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.

Extraliga crisis examined

As Czech hockey fans are getting excited about the recently-started Extraliga playoffs, there is a troubling off-ice situation brewing that is casting uncertainty over what the future of domestic hockey in the country will look like.

It began in December, when Extraliga managers stated their desire to "close" the league. This would mean eliminating the current system of promotion and relegation that exists between the Extraliga and all levels of hockey below. At the end of each season, the Extraliga's last-place team faces the champion of the I.liga, which is the country's second-tier league, in a best-of-seven series. The winner plays in the Extraliga the following season and the loser plays in the I.liga. Almost all of the Extraliga clubs were in favour of closure and almost everyone else was against.

The Extraliga clubs are in favour for obvious reasons. First of all, it prevents them from losing their position in the country's top league.

They also claim that it has financial benefits for the overall league and is better for player development, as teams near the bottom of the standings will focus more on developing players rather than desperately trying to avoid last place. Also, with no ambitions of advancing to the Extraliga, clubs in the lower leagues would affiliations with Extraliga clubs for developing players, much like the North American minor leagues do with the NHL. This would supposedly fill a void in player development that exists after a player has advanced past junior age, a situation that has come under scrutiny in recent years.

A closed Extraliga would diminish the importance of the I.liga
championship. Photo: Zdeněk Špinka, piratichomutov.cz.

Obviously, such a scenario sounds much less appealing to clubs in lower leagues. Being nothing more than tools for developing young prospects could cause fans of these teams to lose interest.

Most of the public is against the idea as well. Indeed, one of the most appealing aspects of the promotion-relegation system is it gives the chance for any affiliated club in the country to advance to the top league in the land if they play well enough. Some of the most decorated clubs in Czech hockey history, such as Dukla Jihlava and VHK Vsetín, currently toil in lower leagues. Closure of the Extraliga would virtually eliminate their chance of ever returning to the top. It would also diminish the importance of winning the I.liga championship, as there would be nowhere for the winner to go.

Also against this proposal is the Czech Ice Hockey Association (ČSLH), and this is where the situation starts to get really sticky. It is the ČSLH that gives the 14 Extraliga clubs the mandate to run their league via the Association of Professional Clubs (APK). The contract between these two bodies expires at the end of this season and the ČSLH is making it clear that they do not wish to give the clubs the mandate to close their league. In response, the APK is threatening to cut ties with the sport's national governing body entirely.

The situation has become so multi-layered between these two bodies, as well as member clubs, the league's marketing arm, legal ramifications and bilateral international agreements that untangling it all to make sense of it is a daunting task.

Eurohockey.com's Petr Polák is attempting to do just that. Back on January 10, Polák wrote about the Extraliga's plan to close the league and their insistence at pursuing it despite the wall of opposition. Beginning today (March 2), Eurohockey is publishing a series of articles by Polák in six installments, which explore the various parts of this conflict. Why six installments? Because, as Polák explains in "Part 1", "If Eurohockey.com were a print magazine, we could practically dedicate an entire issue to the situation in the Czech Extraliga. And because of the enormous scope of the issue, we have decided to publish it as a series."

Part I of "Is the Czech Extraliga going through a crisis?" has already been posted at Eurohockey.com. This section outlines the background of the situation, including the nature of the relationship between the ČSLH and APK. Parts 2 through 6 will be published according to the following schedule:

2. APK vs. ČSLH (will be published on Mar 3)
3. APK vs. other clubs (will be published on Mar 4)
4. APK vs. BPA (will be published on Mar 5)
5. APK vs. the law (will be published on Mar 6)
6. APK vs. APK + Epilogue (will be published on Mar 7)

APK meeting: No Slovak teams next year, clubs request full rosters for December tournaments

At Thursday's meeting of the Association of Professional Clubs (APK), the board that governs the Czech Extraliga had a couple of important issues to discuss. One was over a club's right to retain players from the national team, as some clubs are in a dispute with the national team about conflicting tournaments in December. The other was about who will play in the Extraliga next year, as two Slovak clubs have recently requested entry. The only thing that has been decided for certain is that there will be no change next season; there will be no expansion and no Slovak teams in 2012-13.

