Ex-Husky Jackson wins 2nd Slovakian pro title in 3 years

NITRA, Slovakia — Slovakia has been kind to former St. Cloud State men’s hockey forward Robby Jackson.

He recently helped HK Nitra win the Vladimir Dzurilla Cup — which goes to the winner of the Slovak Extraliga playoffs — for the second time in three years on April 30. In 2025, HK Nitra lost the championship series in seven games to HC Košice.

When HK Nitra defeated HC Slovan Bratislava in the seventh game in April, there was some special satisfaction for Jackson.

“In 2025, we went to the finals and were down 3-1, just like we were this year,” Jackson said. “We came back in Game 7 and we were winning, 4-2, after the second and ended up losing in overtime. That was a pretty big heartbreak.

“We won the regular season this year. But it still felt like there was unfinished business. There was that added motivation for the guys who were here last year. We felt like we had to get that bad taste out of our mouth and atone for last year.”

Jackson, a 28-year-old from Alameda, California, had five goals and six assists in 18 playoff games. During the regular season, he had 20 goals and 17 assists in 54 games.

This was his fifth season playing in the Slovakian pro league and second with HK Nitra. After finishing his college career, Jackson played for the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage in 2019-20 and also played 57 games for the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers. In 2020-21, he played five games for the AHL’s Utica Comets and 15 games for the Oilers. Then he joined HC Nove Zamky in the Slovakian league, played two seasons and had 53 goals and 95 points in 99 games.

The last three seasons, he has played for HK Nitra and netted 64 goals and 121 points in 152 regular-season games. In 59 playoff games, he had 23 goals and 51 points.

Jackson said he does not plan on coming back to play in North America.

“I love it here,” he said. “I really found a home here with this club and this city. For the foreseeable future, I see myself playing here … as long as they’ll have me.

“The passion that they have for hockey here is crazy. It’s awesome. It’s like if there was a pro league, but it was just in Minnesota. Each city and club is so prideful of their town and their hockey club and the way they support it. I love playing in the city of Nitra. The passion they have for hockey is something that never ceases to amaze me and it’s fun to be a part of.”

While Jackson is from California, that has not stopped his parents, Bob, a retired high school teacher, and Chris, an accountant, from making the trip to Slovakia to watch him play.

“They always come over for Thanksgiving and see three or four games,” Jackson said.

This spring, though, his parents added another trip.

“They’d never been to a playoff game,” Jackson said. “It’s a completely different atmosphere. We have the best fans in the league. They do a player’s survey every few years and it’s always that Nitra is the toughest place to play and has the best fans in the league. I really wanted them to see the playoff atmosphere and to experience that.”

When Jackson’s parents are visiting, they typically also see a few road games.

“It’s something new every time that they get to experience,” Jackson said. “I get to show them a new restaurant or meet a new teammate. Every game is different. It’s cool that they get to experience that. They just love seeing me play in person. They usually get to an away game, too, because the games in this league are an hour or a 90-minute drive.”

In Jackson’s first year in Slovakia, he also met someone special in Viktoria Meszarosova. On May 4, Jackson proposed. She accepted.

“It’s nice because it’s a weight off your shoulders,” Jackson said. “You get so nervous to propose. Now the work kind of comes in with planning the wedding. We’ll go out and look at some venues and do it here in Slovakia.”

In the Slovakian league, teams are allowed to have six import players. This season, Jackson’s import teammates were forward Josh Passolt (Hayward, Wisconsin), defenseman Zach Osburn (Plymouth, Michigan), goalie Jasper Patrikainen (Lahti, Finland), defenseman Jesse Graham (Oshawa, Ontario) and goalie Dylan Ferguson (Lantzville, British Columbia).

Passolt played for Western Michigan from 2017-22. Osburn played for Michigan State from 2015-19 and was Jackson’s teammate with the USHL’s Chicago Steel in 2014-15.

“Everybody here speaks English to a degree, some better than others,” Jackson said. “When you have 1-on-1 meetings with the coach or there was something specific he wanted to tell an American or Canadian player during a team meeting, he could switch to English … It’s not as crazy as it seems.”

The team’s head coach is Andrej Kmec. Jackson said that assistant coach Ivan Svarny will interpret for players when needed. He was an assistant coach for Slovakia at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championships. When Svarny was gone, assistant coach Dusan Milo would interpret.

Jackson feels like he has learned to become a better player.

“I feel a little more composed with the puck,” he said. “I think this is pro (hockey) everywhere, but you learn the different idiosyncrasies of hockey. You learn to evaluate it more and how to react. The way you can analyze the game to where you don’t have to go 1,000% effort all the time.

“You really learn how to get to spots, how to make plays and how to protect the puck. Over here, it’s all about holding onto the puck. You want to have the puck, whether you’re going forwards or backwards with it. It doesn’t matter. You want to hold onto the puck and you find different ways to get open for teammates. You learn how to observe it and make the most of it. You need to be giving effort. But you really learn how to maximize your effort.”

Besides winning the championship, it was the 100th season for the franchise.

“There was a celebration of that all year,” Jackson said. “It was pretty special year and it was our biggest rivals that we beat in the finals, too. There were a lot of factors that made it special.”

Jackson was on several successful teams during his college career. In 2015-16, the Huskies won the NCHC Frozen Faceoff and went 31-9-1. In 2017-18, SCSU won the NCHC regular season title, lost in the Frozen Faceoff championship game and finished 25-9-6. In 2018-19, SCSU won the NCHC regular season title, lost in the Frozen Faceoff championship game and finished 30-6-3.

Jackson also- has his name in the SCSU record books for career: games played — 149 (tied for 29th); short-handed goals — 6 (tied for 4th), points — 121 (tied for 18th), goals — 52 (tied for 18th) and assists — 69 (tied for 24th). He’s on single-season lists for: short-handed goals — 3 (tied for 6th, 2017-18); points — 42 (tied for 37th, 2017-18) and assists — 27 (tied for 26th, 2017-18).

He graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism.