Out with the old, in with the new: Czech teams to play for Masaryk Cup

Written for Eurohockey.com, with information from Václav Jáchim of Hokej.cz.

The world of hockey has the Stanley Cup, the Gagarin Cup, and now the Masaryk Cup.

The new championship trophy of the Czech Extraliga was unveiled to the media on Wednesday at the Clarion Hotel in Prague. Upon first glance, it was apparent that both the name and the appearance of the trophy were an enormous step up from it's predecessor.

Radek Bonk of Třinec awkwardly lifts the old, nameless trophy in
2011. Photo: hcocelari.cz. 

To begin with, the old trophy didn't really have a name. It was just casually referred to as "pohár mistrů" (champions' cup), and its appearance was equally as generic. Looking like something in the display window of a trophy shop, except much larger, it was awkward to hoist and prone to disaster. The championship teams of Pardubice damaged it in both 2005 and 2010 -- the first time it needed to be replaced altogether, while the club had to pay to have the second one repaired.

"It might sound funny now, but at the time it was not funny at all," APK president Tomáš Král said about the cup's problems. But while stories of early misadventures are now part of the lore of the Stanley Cup, the sport of hockey's most recognizable piece of hardware, The Extraliga's biggest prize seemed to receive nothing but scorn and ridicule. Finally, league owners decided that their teams should compete for a symbol that commanded both reverence and respect, both in appearance and in name.

"We considered several proposals, we took into account aesthetics, dimensions and other criteria," said Král about what the finished product should look like.

The Masaryk Cup. Photo: hokej.cz.

The winning proposal was submitted by studio Artcore, and was built by Golfface, both Czech companies. It stands 73.8 cm tall and weighs approximately 15 kg. The main part is lightweight silver casing with gold plating and a stainless steel base. On the base, names of all future championship teams and players will be engraved year to year, much like the Stanley Cup.

Also like the Stanley Cup, the name has meaning to the roots of the sport in the country it represents as well. Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley of Preston was the Governor General of Canada, Queen Victoria's representative in the young dominion. The new Czech cup goes beyond that, to Czechoslovakia's first head of state.

"When searching for a name we were thinking about multiple personalities, inspired from abroad, and eventually decided on the TG Masaryk Cup."

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk was the first president of Czechoslovakia, presiding from 1918 to 1935 and is one of the most respected figures in the nation's history. He is also connected to some significant Czech hockey firsts as well, donating the first domestic championship trophy in 1924 and presenting the winning team to the gold medalists at the 1933 World Championships in Prague. Lord Stanley's sons were big hockey fans and so were Masaryk's -- his son Herbert even played for HC Slavia Praha.

The new trophy will tour around the country during the 2013-14 season, appearing at a game in every Extraliga arena starting with the first game of the season on Thursday, when defending champion Plzeň hosts Vítkovice. Plzeň, of course, was the last winner of the old trophy, which will now be retired to the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame, which is scheduled to open in time for the 2015 World Championships.

"I think we've done it," Král happily declared. "I believe that the Masaryk Cup will be a worthy prize for a champion, and that it will give them their proper due."

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)

Despite mourning, games will go ahead

Martin Ručinský presenting then-President Havel with a Czech
hockey jersey after winning Olympic gold in 1998. Photo: ČTK.

The show must go on.

That's the decision that was made by the Association of Professional Clubs (APK), regarding the postponement of Extraliga games that fall within the three days of official mourning for the death of ex-President Václav Havel.

"The report of a three-day period of mourning came before the conclusion of our meeting," said APK member Ladislav Blažek. "We had a chance to decide whether we would or wouldn't, and we decided that we'll play."

A moment of silence will precede all six of Tuesday's games, plus Wednesday's game between Karlovy Vary and Vítkovice. 

Also scheduled to take place this week is a series of international youth exhibition games between the Czech Republic and Russia. Unless the Czech Ice Hockey Association chooses to adjust the schedule in observation of the national mourning period, the national U18 teams of both countries will meet in Písek on Tuesday and in Přibram on Wednesday. The two nations' U16 teams are scheduled to play Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Roudnice nad Labem, Slaný and Litoměřice.

"The Czech Ice Hockey Association will join the commemoration of President Havel. The association's leadership will decide the exact form that will take on Tuesday morning," said ČSLH spokesman Zdeněk Zikmund.

Also discussed at the APK meeting was the issue of "closing" the Extraliga, which would eliminate promotion from and relegation to the First National League. Nothing was agreed upon, other than to continue discussions at the next meeting.