Plzeň 1929 (blue) and Slovan Bratislava (white) at the European
Trophy in August. They won't face each other on the 2012-13
Czech Extraliga schedule. Photo: Milan Podpera, hcplzen.cz.

"We need more time to evaluate whether it makes sense to expand the league," said Karlovy Vary general manager Miroslav Vaňek. Not only were Slovak clubs from Bratislava and Košice seeking entry for next season, but also Czech First League clubs in Chomutov and Ústí nad Labem. The feeling among existing teams seemed to be that this is an issue worth considering, but there were too many issues that have to be ironed out to make it go smoothly, and there simply wasn't enough time to make it happen in time for next season.

"If we decide that this will have a financial benefit for us, and bring in larger crowds, well then let's do it. But we had to decide quickly and we didn't have enough time for it. In the long term, I think that the globalisation of the league will be difficult to avoid."

With so many clubs wanting to join the Extraliga, some are concerned with the number of teams that would end up in the league. "We keep hearing that we need to improve the quality and possibly reduce the number of teams in the Extraliga," said Pardubice general manger Zbyněk Kusý. "Now to accommodate these teams we would have to expand to 16, 18 or 20 teams. I don't think that's the direction we want to go in."

Kusý also said that there was some discussion about the concern of his and other clubs who will be participating in tournaments in December to be able to utilise their full rosters. Pardubice, Plzeň and České Budějovice will all be playing in the Red Bulls Salute, the playoff round to determine the 2011 European Trophy, from December 16 to 18. The national team plays the Channel One Cup that same weekend in Chomutov and Moscow, and they want to bring with them some of the top players from these clubs. As well, Vítkovice plays in the Spengler Cup after Christmas, and therefore has re-scheduled a regular season game for that weekend. Another meeting for next Wednesday, involving all concerned parties, has been scheduled.

"An official standard is needed that will somehow be respected by all parties," he said. "Everything is evolving and the contract will need to be continually upgraded with respect to other associations and leagues."

Kusy and the representatives of other participating teams are taking the European Trophy seriously, and are concerned that they will be stripped of their best players without being able to replace them, while clubs from other countries will apparently be coming at full strength. The national team, meanwhile, has a large field of players to choose from, for a tournament that is little more than an opportunity to audition for roster spots for the World Championships in the spring. Among the players that are likely to be selected are Pardubice captain Petr Koukal and Budějovice starting goaltender Jakub Kovář.

Some have suggested that the European Trophy, which this season involved 24 clubs from six European leagues who each played eight-game pre-season schedules against each other, could eventually evolve into a pan-European league that will be the highest level of hockey on the continent, potentially rivaling the KHL and NHL for top talent. Therefore, Kusý believes it's important for the Czech teams to perform well, and for  national governing bodies not to be dismissive of the tournament.

"In my opinion, this new European tournament could evolve into something very important and how well Czech teams do could affect our participation in future European competitions." he said. "If I have the right information, all teams (from other countries) are going at full strength. Everyone told me it is a prestigious tournament for them, so they're going in full force."

At the meeting, the league also discussed the possibility of bringing in a salary cap in order to control costs.

Extraliga pre-season begins Thursday

After a seemingly short time off, the 14 teams that will compete in the Czech Extraliga will soon take to the ice in preparation for the 2011-12 season. Things kick off on Thursday night, with three Extraliga clubs in action. Bílí Tygři Liberec and Benzína Litvinov will face off against each other in Litvínov. Meanwhile, defending-champion Oceláři Třinec travels 120 kilometres to Olomouc, where they will take on the local 1st League club.

Next up, Kometa Brno will host KHL club SKA St. Petersburg on Monday, August 1, followed by six more teams hitting the ice the following day. For the visiting Russian club, Brno will be the second stop on a three-game Czech tour. They play against First-League club Hradec Králové on Thursday and then against Třinec on August 3 in Přerov, the hometown of SKA coach Miloš Riha. Slavia Praha will be the last team to get into the mix, opening their pre-season schedule on Thursday, August 4 against Liberec at Zimní stadion Eden in Prague's Vršovice district.

