Junior Extraliga championship goes Friday

In order to inject a little more fan interest in Czech Junior hockey, the Czech Ice Hockey Association has taken a page out of the Canadian Hockey League's book and created a one-game national junior championship.

Former Brno goaltender Jan Strmeň, now with Chomutov, will
try to beat his former team in Friday's junior championship.
Photo: Lenka Rybaříková, piratichomutov.cz. 

On Friday night, Piráti Chomutov and Kometa Brno will face off in Chomutov for a single game to determine Czech junior hockey's best team in 2011-12.

The best team during the regular season, Chomutov's route to the final went through Prague, with two-game sweeps over both Slavia and Sparta Praha. Brno, the fifth seed in the playoffs, had a more difficult route. They swept Plzeň in the preliminary round before beating Karlovy Vary and Litvínov, needing to win decisive third games on the road both times.

The best storyline of the game revolves around Chomutov goalie Jan Strmeň, who played for Kometa last season.

"We want to beat Chomutov mainly because of him," Kometa captain Vlastimil Bilčík told the team website. "We lost both games this season with Piráti mainly due to his performance, he played really well."

Besides Strmeň, other Chomutov players to watch are defencemen Dominik Tejnor and Radek Havel and forward Jiří Fronk, all of whom are due to attend the training camp of the Czech national U18 team when it's over. Brno defenceman Jan Sedlák will join them.

Kometa's path to the final has been led by the forward line of Jan Kaňa, Roman Jurák and Branislav Jankovič, who are the top three playoff scorers.

Kometa had the best attendance in the Junior Extraliga this season and established a single-game league attendance record on December 3 with 4823. However, hockey fans in the Czech Republic's second city might have their attention elsewhere on Friday night.


In fact, for both teams, their senior men's clubs are still in action, which may overshadow the event. Chomutov is currently in the Czech First League finals against Ústí nad Labem, with the series tied 1-1. The winner of the series earns a chance to play into the Czech Extraliga. Meanwhile, the Cinderella Kometa team has won the first two games of its Extraliga semifinal in Plzeň, and will play the third game on home ice on Friday night.

Friday night's game, in Chomutov, begins at 17:30 Central European Time.

U18 World Championship roster begins to take shape

While most Czech hockey fans have their attention focused on the Extraliga semifinals at the moment, the national U18 team gathered in Havlíčkův Brod to open a second, and more intensive, training camp in preparation for the World Championships, which they will host in Brno and Znojmo from April 12 to 22.

From a preliminary roster of 50, only 14 players were able to attend last week, as everybody else was still committed to their club teams. This week, the number is higher.

"We worked on drills for defencemen and forwards, two-on-twos, and other things," coach Jiří Veber said to hokej.cz's Vaclav Jáchim about the limited things he was able to do last week. "This Tuesday, we are up to 21."

It's unclear how many of the 21 at camp will make the final cut, but to be sure, the names that attract the most attention are still absent and may not arrive at all.

Marek Langhamer is expected to be the Czech U18
team's starting goalie in Brno. m.denik.cz.

The team's starting goaltender is expected to be Marek Langhamer, who is currently acting as the third-string goaltender on the Pardubice club that is still alive in the Extraliga playoffs. Pardubice currently leads its semifinal series 2-0 and the league finals will overlap the international tournament, but Langhamer will be allowed to join the U18 team, barring an injury to one of the two ahead of him on the depth chart.

Additionally, nine players are still active in the Junior Extraliga playoffs, but they will be over by the weekend.

While Langhamer's inclusion is a near certainty, the players who are currently involved in Canadian Hockey League playoffs are anything but that. Defencemen Petr Šidlík and Michal Plutnar and forwards Radek Faksa, Patrik Machač and Dominik Volek are all in the playoffs. If their clubs advance beyond the first round, they will not join the Czech team.

Defenceman Karel Plašíl of České Budějovice, who played in last August's Ivan Hlinka Tournament, has been out with an injured hand and is not currently in camp, but he might still return.

They will have a lot of last-minute decisions to make, but that's no different from most of the teams in the tournament, and Veber knew it coming in.

"It is what it is, I have no problem with that," he said. "We knew that we would have to prepare in the days before the start of the tournament."

On April 7, the team will play an exhibition game against the Czech U20 team in Havlíčkův Brod before heading to Brno. There, they will host Canada in a final pre-tournament game on April 9 before it gets underway on April 12. The next day, they will play their first game of the group stage against Norway.

