The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Dow reaches from the Stars to earn a fine success in Slovakian play-offs
Former Dundee Stars defenceman Drydn Dow has won his first play-off championship as a professional ice hockey player and is delighted to have achieved the feat in such a difficult year.
In December, Dow landed a spot on HK Spisska Nova Ves’ roster for their Slovakia2 season, after a brief spell in the East Coast Hockey League with Wheeling Nailers.
After spending two years in Dundee, the Canadian was forced to look elsewhere for playing opportunities as the British hockey season was cancelled last August.
However, seven months and 38 regular season games later, Dow and Spisska finished third in Slovakia’s second tier and began their long 15-game play-off run to glory and promotion.
Through the regular season, Drydn made 21 appearances and scored 12 points (two goals, 10 assists), before adding four more in his 15 postseason outings.
Dow said: “This is an amazing feeling. It has been a long time since I had won a championship, so it felt great lifting that trophy and being able to celebrate with all the guys.
“This has definitely been one of the toughest years of my career.
“With everything going on there were a lot of ups and downs through the summer and start of the year.
“When I finally got settled here in Spisska though it was much more comfortable to be back to just playing hockey again, so ending it with a championship was a great way to finish.”
The Slovakian leagues use the North American format of a best-of-sevengame series.
In the final, Spisska met league winners VLCI Zilina and quickly moved 2-0 ahead in the series before slipping up in the third game.
However, Drydn and his team-mates rallied to win the next two games and sealed their success and promotion to the top flight with a 4-3 shootout victory in Zilina on Friday night.
Dow said: “Playing in the play-offs with the seven-game series is always a grind. We really came together as a team through this time.”