A good portion of the pre-season schedule will include games from the European Trophy, with seven Extraliga clubs playing eight games each. The 24-team, six-nation tournament begins on August 11, with Sparta Praha and ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice playing at home and Liberec and Slavia playing abroad.

The European Trophy isn't the only international tourament that Extraliga clubs will compete in this August, however. The same day the European Trophy begins, Třinec and PSG Zlín will begin play in the Rona Cup, a three-day event in Trenčín, Slovakia that will also include three Slovak clubs. Other tournaments that will happen in Slovakia include the Tatran Cup in Poprad, in which Vítkovice Steel will compete, and the Cassovia Cup in Košice, which will be Třinec's second tournament. Extraliga clubs will also compete in tournaments and series in Switzerland, Germany, and Croatia.

The final day of pre-season action will be September 9, with the Extraliga regular season beginning a week later, on September 16.

From hokej.cz, here is the pre-season schedule for 2011-12 Extraliga clubs:

HC Oceláři Třinec

28.7. at Olomouc (1st League)
3.8. St. Petersburg (KHL) at Přerov
10.8. Lev Poprad (KHL)
11.8. Trenčín (Slovak EL) Rona Cup at Trenčín, Slovakia
12.8. Košice (Slovak EL) Rona Cup at Trenčín, Slovakia
13.8. Nitra (Slovak EL) Rona Cup at Trenčín, Slovakia
18.8. Skalica (Slovak EL)
26.8. CSKA Moscow (KHL) Cassovia Hockey Cup at Košice, Slovakia 
27.8. Košice (Slovak EL) Cassovia Hockey Cup at Košice, Slovakia 
28.8. Lev Poprad (KHL) Cassovia Hockey Cup at Košice, Slovakia 
30.8. Zlín 
6.9. Trenčín (Slovak EL)
8.9. at Pardubice

HC Vítkovice Steel

2.8. at Olomouc (1st League)
4.8. France U23
5.8. Skalica (Slovak EL)
9.8. Lev Poprad (KHL)
11.8. Acroni Jesenice (EBEL)
16.8. Trenčín (Slovak EL)
19.8. Graz (EBEL) Tatranský pohár at Poprad, Slovakia
20.8. Lev Poprad (KHL) Tatranský pohár at Poprad, Slovakia
21.8. Placement game Tatranský pohár at Poprad, Slovakia
24.8. Davos (Swiss NLA) Industrie Cup at Lyss, Switzerland
26.8. Langnau (Swiss NLA) Industrie Cup at Lyss, Switzerland
27.8. Rapperswil-Jona (Swiss NLA) Industrie Cup at Lyss, Switzerland
2.9. Medveščak Zagreb (EBEL) Memoriál Ferdo Spajiče at Zagreb, Croatia
3.9. Munich (DEL) Memoriál Ferdo Spajiče at Zagreb, Croatia
4.9. Zug (Swiss NLA) Memoriál Ferdo Spajiče at Zagreb, Croatia
6.9. at Zlín
8.9. Zlín

HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice

4.8. at Hradec Králové (1st League)
11.8. Linköping (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
13.8. HV´71 Jönköping (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
18.8. at Liberec European Trophy
20.8. at Mannheim (German DEL) European Trophy
22.8. at Tappara Tampere (Finnish SML) European Trophy
27.8. Kometa Brno European Trophy
28.8. IFK Helsinki (Finnish SML) European Trophy
6.9. at Plzeň European Trophy
8.9. Třinec

HC Slavia Praha

4.8. Liberec 
11.8. at Djurgaarden (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
13.8. at Lulea (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
14.8. at TPS Turku (Finnish SML) European Trophy
19.8. Sparta Praha European Trophy 
25.8. Jokerit Helsinki (Finnish SML) European Trophy
27.8. IFK Helsinki (Finnish SML) European Trophy
31.8. Plzeň European Trophy
4.9. at Mannheim (German DEL) European Trophy
9.9. Most (1st League)