"The clubs have expressed their consent to further negotiations on the closure of the Extraliga, starting with the 2012-13 season," said Blažek. "Another meeting will take place. The manner of closure, and deciding whether to play with 14 clubs or if we will expand."
 

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.

Slovak teams in Czech Extraliga?

In 1993, following the administrative breakup of Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak Hockey Extraliga followed suit, ending over 60 years of Czech- and Slovak-based hockey clubs playing together in the same league. For the past 19 years, clubs in the two neighbouring states have not played together in the same league, but that may change for the 2012-13 season.

Igor Liba captained Košice to two Czechoslovak titles in the
1980s. Photo: hckefans.blog.cz.

News agency ČTK is reporting that two Slovak clubs, HC Slovan Bratislava and HC Košice, are seeking to leave the Slovak Extraliga and play in the Czech Extraliga next season. Director of the Czech Association of Professional Ice Hockey Clubs (APK LH) Stanislav Šulc confirmed that negotiations are taking place. "We were visited from Slovakia," he said. "At the meeting we verbally tabled our proposal and then they sent us theirs in writing."

According to Slovan general manager Maroš Krajči, there is a greater financial upside to playing in the Czech league over Slovakia, which would result from higher attendance and more sponsors. "The market would be twice as large, which is attractive to us. The financial situation is bad for Slovak sports and we need to attract sponsors for something more. Playing in the Czech Republic with clubs from a world-championship country is attractive."

Slovan Bratislava and Košice are Slovakia's two most financially successful teams, which play in its largest and most modern arenas in the two largest cities. They co-hosted last year's IIHF World Championships together. If any teams would seem suitable to jump to a supposedly higher league, it would be them. It is no secret that Slovan has been seeking another league to play in. It was speculated that they wanted to join the Kontinental League next season, but that doesn't appear likely at this point. The Czech Extraliga would seem to be a logical alternative.

The Šťastný brothers with Slovan. sport.aktuality.sk. 

Slovan Bratislava won the Czechoslovak national championship in 1978-79, led by the Šťastný brothers, Marián, Peter and Anton. They have also won 10 Slovak titles, three during  the short-lived World War II-era First Republic and seven more since 1993. Košice won Czechoslovak titles in 1985-86 and 1987-88, the latter team included Peter Bondra, and have won five Slovak titles since 1993.

"Czech clubs are extremely interesting for us," Krajči continued. "We played together in a federal league for years, which was very successful for both sides."

The APK has called for a league-wide meeting of current Extraliga clubs to discuss the situation. One of the topics that's sure to be discussed is whether the Czech Extraliga would expand to 16 teams to allow for the entrance of the two Slovak clubs, or if some of the existing members would have to be relegated.

National team and clubs dispute over players for December tournaments

It's not often that European hockey clubs and national teams dispute over the availability of the players. In contrast with North America, where the NHL is king, wearing the national colours in Europe has always taken priority and, normally, domestic leagues shut down for international tournaments. However, on the third weekend in December, there are international and club tournaments scheduled to operate at the same time, and Otakar Duben of ceskatelevize.cz is reporting that some of the Czech clubs involved have made it clear that they intend to take their full rosters.

Alois Hadamczik might not have all the players he wants in
Chomutov and Moscow. Photo: Kateřina Šulová, ceskatelevize.cz.

From December 15 to 18, the Channel One Cup, which is the second leg of the 2011-12 Euro Hockey Tour, will be held in Moscow. It features the national teams of Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic. That same weekend, the Red Bulls Salute, the playoff round to determine the winner of the 2011 European Trophy, will be held in Vienna and Salzburg, Austria. Among the quarter-finalists that have advanced from the pre-season tournament are one team each from Austria and Finland, three from Sweden, and three Czech clubs: České Budějovice, Pardubice, and Plzeň.

At the recently completed Karjala Cup in Finland, the Czech roster included goaltender Jakub Kovář and forward Aleš Kotalík of České Budějovice and forward Petr Koukal of Pardubice. It appears that they might not be there the next time.

"I have a responsibility to the owners, partners and fans (of the Pardubice club)," said general manager Zbyněk Kusy. "I cannot let an elite player miss a top club event and replace him with somebody from the First League." Meanwhile, Budějovice's general manger, Josef Zajíc said, "If Kovář is going to be used as a back-up as he was at the Karjala, it will be better for him to play the tournament in Austria."

