Salcido leaves Prague

So far, it's been a season to forget for HC Sparta Praha, and there have been rumblings that changes need to be made.

On Friday afternoon, the club and defenceman Brian Salcido decided to part company. In 23 games for Sparta this season, Salcido scored 2 goals (both game-winners) with 1 assist, 38 penalty minutes, and a +2 rating.

Sparta General Manager Petr Briža commented on the club's website, www.hcsparta.cz, "We had slightly different ideas, and we agreed to part company."

After 25 games, Sparta currently sits 11th in the 14-team Extraliga with an overall record of 9-16. Their overtime record of 4-2 gives them 25 points on the 3-2-1-0 scale. If not for the stiff points deductions against HC Plzeň 1929 and BK Mladá Boleslav, they would be in 13th place.

25-year-old Salcido hails from the non-traditional hockey market of Los Angeles and attended Colorado College. He was drafted in the fifth round by Anaheim in 2005 and played 2 games for them in 2008-09, registering an assist. In four seasons in the AHL, he gained a reputation as an offensive defenceman, his best output being 53 points with Portland in 2007-08. It was hoped that he would contribute more offence from the back end for Sparta, but that never materialised.

This is not likely to be the only change that Sparta makes as management tries to reverse the team's fortunes.