Bílí Tygři Liberec

28.7. at Litvínov
2.8. at Sparta Praha
4.8. at Slavia Praha

6.8. Kometa Brno European Trophy
18.8. Pardubice European Trophy
25.8. at HV´71 Jönköping (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
27.8. at Linköping (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
28.8. at Kärpät Oulu (Finnish SML) European Trophy
1.9. Mannheim (German DEL) European Trophy
3.9. Lulea (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
4.9. Eisbären Berlin (German DEL) European Trophy
9.9. at Sparta Praha European Trophy

PSG Zlín

11.8. Košice (Slovak EL) Rona Cup at Trenčín, Slovakia
12.8. Nitra (Slovak EL) Rona Cup at Trenčín, Slovakia
13.8. Trenčín (Slovak EL) Rona Cup at Trenčín, Slovakia
17.8. Karlovy Vary
23.8. Skalica (Slovak EL)
25.8. Nitra (Slovak EL)
30.8. at Třinec
1.9. at Skalica (Slovak EL)
6.9. Vítkovice
8.9. at Vítkovice

HC Mountfield České Budějovice

2.8. at Kladno
4.8. Třebíč (Slovak EL)
9.8. Kladno
12.8. Plzeň European Trophy
18.8. at Kuopio (Finnish SML) European Trophy
20.8. at Kärpät Oulu (Finnish SML) European Trophy
25.8. Slovan Bratislava (Slovak EL) European Trophy
27.8. Vienna Capitals (EBEL) European Trophy
1.9. at Salzburg (EBEL) European Trophy
3.9. at Kometa Brno European Trophy
6.9. Sparta Praha European Trophy
8.9. Martin (Slovak EL)

HC Benzina Litvínov

28.7. Liberec
4.8. Kladno
9.8. at Langnau (Swiss NLA)
10.8. Servette Geneva (Swiss NLA) Hockeyades at Le Sentier, Switzerland
11.8. Lugano (Swiss NLA) Hockeyades, Le Sentier at Switzerland
13.8. Placement game Hockeyades at Le Sentier, Switzerland
16.8. at Chomutov (1st League)
18.8. Mladá Boleslav
19.8. at Kladno
23.8. at Ústí nad Labem (1st League)
25.8. at Karlovy Vary
30.8. Ústí nad Labem (1st League)
1.9. at Mladá Boleslav
6.9. Benátky nad Jizerou (1st League)
8.9. Chomutov (1st League)

HC Plzeň 1929

3.8. at Mladá Boleslav
9.8. at Karlovy Vary
12.8. at České Budějovice European Trophy
18.8. at Kärpät Oulu (Finnish SML) European Trophy
20.8. at Kuopio (Finnish SML) European Trophy
25.8. Vienna Capitals (EBEL) European Trophy
27.8. Slovan Bratislava (Slovak EL) European Trophy
28.8. Tappara Tampere (Finnish SML) European Trophy
31.8. at Slavia Praha European Trophy
6.9. Pardubice European Trophy
8.9. Karlovy Vary

HC Energie Karlovy Vary

2.8. at Chomutov (1st League)
4.8. Kadaň (1st League)
9.8. Plzeň
11.8. Ústí nad Labem  (1st League)
14.8. Ufa (KHL)
16.8. at Skalica (Slovak EL)
17.8. at Zlín
18.8. at Nitra (Slovak EL)
19.8. at Linz (EBEL)
23.8. Chomutov (1st League)
25.8. Litvínov
1.9. at Davos (Swiss NLA)
3.9. at Lugano (Swiss NLA)
4.9. at Ambri-Piotta (Swiss NLA)
8.9. at Plzeň

HC Kometa Brno

1.8. St. Petersburg (KHL)
2.8. at Havlíčkův Brod (1st League)
4.8. at Slovan Bratislava (Slovak EL)
13.8. Linköping (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
14.8. HV´71 Jönköping (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
16.8. at Liberec (European Trophy)
19.8. Mannheim (German DEL) European Trophy at Innsbruck, Austria
21.8. at Salzburg (EBEL) European Trophy
27.8. at Pardubice European Trophy
28.8. Jokerit Helsinki (Finnish SML) European Trophy
3.9. České Budějovice European Trophy
6.9. Skalica (Slovak EL)
8.9. Slovan Bratislava (Slovak EL)