National team coach Alois Hadamczik, for one, is aghast that some clubs are threatening to withhold players from the national team for what he considers to be an inferior tournament. "If someone would rather play in a third-rate tournament, that's pretty sad. To argue that the European Trophy is more beneficial to the player than games with Russia, Sweden and Finland? Those are far more important confrontations."

Kusy told newspaper Sport that the issue has already been settled, claiming "(National team general manager) Slavomír Lener announced to the APK that the European Trophy finalists will have all their players and they will not be selected for the Channel One Cup."

Lener, however, claims that he did not make such a promise, and that ultimately Hadamczik is free to choose the team he wishes. As for who he will choose, Hadamczik says, "I have a moral obligation to select who I think are the best players available."

Making the dispute more interesting to Czech hockey fans might be the fact that one of the opening games of the Channel One Cup will be played in Chomutov. The North Bohemian city's brand new arena will play host to the Czech Republic-Sweden game on December 15.

The Finnish and Swedish rosters might also be affected by this conflict, as they both have players on their national teams that are in the Red Bulls Salute. From Finland's Karjala Cup roster, defenceman Ossi Väänänen plays for Jokerit, forward Topi Jaakola plays for Luleå, and forward Mika Pyörälä plays for Frölunda. From Sweden, goaltender Johan Gustafsson and forwards Simon Hjalmarsson and Johan Harju play for Luleå, defenceman Klas Dahlbeck and forward Andreas Jämti play for Linköpings, and defenceman Christian Bäckman plays for Frölunda. The fact that two Finns play for Swedish clubs involved could complicate things further.

It remains to be seen how Czech television handles the concurrent tournaments. ČT4 normally shows most Euro Hockey Tour games, and all games involving the Czech Republic. However, they also televised several European Trophy games in August and September, and it would seem odd to ignore the playoff portion of the tournament with three Czech teams involved.

Here is the schedule for the Channel One Cup (all times are Central European):

Thursday, December 15:

17:00 Russia - Finland (Moscow)

18:20 Czech Republic - Sweden (Chomutov)

Saturday, December 17:

11:00 Russia - Sweden (Moscow)

15:00 Czech Republic - Finland (Moscow)

Sunday, December 18:

11:00 Russia - Czech Republic (Moscow)

15:00 Sweden - Finland (Moscow)

And here is the schedule for the Red Bulls Salute:

Friday, December 16:

17:15 Jokerit Helsinki - HC České Budějovice (quarterfinal, Vienna)

17:15 Frölunda Indians - Linköpings HC (quarterfinal, Salzburg)

20:30 HC Plzeň 1929 - Luleå HF (quarterfinal, Vienna)

20:30 HC Pardubice - EC Red Bull Salzburg (quarterfinal, Salzburg)

Saturday, December 17:

17:15 Winners of quarterfinals in Vienna (semifinal, Vienna)

17:15 Winners of quarterfinals in Salzburg (semifinal, Salzburg)

20:30 Losers of quarterfinals in Vienna (qualification, Vienna)

20:30 Losers of quarterfinals in Salzburg (qualification, Salzburg)

Sunday, December 18:

14:00 Losers of qualification games (7th/8th place, Salzburg)

17:15 Winners of qualification games (5th/6th place, Salzburg)

17:15 Losers of semifinal games (3rd/4th place, Vienna)

20:30 Winners of semifinal games (championship game, Vienna)

Start of Extraliga season pushed back to Sunday

This coming Friday was supposed to be the start of the 2011-12 season for the Czech Extraliga. However, because that day coincides with the funeral of Jan Marek, one of the players killed in last Wednesday's Yaroslavl airline tragedy, the league has now announced that Sunday will be the new starting day.

Photo: hokej.cz.

The change was hinted at on Friday, the same day the three players, Marek, Karel Rachůnek and Josef Vašiček, layed in state at Prague's Old Town Square. At that ceremony, APK President Stanislav Šulc said, "We have been informed that Jan Marek's funeral will be held on Friday. I spoke with some of the clubs on the weekend about the possibility of moving the first round of games, and then we received the same request from Jan's family."

All three players will have their funerals in their home towns on consecutive days this week. Rachůnek's will be in Zlín on Wednesday, Vašiček's in Havlíčkův Brod on Thursday, and Marek's in Jindřichův Hradec on Friday. 

After unanimous approval from the league's 14 clubs, the full slate of games Friday was postponed. The only thing to be agreed upon now is when they will be made up. "On the schedule we have some open Tuesdays," said Šulc. "It will come down to whatever works best for the two clubs involved."

