The Medicine Hat Tigers celebrate a goal during a Memorial eCup game of NHL 21 between Tigers forward Lukas Svejkovsky (top left) and Hamilton Bulldogs goaltender Zachary Roy (top right). Svejkovsky has now advanced to the tournament's final four. The eventual champion will earn a $1,000 donation to the charity of their choice. -- Screen capture from Twitter
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Lukas Svejkovsky had cracked the Memorial eCup’s final four.
The Medicine Hat Tigers forward pushed his way through the 64-team e-sports hockey tournament’s sweet 16 with a 3-0 win over Hamilton Bulldogs goaltender Zachary Roy on Saturday, then punched his ticket to the semifinals with a 5-3 nailbiter over forward Danny Katic of the Saginaw Spirit on Monday.
“I kind of just try to have fun with it,” Svejkovsky said in a phone call with the News after Saturday’s win. “It’s really cool playing against guys you’ve never even heard of from different leagues. It’s definitely a lot of fun. Being able to talk to them before the games and stuff, they’re all super nice guys.”
Svejkovsky found himself trailing for the first time in the tournament when Katic took over a 1-0 edge through Monday’s first period, but the 19-year-old Point Roberts, Wash., product struck back early in the second before stealing away the lead on a power play a few minutes later.
Saginaw pushed back with two straight to take back the lead late in the second, but Svejkovsky’s Tigers mustered a late response to set things even entering the third.
Svejkovsky left little to chance in the final frame, using his own virtual player to find Cole Sillinger for a pair of backbreakers. While he admits his avatar has been potting plenty of goals and racking up helpers throughout the virtual CHL tournament, Svejkovsky insists it’s not by design.
“I don’t even notice, honestly,” he said with a laugh. “I think I’ve scored a lot of goals as myself in this tournament, so people have been asking me if I’m trying to but I swear to God I’m not. It’s just happening right now. I’m getting lucky.”
And all this success comes from someone who doesn’t even own a Playstation 4 – the console on which the tournament is being played.
“I’m definitely a little bit better on Xbox but I don’t really notice it too much, it’s not too bad. After all, it is just a controller,” said Svejkovsky, adding his unsung hero has been a friend who let him borrow a PS4 for the tournament. “A lot of thanks to him, without him it wouldn’t be possible.”
Svejkovsky has allowed just five goals over his first four games of the tournament, propped up by the 6-foot-7 frame of goaltender Mads Søgaard. Given goaltenders are not controlled by the players, Svejkovsky says it’s been nice to have an Ottawa Senators draft pick between the pipes.
“It’s definitely been a treat,” he said. “Mads is obviously a great goalie and a great guy, I’ve got a stellar D-corps too, right in front of him keeping pucks away from the net.”
Svejkovsky now advances to take on Mississauga Steelheads forward Ty Collins, who is coming off a 7-1 win over Vancouver Giants defenceman Trevor Longo – a friend of Svejkovsky and former Tiger. It at times seemed inevitable that the pair of players – involved in the same trade last December – would face off in the semifinal, but fate had other plans.
Thankfully, Longo might be there to help Svejkovsky get in a few warm-up games before this afternoon’s 4:15 p.m. semifinal showdown, streamed live on Facebook and Twitch.
“We played a game about an hour or so before my game started (Saturday),” said Svejkovsky, who has been living in Tsawwassen through the pandemic. “We play a lot against each other. He was here (last week), he slept over Monday-Tuesday and we played a lot of NHL. It’s been fun, for sure.”
The winner of the tournament will earn a $1,000 donation to the charity of their choosing. Svejkovsky says he’s been discussing the possibility with his parents and is working to finalize which charity he’ll select if he’s crowned eCup champion on Thursday.
“I’m not exactly sure which one I’d go to, but we’ll see what happens if I keep winning games,” he said.
