hockeyball player and vice versa.

„Yes. This is true. This is true. Not every hockeyball player is a good skater, it´s a different sport. On the other hand, everybody can run, so in my opinion everyone can play hockeyball. It´s a great sport. If you´re a great skater, it doesn´t mean that you know how to play hockeyball well. It´s a great difference. Especially running and skating, that´s the biggest difference.