Nedvěd and Kalous fined, Doležal sits 1 game

The Association of Professional Clubs (APK) has made its ruling on the incident in the third period of Sunday's Liberec-Slavia game that included a knee, a fight, a coach walking onto the ice, and a thrown water bottle.

Jiří Doležal catches Petr Nedvěd with a knee in game 2. Both are
expected to miss game 3. Photo: Petr Zbranek, hcbilitygri.cz.

At the 7:38 mark of the third period, Slavia Praha's Jiří Doležal caught Bílí Tygři Liberec's Petr Nedvěd with a knee, two minutes after Nedvěd had scored to give Liberec a 4-0 lead. Doležal then fought with Andrej Podkonický. Incensed, Liberec coach Jiří Kalous stepped onto the ice, apparently wanting to confront Dolezal, although that didn't happen. As he left the ice, an angry Nedvěd threw a water bottle at the Slavia bench before going to the dressing room.

Doležal and Podkonický were both ejected from the game. Because he received two game misconducts, one for kneeing and one for fighting, Doležal is automatically suspended for one game. Nedvěd didn't return to the game and was taken to the hospital for examination. His status for Wednesday's game is doubtful. The referees took no action against Kalous.

After the game, both teams were screaming for disciplinary action against members of the opposition. Liberec didn't think that one game for Doležal was enough, while Slavia felt the behaviour of Nedvěd and Kalous should be punished. Ultimately, Slavia seemed to get the justice they were seeking, while Liberec was left unhappy with the outcome.

For throwing a water bottle at the Slavia bench, Nedvěd was fined CZK 10,000 (approximately EUR 400). Kalous' fine was double, at CZK 20,000 "for illegal entry to the ice rink," Karel Holý, Chairman of the APK's Disciplinary Committee, told news agency ČTK.

"Dolezal will not be punished further, as the penalty awarded in the game of five minutes and a game misconduct shall be deemed sufficient."

After the announcement of the penalties, Liberec General Manager Ctibor Jech stated, "We accept the decision of the Disciplinary Committee, even though we continue to believe that Doležal deserved, and we expected he would receive, an additional penalty. Petr Nedvěd was off the ice for two days and playing the next game is unlikely." 

The APK also had a look at the check to the head by Benzina Litvínov's Peter Janský on Oceláři Třinec's Josef Hrabal and determined that the automatic one game, resulting from the match penalty called, was sufficient punishment.

Both series resume on Wednesday and Thursday, with Litvínov hosting Třinec at 17:30 and Slavia hosting Liberec at 18:15. ČT4 Sport will televise Wednesday's game from Litvínov and Thursday's game from Prague.

Fate of Champions League to be announced next week

When they announced the relaunch of the Champions Hockey League in November, the International Ice Hockey Federation gave a date of February 17 for the top eight member leagues to accept an invitation to join.

On Friday, the day after that deadline, the IIHF announced on its website that next week it will announce a decision. The federation's council will meet from Tuesday to Thursday, after which they plan to announce whether the league will go ahead for the 2011-12 season.

 “This is not a clear ‘yes’ or ‘no’ situation,” said Horst Lichtner, the IIHF’s General Secretary. “Several replies that we have received are basically positive to a re-launch, but they carry certain conditions and, together with our board and our marketing partner, we must carefully evaluate if those conditions can be met.”

Slavia's Josef Beránek takes the opening faceoff against Tomáš
Surový of Linköpings HC in the Swedish city, November 12, 2008.
Photo: cupko.sk.

The top eight leagues are the national leagues of the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Slovakia Sweden, and Switzerland. Also included are the Russian-based KHL, which also has teams in Belarus, Latvia, and Kazakhstan, and the Austrian-based Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, which also has teams in Croatia, Hungary, and Slovenia.

It isn't known exactly how each league has responded, but it is known that several of the leagues have expressed dissatisfaction with how the IIHF cancelled the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons when they had a three-year conract, and don't think that they relaunch plan adequately compensates the damaged clubs. The affected Czech clubs were Energie Karlovy Vary and Slavia Praha for 2009-10 and Plzeň 1929 and Eaton Pardubice for this season. The Czech Republic's Association of Professional Clubs (APK) has already said that if this situation isn't dealt with to their satisfaction, they won't participate.

If the league goes ahead, six of the leagues, including the Czech Extraliga, will be guaranteed two teams in the 16-team circuit; the regular-season and playoff champions. Prior to Friday night's games, Oceláři Třinec holds a 2-point lead atop the standings over Bílí Tigři Liberec with 2 games remaining in the Extraliga's season.

Points deductions upheld, Champions League in jeopardy again

Plzeň 1929, BK Mladá Boleslav, and Vagnerplast Kladno will not get their points back, and the issue that has hung over the 2010-11 Extraliga season like a cloud seems to finally be over, though not to everyone's satisfaction.

At the most recent meeting of the Association of Professional Clubs (APK) this week in the Krkonose town of Špindlerův Mlýn, clubs voted 13 to 1 in favour of bringing the matter to a close, with the lone objection coming from Mladá Boleslav. Suprisingly, even Plzeň delegate Jan Svoboda agreed to accept it, though he resigned his position with the club the next day. This sparked speculation at website hokej.cz that his vote was not popular within the organization, in particular general manager Martin Straka. The club's only comment was that Svoboda had resigned.

Though the matter can't officially be closed, there is no longer any possibility of the points being returned, as any further discussion on the matter won't take place until after the season is finished.

In early November, it came to light that five players on three Extraliga clubs had not been properly registered, and therefore had played ineligibly. On November 19, the APK stripped the three clubs of all points they received in the games where ineligible players competed. Mladá Boleslav lost 22 points, Plzeň 19, and Kladno 6. The three sunk to the bottom of the standings. Within a week, Mladá Boleslav and Plzeň appealed the rulings.

In the two months and change since the ruling, Plzeň has managed to climb out of its precarious position to engage in a battle for the playoffs. Last week they climbed as high as ninth place, though they currently sit in 11th. Neither Mladá Boleslav nor Kladno have shown any real signs of life since.

Martin Adamský. Photo: Lenka Rybaříková, regionycr.cz.

It was speculated that there was more news regarding points deductions, as some irregularities were found in the registration of Oceláři Třinec's Martin Adamský, who was transferred from Plzeň in the off-season. Mladá Boleslav, in particular, was adamant that this situation had to be handled with the same severity that they were shown. However, the APK disagreed, claiming that the registration was completed and it was only a case of the registration form being damaged.

"It was damaged paper, but the evidence and the registration were completed. Both clubs also received notification that Adamský was registered in Třinec," said Ctibor Jech of the APK.

In other news, the APK announced that it may not accept the IIHF's invitation to participate in the 2011-12 edition of the Champions Hockey League. The Czech Extraliga, among the group of the top seven hockey leagues in Europe, has been invited to send its regular-season and playoff champions from the current hockey season. All leagues have until February 17 to accept this invitation. However, there are still unresolved issues regarding the cancellation of the 2009-10 season, and board member Ladislav Blazek said this must first be addressed.

"The resolutions made in previous meetings were confirmed, insofar as all the clubs support Slavia, Plzeň, Karlovy Vary and Pardubice in the case of the old settlement of obligations. This means that in case of pre-existing unsettled obligations, we won't (participate)."

Slavia and Karlovy Vary were the regular-season and playoff champions, respectively, from the Extraliga in 2008-09, which earned them berths in the 09-10 Champions League season before its cancellation. Plzeň and Pardubice won those same titles last season.

Other European leagues also have similar concerns.

League fines Boleslav 3 million crowns, Plzeň 300K

The Association of Professional Clubs (APK), which governs the Tipsport Extraliga, has levied fines against two of its member clubs for offenses relating to a recent player registration scandal.

BK Mladá Boleslav faced the stiffest penalty, CZK three million (approximately USD 160,000) for submitting erroneous reports to the league last off-season relating to club finances. There were rumours that the club may be relegated to the First League as punishment, but the league decided this was more a case of misjudgment than malice.

Vaclav Horejší, the club's director, explained, "I would not call it a mistake directly, but rather underestimating the seriousness of the situation."

Horejší also expressed surprise at how high the fine was.

Though they have not been expelled from the Extraliga yet, Boleslav may have to defend its position at the end of the season, if they are unable to climb out of the basement, against the First League champion.

As for HC Plzeň 1929, they were fined CZK 300,000 (approximately USD 16,000) for comments made by forward Tomáš Vlasák, who called APK Director Stanislav Šulc an "arrogant puppet" in the wake of the recent ruling which stripped Plzeň of 19 points in the standings.

Both clubs involved in Monday's disciplinary action, along with HC Vagnerplast Kladno, were recently punished by the league for the improper registration of players. The clubs were penalized all points in which the affected players took part. Boleslav and Plzeň have appealed that ruling, which is still pending.

Plzeň and Boleslav appeal points deductions

As expected, HC Plzeň 1929 and BK Mladá Boleslav have both submitted formal appeals of the decision to strip them of points for using players that had been improperly registered.

