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In short – through the UWB university hockey team, the Akademici Plzeň. I’ve loved hockey since I was a kid and even played it myself. With the Akademici, I discovered that there’s also work involved around social media, websites, videos, and photos. I got into it and started trying things out. Vilda Franěk, one of the founders of the Akademici, was very open to giving younger guys a chance. As it happened, he was working in NHL social media at the time and was planning to leave, so he recommended me. I then got into Czech Ice Hockey through the NHL, where I had already gained some experience. So the NHL is more of a side gig for me, and managing Czech Ice Hockey’s social media is my main job. Nowadays, remote work is easy – I’m not the only one in Europe working for the NHL; we also have colleagues in Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany. We create stories remotely and help bring the American league closer to European fans. I’ve only been on the ground with the NHL once – when Jaromír Jágr’s jersey was retired in Pittsburgh.

Your job requires a sense for data, trends, and communication. Did the Faculty of Economics help you in any specific way with that?

Absolutely. Whether it's analyzing something, developing a strategy based on data, planning the communication approach, then rationalizing and measuring the results – FEK prepared me well for all of that. I also addressed these topics in both my bachelor's and master’s theses, and I still draw on that knowledge today.

What exactly does your job entail?

During the season, a typical day starts with NHL work. If I’m working from home, I just need to wake up 15 minutes beforehand. But if I’m heading to the office in Prague, I start working on the train at 7 a.m. I download NHL social media stories, highlights, graphics – I work on that for about two hours. The rest of the day is focused on Czech Ice Hockey, where the workload is more varied. It depends on whether we're preparing for a tournament and planning strategy, or covering a live tournament – in those cases, I don’t post myself, but manage a team, assign tasks, and oversee their work. In simple terms, I lead a team at Czech Ice Hockey, while for the NHL, I’m hands-on with the content.

How much does someone creating this kind of content need to understand hockey? And do you still follow hockey as a fan in your free time?

You really need to understand hockey. It helps if you’ve played – then you have an instinct for the game. Otherwise, you can be a fan or a reporter – those people are better suited for handling stats. For me, it’s more about intuition – trying to sense what people might enjoy and creating content from the environment around the game. I think it’s best to have a mix of reporters and hockey insiders on the team, because they bring different ideas that can reach various audience segments. It’s always good to have another perspective. I used to be a fan, but these days I don’t watch hockey that much.

How do you communicate failure on social media? I’m referring to the recent World Championship...

Last year when we won the World Championship and everything was euphoric, I knew we were setting ourselves up for a challenge. The reach and engagement numbers we achieved through our social media posts were enormous – in the hundreds of millions. It was great. But I knew that the next year, we’d have to maintain that standard. We aim to communicate through social media whether things go well or not. For example, we now go into the locker room even after a loss, not just after wins – we shoot video, take photos. Communicating after a loss can be totally fine – it’s sports, anything can happen. We had a graphic prepared that said We’ve got gold, and we adapted it to Thanks, boys after the loss. We keep communicating with fans so they don’t feel like we’ve abandoned them.

What advice would you give to current students or recent graduates who want to go into marketing – perhaps even for a big (not necessarily sports) brand?

Surround yourself with good people and do what you enjoy. Get involved with different university clubs – those contacts will last a lifetime, both personally and professionally. I wouldn’t enjoy working on projects that aren’t related to hockey or sports in general, so I’m lucky I get to do what I love.

Do you have a professional dream you’d still like to achieve – whether in Czech Ice Hockey, the NHL, or outside this field?

Maybe someday I’d like to move from social media to head of content – but I don’t want to be a director. I like being close to the content itself.

What’s one word that sums up the biggest benefit the Faculty of Economics has had for your career?

Opportunities.

What’s your favorite memory from your time at UWB?

Hockey (laughs). The Akademici in general, because they gave me so much. At first, I looked down on them a bit, since it was just the second league, but when I joined, I really started enjoying it. We went to parties together, had lunch at school, and I got that “American dream” university feeling, where people stick together. We even managed to bring around a thousand people into the stands – that was great. Plus, studying economics helped me with everything I did on social media, so it all tied together nicely. I also loved spending time in the library, and having breakfast at the student café – the breakfasts were great. That’s where I wrote all my papers, including my bachelor’s and master’s theses. I’m still connected with UWB through the Akademici, mainly handling marketing and technical stuff. I don’t have as much time now, but I still help whenever I can – it’s my way of giving back for everything they gave me during my studies.

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