In all, there are 50 players in consideration for the 23 spots:

Goaltenders:

Marek Langhamer (Pardubice), Patrik Polívka (Plzeň), Daniel Dolejš (Havíčkův Brod), Dominik Hrachovina (Tappara Tampere, Finland), Josef Sobotka (Liberec).

Defencemen:

Lukáš Buchta (Zlín), Tomáš Prokop, Karel Plášil (both České Budějovice), Ronald Knot (Slavia Praha), Jan Košťálek (Sparta Praha), Martin Kokeš (Litvínov), Jakub Houfek (Plzeň), Dominik Tejnor, Radek Havel (both Chomutov), Marek Bail, Adam Hawlik, Jan Štencel (all Vítkovice), Jiří Běhal (Třinec), Jan Sedlák (Kometa Brno), Libor Šulák (Tatranští vlci, MHL), Petr Šidlík (Victoriaville, QMJHL), Michal Plutnar (Tri-City, WHL).

Forwards:

Dominik Kubalík, Roman Přikryl, Jan Schleiss (all Plzeň), Jan Hudeček, Ondřej Slováček, Patrik Zdráhal (all Vítkovice), Dominik Simon, Martin Procházka, Martin Matějček (all Sparta Praha), Richard Nejezchleb (Slavia Praha), Pavel Sedláček (Zlín), Matěj Zadražil, Vojtěch Tomeček (both Karlovy Vary), Matěj Psota, Adam Dlouhý (both Liberec), Ladislav Marek (Mladá Boleslav), Tomáš Franek (Třinec), Jiří Fronk (Chomutov), Jakub Vrána (Linköping, Sweden), Eustathios Soumelidis (Vaasa, Finland), Radek Faksa (Kitchener, OHL), Patrik Machač (Brampton, OHL), Dominik Volek (Regina, WHL), Adam Chlapík (Muskegon, USHL).

Team Manager: Jakub Petr

Head Coach: Jiří Veber
Assistant Coaches: Jakub Petr, Klas Östman
Goaltending Coach: Marek Novotný
Team Doctor: Dr. Daniel Waciakowski
Equipment Manager: Jaroslav Brabec

Preliminary rosters for some other teams have already been posted at the tournament's official website, http://www.u18wc2012.cz/eng/index.asp. The full tournament schedule and ticket information is also available there.

For updates, follow the tournament's official Twitter account, @czechhockey.

Pardubice & Plzeň advance to semis with dramatic game 7 wins

A pair of dramatic seventh games this week rounded out the final four of the Czech Extraliga playoffs. On Tuesday night, Pardubice beat Víktovice in overtime and on Wednesday, Plzeň scored late in the third period to beat Zlín.


Pardubice 5 - 4 Vítkovice (overtime)
(Pardubice wins series 4-3)

Daniel Rákos wins it in overtime. Photo: Jan Jedlička, hcpce.cz.

The first 50 minutes of the game in Pardubice offered a fair amount of excitement for the fans of the two teams; three times the visitors from Ostrava took the lead and twice, once each in the first and second, the home team tied it. As the third period reached its midpoint, Roman Szturc's unassisted goal at 6:56 of the second period was the difference in the 3-2 hockey game, and a tone of nervousness was coming over the Pardubice fans. They were getting lots of chances, but Vítkovice goaltender Roman Málek was showing no chinks in his armour and they were slowly running out of time.

Then Petr Pohl was sent of for slashing, and the crowd became energized. Pardubice saw its chance, and capitalized, when Radovan Somík finished off a pretty passing play with 8:30 on the clock. The game was tied, but the drama was just starting.

Just 2:23 later, veteran Jiří Burger hushed the crowd when he deflected a shot from the point into the net. It was his second goal of the game, and his team's fourth go-ahead goal. Then Jan Kolář went off for slashing with 5:36 left.

By the time the minor penalty was killed off, there was only three and a half minutes left. With two minutes to go, goaltender Martin Růžička was lifted for a sixth attacker and Pardubice continued to get chances. Finally, with just 31 seconds on the clock, Martin Bartak fired home the tying goal, his second goal and third point of the game.

According to Extraliga rules, a seventh game that goes to overtime is not limited to ten minutes. However, in this game, not even one minute was needed. The intermission did not stop the scoring barrage, as Daniel Rákos fired a long shot that went over the shoulder of Málek at the 55-second mark to end the game and the series, send the Víktovice players and fans into sudden shock, and Pardubice players and fans into utter euphoria.


Plzeň 4 - 2 Zlín
(Plzeň wins series 4-3)

Celebrating the series-winning goal.
Photo: Milan Podpera, hcplzen.cz.

The next day, in Plzeň, there was more drama for fans of Czech hockey. Again, it was a game that saw the visitors taking the lead and the home team tying it. Zlín led 1-0 after one period and led 2-1 late in the second when defenceman Jiří Hanzlík fired a shot from the point to even the score after 40 minutes.

Most of the third period was played in the end of Luboš Horčička, who was by far the busier of the two goaltenders on the night, but the Zlín keeper made several saves to keep his team's chances alive. In the game, Plzeň fired 52 shots at Horčička, while Adam Svoboda in the Plzeň goal faced 32, plus one shot that didn't count that almost cost his team the series.

With less than five minutes left, it looked like the visitors had pulled ahead. From behind the net, Zlín's Petr Leška received a pass in front and beat Svoboda with a quick shot. However, in the battle behind the net for the puck, the back of the net had come up and the referee quickly stopped play, blowing his whistle before the puck went into the net, which was back in position by the time it went in. The Zlín players on the ice pleaded for a video review, but it was not a reviewable play, as the whistle had gone before the puck entered the net.

Given a second win, Plzeň scored the series winner shortly afterward. With just over two minutes to play, Hanzlík fed a pass to Nick Johnson in the slot, and the American made no mistake, firing a perfect shot off the post and in, and causing the arena to erupt.

Radek Duda added an empty-net goal, his second tally of the game, to put it away.


As the highest seed remaining, Plzeň now plays Kometa Brno in the semifinals. Eighth-place Kometa pulled off a huge quarterfinal upset, eliminating the regular-season winning Sparta Praha in six games. The series begins on Monday. On Saturday, Pardubice hosts Bílí Tygři Liberec to start the other semifinal series.

From hokej.cz, here is the semifinal schedule. Home teams are listed first and all times are Central European. All games will be televised by ČT4 and streamed live and on-demand on its website. All games are also available live internationally at tv.hokej.cz.

Semifinal schedule
HC Plzeň 1929 - HC Kometa Brno
Mon, 26.03.2012	HC Plzeň 1929	HC Kometa Brno	19:10
Tue, 27.03.2012	HC Plzeň 1929	HC Kometa Brno	17:40
Fri, 30.03.2012	HC Kometa Brno	HC Plzeň 1929	18:10
Sat, 31.03.2012	HC Kometa Brno	HC Plzeň 1929	18:10
*Mon, 02.04.2012	HC Plzeň 1929	HC Kometa Brno	18:10
*Wed, 04.04.2012	HC Kometa Brno	HC Plzeň 1929	17:40
*Fri, 06.04.2012	HC Plzeň 1929	HC Kometa Brno	18:10
HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice - Bílí Tygři Liberec
Sat, 24.03.2012	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	Bílí Tygři Liberec	18:10
Sun, 25.03.2012	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	Bílí Tygři Liberec	18:10
Wed, 28.03.2012	Bílí Tygři Liberec	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	17:40
Thu, 29.03.2012	Bílí Tygři Liberec	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	18:10
*Sun, 01.04.2012	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	Bílí Tygři Liberec	17:10
*Tue, 03.04.2012	Bílí Tygři Liberec	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	17:40
*Thu, 05.04.2012	HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	Bílí Tygři Liberec	18:10

* Game to be played if necessary.

Extraliga ranked 6th in attendance in Europe

The IIHF has released attendance figures for the 2011-12 hockey season, and 11 Czech teams finished in the top 100 in Europe.

Once again, Pardubice led the Extraliga in home attendance.
Photo: hcpce.cz.

Leading the way, as usual, was Pardubice, who drew 217 867 fans to 26 home games at ČEZ Arena, for an average of 8380 per game, which ranks 13th on the continent. That's a drop of 542 per game from last season, when their home attendance ranked 9th in Europe. However, last year's total was inflated  by the Open Air Game on January 2, 2011, when 17 140 watched Pardubice play Kometa Brno outdoors at Pardubice-Svítkov Speedway.

Like last year, Brno ranks 2nd in the Czech Republic. Their average of 6960 was 23rd best in Europe.

The biggest increase in the Czech Republic was recorded by Sparta Praha, which was doubtlessly due to the club's rise from 12th in the Extraliga standngs to first this year. In 2010-11, Sparta averaged 5165 fans per home game, which was 45th in Europe. This year, 6273 per game came to Tipsport Arena, third-best in the country and 29th in Europe.

Across town, Slavia Praha went the opposite direction in the standings and, not surprisingly, in attendance as well. Their average dropped from 5012 per game to only 4492 at the cavernous O2 Arena, leading to a return to the smaller Eden Arena for the playout round and fueling speculation of a full-time return to their former home in the future.

Overall, the Extraliga was the sixth-most attended league in Europe, attracting 4824 fans per game, a slight drop from last year's 4936.

The Czech First League averaged 1130 fans per game, which was 18th-best in Europe. Not surprisingly, the two most popular First League teams are the two best: Piráti Chomutov averaged 2273 per game and Slovan Ústečtí Lvi averaged 2099.

Below are the attendance figures released by the IIHF. Additional statistical information is courtesy hokej.cz.

Attendance figures in European hockey leagues 2011-12
		Club	League	Average	Cap. %
1.	(1.)	SC Bern	SUI	15,779	92.11%
2.	(3.)	Dynamo Minsk	KHL	14,193	94.08%
3.	(2.)	Eisbären Berlin	GER	14,073	99.11%
4.	(4.)	Kölner Haie	GER	10,494	56.72%
5.	(6.)	Frölunda Gothenburg	SWE	10,482	87.03%
6.	(11.)	SKA St. Petersburg	KHL	10,126	81.01%
7.	(5.)	Adler Mannheim	GER	10,018	73.66%
8.	(20.)	Hamburg Freezers	GER	9,221	72.02%
9.	(10.)	Jokerit Helsinki	FIN	9,173	67.13%
10.	(7.)	Avangard Omsk	KHL	9,143	88.61%
11.	(8.)	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	VHL	8,961	98.80%
12.	(13.)	Medvescak Zagreb	EBEL	8,835	96.50%
13.	(9.)	HC Pardubice	CZE	8,380	82.21%
14.	(26.)	HIFK Helsinki	FIN	8,284	102.02%
15.	(12.)	Salavat Yulayev Ufa	KHL	7,950	100.00%
16.	(15.)	Dinamo Riga	KHL	7,733	75.08%
17.	(16.)	Djurgården Stockholm	SWE	7,723	95.42%
18.	(14.)	ZSC Lions Zurich	SUI	7,625	71.26%
19.	(18.)	Traktor Chelyabinsk	KHL	7,337	97.83%
20.	(22.)	HV71 Jönköping	SWE	7,232	103.31%
21.	(19.)	Amur Khabarovsk	KHL	7,100
22.	(27.)	Met. Magnitogorsk	KHL	7,035
23.	(17.)	Kometa Brno	CZE	6,960
24.	(26.)	Linköpings HC	SWE	6,903
25.	(21.)	Genève-Servette	SUI	6,769
26.	(25.)	Fribourg-Gottéron	SUI	6,636
27.	(23.)	Färjestad Karlstad	SWE	6,589
28.	(32.)	Atlant Mytischi	KHL	6,278
29.	(45.)	Sparta Praha	CZE	6,273
30.	(29.)	EV Zug	SUI	6,265
31.	(35.)	Brynäs Gävle	SWE	6,265
32.	(30.)	MODO Örnsköldsvik	SWE	6,119
33.	(64.)	Malmö Redhawks	SWE-2	6,072
34.	(34.)	Kloten Flyers	SUI	6,041
35.	(28.)	Sibir Novosibirsk	KHL	5,918
36.	(114.)	Slovan Bratislava	SVK	5,907
37.	(37.)	Kärpät Oulu	FIN	5,821
38.	(33.)	HC Košice	SVK	5,678
39.	(31.)	HC Plzeň 1929	CZE	5,584
40.	(40.)	TPS Turku	FIN	5,534
41.	(52.)	Torpedo N. Novgorod	KHL	5,481
42.	(36.)	AIK Stockholm	SWE	5,450
43.	(51.)	Tappara Tampere	FIN	5,358
44.	(41.)	SCL Tigers Langnau	SUI	5,290
45.	(44.)	DEG Metro Stars	GER	5,225
46.	(42.)	Ilves Tampere	FIN	5,208
47.	(43.)	Luleå HF	SWE	5,154
48.	(39.)	Bílí Tygři Liberec	CZE	5,140
49.	(112.)	Växjö Lakers	SWE	5,099
50.	(50.)	Skellefteå AIK	SWE	5,078
51.	(46.)	Neft. Nizhnekamsk	KHL	5,037
52.	(81.)	Vienna Capitals	EBEL	4,906
53.	(54.)	Ak Bars Kazan	RUS	4,876
54.	(47.)	HC Vítkovice Steel	CZE	4,867
55.	(103.)	Met. Novokuznetsk	KHL	4,822
56.	(65.)	Straubing Tigers	GER	4,820
57.	(53.)	Leksands IF	SWE-2	4,820
58.	(66.)	Lausanne HC	SUI-2	4,798
59.	(59.)	Ässät Pori	FIN	4,781
60.	(80.)	Pelicans Lahti	FIN	4,750
61.	(60.)	EHC Biel	SUI	4,749
62.	(62.)	Nottingham Panthers	GBR	4,694
63.	(58.)	PSG Zlín	CZE	4,553
64.	(93.)	Sev. Cherepovets	RUS	4,548
65.	(61.)	HC Davos	SUI	4,544
66.	(49.)	Timrå IK	SWE	4,523
67.	(72.)	Yuzhny Ural Orsk	RUS-2	4,493
68.	(48.)	Slavia Praha	CZE	4,492
69.	(63.)	Krefeld Pinguine	GER	4,486
70.	(69.)	KAC Klagenfurt	EBEL	4,343
71.	(62.)	HC Litvínov	CZE	4,336
72.	(56.)	HC České Budějovice	CZE	4,319
73.	(-.)	HC Lev Poprad	KHL	4,313
74.	(-.)	Kassel Huskies	GER-3	4,293
75.	(91.)	Augsburger Panther	GER	4,267
76.	(77.)	KalPa Kuopio	FIN	4,170
77.	(67.)	Rapperswil-Jona	SUI	4,135
78.	(75.)	HC Lugano	SUI	4,125
79.	(90.)	Iserlohn Roosters	GER	4,124
80.	(57.)	Nürnberg Ice Tigers	GER	4,112
81.	(-.)	Löwen Frankfurt	GER-3	4,056
82.	(95.)	Yermak Angarsk	VHL	4,036
83.	(38.)	UHC Dynamo Moscow	KHL	4,026
84.	(76.)	JYP Jyväskylä	FIN	3,975
85.	(97.)	Khanty-Mansisk	VHL	3,937
86.	(87.)	Belfast Giants	GBR	3,898
87.	(82.)	ERC Ingolstadt	GER	3,854
88.	(78.)	Lukko Rauma	FIN	3,849
89.	(70.)	Hannover Scorpions	GER	3,847
90.	(79.)	EHC München	GER	3,843
91.	(55.)	Barys Astana	KHL	3,756
92.	(84.)	HC Ambrì-Piotta	SUI	3,707
93.	(68.)	Espoo Blues	FIN	3,682
94.	(-.)	Donbass Donetsk	VHL	3,556
95.	(73.)	Yekaterinburg	KHL	3,550
96.	(125.)	Black Wings Linz	EBEL	3,512
97.	(94.)	HPK Hämeenlinna	FIN	3,480
98.	(83.)	Oceláři Třinec	CZE	3,444
99.	(102.)	Fehervar AV19	EBEL	3,437
100.	(88.)	VSV Villach	EBEL	3,422

Regular-Season average attendance Europe & Asia
	League	Attendance
1.	Sweden - Elitserien	6,385
2.	Switzerland - National League A	6,305
3.	Germany - Deutsche Eishockey Liga	6,060
4.	Russia - Kontinental Hockey League	5,891
5.	Finland - SM-liiga	5,103
6.	Czech Republic - Extraliga	4,824
7.	Austria - EBEL	3,606
8.	Slovakia - Extraliga	2,687
9.	Great Britain - Elite Ice Hockey League	2,028
10.	Norway - Get Ligaen	1,462
11.	France - Ligue Magnus	1,391
12.	Denmark - AL-Bank Liga	1,301
13.	Belarus - Extraliga	1,111
14.	Asia League (CHN/KOR/JPN)	1,024
15.	Italy - Serie A	987
Regular-Season average attendance 2nd-tier leagues Europe
	League	Attendance
1.	Sweden - Allsvenskan	2,606
2.	Germany - 2. Bundesliga	2,303
3.	Russia - VHL	2,252
4.	Switzerland - National League B	2,112
5.	Finland - Mestis	1,172
6.	Czech Republic - 1. liga	1,130

Five largest crowds in Czech Extralga history:

OpenAir Hockey, January 2, 2011:
HC Eaton Pardubice – HC Kometa Brno: 17,140

Game 7, 2008 Extraliga Finals:
HC Slavia Praha – HC Energie Karlovy Vary: 17,123

Game 4, 2009 Extraliga Finals:
HC Slavia Praha – HC Energie Karlovy Vary: 16,730

Game 5, 2008 Extraliga Finals:
HC Slavia Praha – HC Energie Karlovy Vary: 16,617

Game 5, 2006 Extraliga Finals:
HC Slavia Praha – HC Sparta Praha: 16,182