HC Sparta Praha

2.8. Liberec
5.8. Mladá Boleslav
11.8.  HV´71 Jönköping (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
13.8. at Djurgaarden (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
14.8. at Lulea (Swedish SEL) European Trophy
20.8. at Slavia Praha European Trophy
25.8. IFK Helsinki (Finnish SML) European Trophy
27.8. Jokerit Helsinki (Finnish SML) European Trophy
3.9. Eisbären Berlin (German DEL) European Trophy
4.9. at České Budějovice European Trophy
9.9. at Liberec

HC Vagnerplast Kladno

2.8. České Budějovice
4.8. at Litvínov
9.8. at České Budějovice
15.8. Ufa (KHL)
16.8. Ústí nad Labem (1st League)
18.8. Wolfsburg (German DEL)
19.8. Litvínov
23.8. at Crimmitschau (German 2nd BL)
25.8. Mladá Boleslav
30.8. at Landshut (German 2nd BL)
1.9. at Ústí nad Labem (1st League)
8.9. at Mladá Boleslav

BK Mladá Boleslav

3.8. Plzeň
5.8. at Sparta Praha
9.8. Litoměřice (1st League)
11.8. at Hradec Králové
18.8. at Litvínov
23.8. Benátky nad Jizerou (1st League)
25.8. at Kladno
30.8. at Benátky nad Jizerou (1st League)
1.9. Litvínov
8.9. Kladno

Znojmo joins Austrian League

In the not-too-distant past, they were contenders for the Czech national championship, but have been relegated to the First League since 2009. Now, starting in 2011-12, HC Orli Znojmo will play in the Austrian-based Erste Bank Hockey League.

 

"Today we reached a final agreement and signed the contract," club manager Stanislav Hahn stated Tuesday on the team's website. "All details will be announced at Thursday's press conference."

The announcement marks a return to top-level European hockey for the Eagles.  After winning back-to-back First League titles in 1998 and 1999, Znojmo was promoted to the Extraliga, where they competed for 10 years. Their most successful season was 2005-06, when they advanced to the semi-finals. In 2009, facing mounting costs, club ownership sold its Extraliga license to another South Moravian club, Kometa Brno.

After two seasons in the lower circuit, Orli players seem to be looking forward to the prospect of better competition. "The Austrian League is better than the Czech First League," said team captain Radek Haman.

This isn't the first time that a Czech-based team has attempted to play in a foreign league. Karlovy Vary and Hradec Králové have each attempted to join the KHL, but failed. Karlovy Vary experienced setbacks related to the global financial crisis and the Hradec group, which had already named its team HC Lev Hradec Králové, was not given approval by the Czech Ice Hockey Association. The team moved to Poprad, Slovakia, and will play in the KHL next season in that city. Although the ČSLH didn't approve the Hradec plan, they have given the go-ahead to the Znojmo proposal.

"We carefully examined and refined all the conditions to make them viable for both parties," said Hahn. He also said that the club's youth teams will continue to play domestically. This would include the Znojmo U20 team, which is the reigning Czech junior champion.

Although the EBEL is based in Austria, it now has teams in five countries: six in Austria, two in Slovenia, and one each in Croatia and Hungary. Orli Znojmo becomes the league's 11th team, and there's a possibility of a 12th being added for next season, either in Hungary or Slovakia. Its reigning champion is Red Bull Salzburg.

More details about the Znojmo transfer will be announced Thursday.

Pardubice earns split in Vítkovice, Ujčík sets playoff goal mark

Víktovice Steel and Eaton Pardubice split the first two games of their Extraliga semifinal series on the weekend and a Víktovice veteran established the new career playoff goals record.

In the first game, Jiří Burger opened the scoring in the last minute of the first period and closed the scoring late in the third, as Vítkovice drew first blood with a 4-0 home-ice victory. Roman Málek made 30 saves for the shutout.