Plzeň was the first to file an appeal, on Thursday, with Mladá Boleslav following suit on Friday. The other penalised club, HC Vagnerplast Kladno, has said that it will not appeal. The deadline for filing is Saturday.

Two weeks ago, Stanislav Šulc, who is the Director of the Association of Professional Clubs (APK), ruled that the three clubs would lose all points they earned in games that the improperly registered players participated in. Mladá Boleslav lost 22 points, Plzeň 19, and Kladno 8. The APK is composed of the 14 member clubs of the Tipsport Extraliga, and is given authority to govern the league by the Czech Ice Hockey Association (ČSLH).

"There are many points of contention, but at this point we do not want to release the details. In fairness, the appeal board or the league director should be notified first," Tomáš Tesař, the lawyer speaking on behalf of the Plzeň club, told www.idnes.cz on Thursday.

At a press conference on Friday, Mladá Boleslav attorney Jan Tůma was more forthcoming.

"After considering all the circumstances, we have decided to appeal. Mr. Šulc has been notified," he said. While the club acknowledges the registration errors, they feel that such a strong penalty is not warranted for a clerical oversight that they did not benefit from. Furthermore, Tůma believes that Šulc does not have the authority to make such a ruling. 


"There are several reasons for the appeal. We affirm, and we have a strong case that Mr. Šulc isn't authorized to make such decisions. Such things are for the general meeting of the Association of Professional Clubs. In our opinion, APK Director Stanislav Šulc handing the case is in violation of applicable rules of the APK and the Czech Ice Hockey Association. In league history, there have been a number of cases that were similar, and in these cases the guilty clubs were never given such a high penalty."

At the time of Šulc's ruling, Martin Straka and Cyril Suk, the General Managers for the two clubs, indicated that they planned to appeal.


The case will now move into the hands of an independent appeals board.

Pardubice-Brno, Outdoors on January 2

Pardubice-Svítkov Speedway, covered in snow, before
construction of the hockey rink. Photo courtesy Jan Hrabal.

After weeks of speculation, the APK, HC Eaton Pardubice and HC Kometa Brno announced today at a press conference and via their respective websites that they will, indeed, stage an outdoor game at Pardubice-Svítkov Speedway on January 2.

The event, which has been titled "Hockey Open Air Game 2011", will feature Eaton Pardubice hosting Kometa Brno in a Tipsport Extraliga game beginning at 12:30 PM CEST (11:30 AM GMT, 6:30 AM EST). It will be preceded by a legends game between past members of the Pardubice and Brno clubs, which will begin at 10:00 AM local time.

The stadium, which sits in the Svítkov district of Pardubice, hosts the famous Zlatá přilba or "Golden Helmet" motorcycle race every October. The ice rink will be constructed on the circuit's grass infield. Its planned configuration for this event would allow for more than 25,000 spectators; 17,000 seated and another 8,000 standing. If filled to capacity, which is expected, it would become the largest recorded crowd to watch a hockey game in the Czech Republic. The current record stands at 18,500, for the grand opening of Prague's Sportovní hala (now TESLA Arena) in 1962, in which Spartak Sokolov hosted ZKL Brno.

Pardubice General Manager Zbyněk Kusý, who has also been part of the organisation teams for two World Junior Championships held in Pardubice, says that preparations to the stadium will begin on December 9. It is expected to cost 15 million Czech crowns (roughly USD 790,000) and require 700 workers.

The only player on either team's roster who has participated before in a high-level outdoor game is Pardubice forward Rastislav Špirko, who played for Slovakia in an international friendly in Switzerland in February 2009. Two American players, defenceman Jeff Jillson and forward Adam Pineault, currently play for Pardubice. Jillson played his last game for the University of Michigan seven months before they played an outdoor game against rival Michigan State in October 2001.

Tickets, which range from CZK 450 to 1000 (approximately USD 24 to 53) go on sale December 6 at the ČEZ Arena box office in Pardubice. For those fans abroad who might want to make a trip to see this event in Pardubice, requests can be made via e-mail to mirek.novotny@hcpce.cz beginning December 1.

This will be the first professional outdoor game in the Czech Republic, but not in Europe. Leagues in Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, and Russia have already hosted games outdoors, and one is scheduled for Finland in February.

Jaškin out, Frk added to preliminary WJC roster

It's a tale of two 17 year olds on the Czech Republic's initial 41-man roster for the World Junior Championships. The player who is perhaps their top domestic hopeful is out, while a rising star currently playing in Canada is in.

