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Black Bears GM Edward Darkker gave a blunt assessment on his teams shoot-out win over the Gold Fish: "They outplayed us in almost every category - without Žižňovský we probably lose a very important game."

The league leading Bears GM fought back a smile when asked about the recent acquisition of Žižňovský with his hefty 2.7 m transfer fee and well padded stats. "Oh, did we forget to announce that?" he joked, before giving a more thoughtful answer.

"Well, yeah, that's been our strategy all along. Look, we've held 1st place but in my view the Fish are the Gold Standard in IV 10 - no question - and the numbers bear that out almost everywhere but the points column. We knew we couldn't catch up in so many areas, so we scouted (Gold Fish Goalie) Sekste and set out to find an equal or better. We had no intention of spending that much, but after numerous lost bidding wars and missed opportunities we had to pull the trigger. Am I happy with result? Well, today I'm over the moon. Talk to me if we meet them in the play-offs."

Darkker was effusive in his praise of the 2nd place Gold Fish. "Top class organization" he said. From the GM, to the arena, to player acquisition and training, to PR - you name it - we look at the Fish and do what they do in our own way. That's one big reason we're where we are today."

When asked for a final assessment on today's game, Darkker said "Black Bears are a quality team. So are the Fish. It was the best game I've seen all season and we all know it could have gone either way. We were good, but we were also lucky."

Brent Ashby
Hudson Examiner

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