Vítkovice's Viktor Ujčík (visible at the side of the net) scores to
become the Extraliga's all-time playoff goal-scoring leader, as
Pardubice's František Kaberle watches helplessly. Photo: Petr
Kotala, hc-vitkovice.cz.

On Sunday, it was Pardubice's turn to open the scoring in the last minute of the first period, with Petr Koukal doing the honours. Midway through the third, Koukal assisted on Jan Starý's eventual game-winner, as the visitors withstood some late pressure and escaped with a narrow 3-2 victory to even the series. Martin Růžička stopped 34 of 36 shots.

Viktor Ujčík scored both of Vítkovice's goals in the second game, the latter with only 27 seconds remaining. He now has 53 career playoff goals in the Czech Extraliga, making him the league's all-time playoff goal-scoring leader.

"Well, I've been playing hockey for about 40 years, so it's something that's eventually going to happen. I guess I got a merit award," he said dismissively about the historic event. "And the two goals today? The first one was beautifully set up by Jiří Burger. It was impossible to miss. And the other one, I tried to put it from the side into the goalie and it deflected between his legs and into the net. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't enough."

The 38-year-old veteran has played 16 seasons at the top level of Czechoslovak and Czech hockey. Teams include Dukla Jihlava, Slavia Praha, Oceláři Třinec, Keramika Plzeň, Sparta Praha, and Vítkovice, with whom he's spent the last 4 years. He also played 3 seasons in the Finnish SM-liiga for Karpat Oulu. He represented the Czech Repbulic at the 2001 and 2002 World Championships, getting 13 points in 16 games combined and winning a gold medal in '01. He was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in 2001 as a 29 year old, but has never played in a North American league.

The series resumes in Pardubice on Wednesday and Thursday. Regardless of what happens there, it will surely return to Ostrava for a fifth game on Sunday.

The other semifinal series between Oceláři Třinec and Slavia Praha begins on Monday. The game begins at 17:00 and will be available live on the internet at www.ct24.cz/sport, but the television broadcast will be tape-delayed until 19:30. The second game, on Tuesday, will be televised live at 18:10. The series will then shift to Prague for games 3 and 4 on Friday and Saturday.

Also starting monday is the final series of the First National League. The series, which is between Slovan Ústečtí Lvi and KLH Chomutov, will determine who has the right to challenge BK Mladá Boleslav for a position in the Extraliga next season.

Duda returns to 1st League, gets 2 points

On Thursday, Radek Duda spoke to police in Karlovy Vary for the first time since he was involved in an incident with his car and a pedestrian last Tuesday. According to reports at KLH Chomutov's website, Duda's version of the events is "fundamentally different from information in the media," according to club president Jaroslav Veverka. It's not clear at this point the content of his statement, nor how the case will proceed. According to comments made by Duda's father, Duda acted angrily because the pedestrian had kicked his car.

Radek Duda. Photo: Zdeněk Špinka, klhchomutov.cz.

After 25 games in the Extraliga playing for Plzeň 1929, Duda returned to the First League club with whom he started the season, taking to the ice on the road against Berounští Medvědi (Beroun Bears) on Saturday.

Trailing 2-1 after two periods, Duda tied the score for Chomutov forty seconds into the third period, deflecting Tomáš Slovák's shot past goaltender Dominik Furch. Nine minutes later, Duda assisted on David Hruška's eventual game-winner.

Earlier this year, Duda recorded 18 points in 17 games for Chomutov, before being loaned to Plzeň 1929 in November. There, he recorded 29 points in 25 games. He will now try to help Chomutov win the First League championship and battle for a spot in the Extraliga for next season.

With the win, Chomutov has 85 points, with 2 games remaining on the schedule. They are second place and can't drop down, but could possibly still claim top spot if they win both games and Slovan Ústečtí Lvi loses its lone remaining game. Either way, they have clinched a spot in the semi-finals, where they will play either Dukla Jihlava or Olomouc.

The winner of the First League playoffs will play a best-of-seven series against the last place team from the Extraliga, with the winner playing in the Extraliga next season and the loser in the First League. The last place team in the Extraliga will be either BK Mladá Boleslav or Vagnerplast Kladno.