A knee injury will cause Dmitrij Jaškin to miss the World Junior
Championships. Photo: Pavel Vrtiška, hc-slavia.cz.

Dmitrij Jaškin, who has 8 points in 23 games for HC Slavia Praha this season, injured his knee on Sunday when he was hit by Jindřich Kotrla of HC Vagnerplast Kladno in Kladno's 3-1 victory.

Though no penalty was called on the play by the on-ice officials, the APK has handed Kotrla a three-game suspension for the knee-on-knee hit.

At the club's website, www.hc-slavia.cz, coach Vladimír Růžička speculated that Jaškin would likely be out five or six weeks and return to the lineup in early January, at best. This would rule out participation in the WJC.

Jaškin is currently the highest scorer among junior-aged players in the Extraliga, so his loss hurts. The 17-year-old made a strong case for his inclusion on the World Junior team a couple of weeks ago in a U20 tournament in České Budějovice and Karlovy Vary. There he was one of the offensive stars of the Czech team, recording a hat-trick against Russia in the tournament opener. 2011 will be the first year that he will be eligible for the NHL Entry Draft.

Jaškin's spot on the preliminary 41-man roster has been replaced by Martin Frk, who plays for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. The 17-year-old right winger has 10 goals and 19 assists in 26 games for the Mooseheads this season. His 29 points leads his team and also all rookies in the league. As his October 5 birthday is after the cut-off, he won't be eligible for the Draft until 2012, and the season he's having is starting to make his name mentioned among that year's top prospects.

As for Slavia, they have suffered a rash of injuries as of late, and the loss of Jaškin only compounds the problems. They took to the ice without Jaškin on Wednesday night and, after spotting HC Oceláři Třínec a 3-1 lead, came back to win in a shoot-out. The comeback spoiled a three-goal effort from Třínec's Ladislav Kohn.

The league rules: 3 teams lose points for illegal players

On Friday afternoon, APK Director Stanislav Šulc made a much anticipated ruling regarding the use of improperly registered players: BK Mladá Boleslav, HC Plzeň 1929, and HC Vagnerplast Kladno lose 22, 19, and 6 points in the standings, respectively. All other statistics (wins, goals, et cetera) and the point totals of other teams remain unchanged.

This means that Plzeň drops from seventh place to 12th and Mladá Boleslav from ninth to 14th and last, while Kladno actually climbs out of the basement and into 13th place, one point ahead of Boleslav. The top 10 teams qualify for the playoffs.

The saga began November 2, when news of improprieties in the registration of certain players first came out. The APK soon revealed that Boleslav's Jiří Marušák and Tomáš Divíšek, Plzeň's Petr Přikryl and Tomáš Frolo, and Kladno's Jindřich Kotrla had not been registered properly with the Czech Ice Hockey Association.

At the time, Šulc stated that he saw no possible solution other than forfeiture of the affected matches in which these players participated. Mladá Boleslav and Plzeň requested a period of 10 days to find another solution, but today's ruling should have come as no surprise to anybody.

The affected games were not ruled to be complete forfeits, in that the opposing teams do not gain any points and all statistical information pertaining to the matches remains unchanged. In explaining his ruling, Šulc reasoned, "Although it affects the culprits and punishes them, it has the least affect on the rest of the competition."

The Plzeň and Boleslav clubs have fought this process from the beginning, and indications are that they don't intend to give up now.

On his club's website, www.hcplzen.cz, team captain and General Manager Martin Straka asked fans not to overreact to this ruling and to leave it to the team's management to deal with this situation. He went on to say, "This is just a different interpretation of standards and the club is determined to defend our interpretation by all legal means."

Meanwhile, at www.bkboleslav.cz, Mladá Boleslav General Manager Cyril Suk states, "As a club, we disagree with the verdict. We think that this decision does not comply with the regulations of the hockey league. Now, we will consider further steps to proceed."

Šulc: Sanctions to be announced Friday

At Tuesday's meeting of the Association of Professional Ice Hockey Clubs (Asociace profesionálních klubů ledního hokeje, or APK LH in Czech), the fourteen member clubs gave Competition Director Stanislav Šulc a mandate to rule on the case involving improperly registered players. The ruling will be made public on Friday.

From the sound of things, it seems a certainty that BK Mladá Boleslav, HC Plzeň 1929, and HC Vagnerplast Kladno will lose the points they obtained in games where they dressed ineligible players. The only thing to be decided is how exactly the results of the games will be dealt with.

According to Šulc, there are three possibilities."Forfeits, removal of points or cancelling the results and points. The rules also allow others, but maintaining the status quo or replays are not realistic," he declared.

