Simon Latkoczy was done playing hockey. After his second season in the USHL and his first with the Chicago Steel in 2020-21, Latkoczy told his family and coaches that he was quitting the sport.
The joy had diminished for the then 19-year-old goalie. Even coming off a league championship with Chicago, the fun just wasn’t there for Latkoczy. That’s when he decided it was time to hang up the skates.
Simon Latkoczy hoists the 2021 USHL championship trophy.
“I had all these successes and I was like, ‘I’m doing well, and everything’s going the right way, but I’m not having fun.’” Latkoczy said. “And that, in my opinion, was the most important thing to me.”
From the age of 17, Latkoczy was living 5,000 miles away from his hometown of Trenchin, Slovakia, for eight to 10 months of the year. He was dealing with a seven-hour time difference from his family and friends back home.
“I was like, ‘Why am I sacrificing that much? Is it really that important?’” Latkoczy said. “I didn’t like hockey that much at that time. I don’t need to be, 10 months of the year, away from my friends and family and everything that I pretty much love.”
Latkoczy’s family poses in front of the Colosseum in Rome.
Latkoczy was missing moments. Birthdays, holidays and family vacations happened while the net minder was pursuing his dream of hockey in the U.S. It came with a lot of sacrifice.
“I cried a lot, but the support from my family (and friends) was huge,” Latkoczy said. “I’m thankful for everything that my family did for me and my friends as well, so I never felt alone.
“It was kind of tough that I’d never see how the family is growing up or how my brother is doing or all these family occasions. I wasn’t there.
After two years abroad, Latkoczy was set on quitting the sport that had brought him so far away from his friends and family.
Omaha hockey fans know how this story ends. Latkoczy didn’t quit hockey forever. He’s one of the ten national semifinalists for the best goaltender award and on a Maverick team fighting for home NCHC playoffs.
So, who convinced him to keep playing? You’d never guess. It was Latkoczy’s favorite Slovak rap duo called Neries.
Latkoczy played in the U20 World Junior Championship for Slovakia and rappers Matej Straka and Matej “Gabryell” Gábriš, who make up Neries, took notice.
After team Slovakia lost in the tournament, the rappers put up an encouraging message on their Instagram story. Latkoczy took the opportunity to message them back saying he’s been a fan since he was 15 and even has a tattoo of the duo’s name “Neries”, which translates to “don’t care”.
The artists replied back to Latkoczy and this simple Instagram DM turned into a long-lasting friendship. The next thing the 19-year-old knew, Latkoczy was invited on tour with Neries while he was back home in Slovakia for the summer.
“I was just a normal fan with the tattoo of them, and then I’m just with them,” Latkoczy said.
Simon Latkoczy poses with rap duo Neries after a show.
Latkoczy traveled from venue to venue, hanging out backstage with the rappers and even going on stage at shows. This popular Slovak duo has over 53,000 Instagram followers and nearly 200,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
It was an escape from hockey, and music had been a key part of Latkoczy’s life from childhood. At the time, the goaltender needed a break. At that point, he was set on staying home that summer and never returning to the ice.
“I was a teenager at that time, so I liked going out and seeing the concerts and just living a normal life like normal people,” Latkoczy said.
No part of Latkoczy’s life had been “normal”. He left home at 17 to play a game in a foreign country and only saw his family and friends for two months of the year.
As Latkoczy and Neries got closer, Latkoczy told them that he had enough of hockey and didn’t want to play anymore. The rappers were quick to rebut. They too weren’t living “normal” lives and could relate to Latkoczy’s struggles.
“They were telling me that without hockey, it would not be the same life.” Latkoczy said. “(They said) ‘I know that it’s hard, but you need to sacrifice something, and it’s not all about going out and having fun with your friends and family.
“They kind of convinced me to give it one more year. And then I was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna try it.’”
Latkoczy kept the promise he made to his favorite musicians and continued on his hockey journey. He signed with the USHL’s Madison Capitols for the 2021-22 season.
“It turned out to be one of the most fun years I had with hockey,” Latkoczy said. “Even though I still had to sacrifice everything the same way, I just kind of fell in love with hockey.”
Simon Latkoczy signs his National Letter of intent to play for Omaha on Nov. 17, 2021.
After finishing his USHL career in Madison, Omaha entered the picture and had great interest in recruiting Latkoczy. Following a few conversations with the coaching staff, Latkoczy committed in June 2021 before even stepping foot on campus.
The fall after committing, Latkoczy took his visit and said he loved everything about it. The goaltender began his Maverick career in 2022.
“(Omaha) was probably the best decision I could make in the end when I would look back at it,” Latkoczy said. “The fun of hockey came back.
“I think that the conditions that I have here really allowed me to develop, and I still can aim for the (NHL).”
Latkoczy owns the 11th-best save percentage in the nation at .926 and has the sixth-most saves at 817.
The junior goalie’s relationship with the Slovak rappers is still strong. Latkoczy even had lyrics of his favorite Neries songs painted on his helmet at one point.
The lyrics are written in Slovak and Latkoczy said it translates to “We will stand by your side every time you play our song.”
Simon Latkoczy’s freshman year hockey helmet features Neries lyrics painted on the side.
“They are a big support,” Latkoczy said. “Every time I feel like I want to kind of jump into that non-athlete life, they are there (for me).
“They can talk to me about how it is (in Slovakia), and I can live their life, or that rap life, through them a little bit.”
Latkoczy said he realized that he can’t do everything. As much as he’d like to go home, tour with his rapper friends and be with his family, he has hockey to pursue.
“People want to live so many lives and they cannot really do it,” Latkoczy said. “But you can actually live it through someone else.”
So, that’s exactly what Latkoczy does. He plays hockey for 10 months of the year then goes home and hangs out with his favorite musicians on tour. You could call it a double life.
“It is an unreal story,” Latkoczy said. “If someone asked me about hockey, (Neries) is a big part of why I am still playing hockey.”
Simon Latkoczy poses during locker room photoshoot on Sept. 15, 2024, in Omaha, Nebraska. Photo by John S. Peterson.
For a player that has spent most of his life saving goals for his teammates, having his own career saved by his favorite artists is a story you cannot script.
As Latkoczy finishes out his junior season between the pipes for Omaha, his NHL dream is alive, but as a 5-foot-11 goalie, that path is a little narrower.
“It’s gonna be hard for me because I’m a smaller goalie, and there are not that many small goalies in the NHL,” Latkoczy said. “I want to prove them wrong. I’m just doing everything I can to be able to do it.”