Forfeits would mean that results from all affected games would be thrown out and ruled 5-0 victories for the opponents of the offending teams. This option would affect the point totals for every team in the league. Removal of points would mean that affected teams would lose any points they acquired in games where they dressed ineligible players, but the opposing team's total would be unaffected, as would other statistics. Cancelling the results and points would mean the game scores would again become 5-0, but opponents would not gain points other than what they achieved on the ice.

After a week-long break in Extraliga action, two of the three teams that face sanctions took to the ice at home today.

Plzeň 1929 blew a 4-1 lead with 7:00 left against HC Slavia Praha and lost 5-4 in overtime. Petr Kadlec scored the game winner at 3:20 of the extra frame. With Plzeň's captain and General Manager Martin Straka out of the line-up following knee surgery, Radek Duda played his first Extraliga game in two years on a forward unit with John Lammers of Langley, BC and Nick Johnson of Windsor, CT. The trio was held off the scoresheet, but created a lot of traffic in the attacking zone and made life difficult for Slavia goaltender Miroslav Kopřiva in a losing cause. Duda had 17 points in 16 games with KLH Chomutov of the Czech First League.

In other action, Vagnerplast Kladno defeated Bílí Tigři Liberec 5-3 on home ice.

Outdoor game in Pardubice?

The trend started on September 6, 2001. US college hockey rivals Michigan and Michigan State faced off in the "Cold War", an outdoor game played before 74,544 fans at Spartan Stadium. Since then, it's become a regular occurrence in North America. In Europe, it's been done in leagues in Switzerland, Sweden, and Russia. Last May, the IIHF got into the act, staging a World Championships match in Gelsenkirchen, Germany that drew a world-record 77,803 spectators. Now, news agency ČTK is reporting that it may happen in the Czech Republic.

The proposal tentatively calls for a game to be played at the Pardubice-Svítkov Speedway, which could accommodate approximately 25,000. A scheduled January 2 contest between HC Eaton Pardubice and HC Kometa Brno is being eyed, which would be one day after the Pittsburgh Penguins host the Washington Capitals outdoors at Heinz Field.

"We're working to make our plans become reality," said Pardubice General Manager Zbyněk Kusý. "But it is still premature to talk about this as a done deal. We still have to choose from several opponents and dates. The target for this event is January."

The event, which is scheduled to be discussed on Tuesday at a meeting of the (Czech) Association of Professional Ice Hockey Clubs, is budgeted at CZK 10 million (approximately USD 500,000). "The cost for us it is a pretty decent risk. But since we assume a great response and especially from our great fans, we see an event like this as a gift to the people"


Eaton Pardubice currently has Adam Pineault of Holyoke, MA and Jeff Jillson of North Smithfield, RI on its roster. Jillson signed with San Jose in 2001 with a year of eligibility left at the University of Michigan, causing him to narrowly miss playing in the original "Cold War".

No games for a week, but standings could change

Sunday was the last slate of games in the Tipsport Extraliga until next Tuesday, as the league takes an eight-day break for the Karjala Cup in Finland. By the time the teams return to the ice, however, the league standings could have a different look.

Last week, Stanislav Šulc, President of the ČSLH's Competition Commission stated his intention to deduct points accrued by Mladá Boleslav, Plzeň, and Kladno in games where they dressed improperly registered players. The affected teams requested 10 days to argue their case as to why that shouldn't happen, and that time period expires on Monday, November 15.  This Monday, however, Šulc appeared unwavered from his position. "My view has not changed. What I said remains true."

As of the break, this is what the standings currently look like:

Team GP W OW OL L Pts 1 HC Oceláři Třinec 20 11 3 2 4 41 2 HC Vítkovice Steel 20 11 2 1 6 38 3 Bílí Tygři Liberec 20 10 1 4 5 36 4 HC MOUNTFIELD 20 9 3 1 7 34 5 HC Eaton Pardubice 19 9 1 4 5 33 6 HC Kometa Brno 20 10 1 1 8 33 7 HC Plzeň 1929 20 9 2 0 9 31 8 HC Energie Karlovy Vary 19 7 3 3 6 30 9 PSG Zlín 20 6 3 4 7 28 10 HC BENZINA Litvínov 20 8 1 2 9 28 11 HC Slavia Praha 20 7 2 0 11 25 12 BK Mladá Boleslav 21 6 2 3 10 25 13 HC Sparta Praha 21 5 4 2 10 25 14 HC Vagnerplast Kladno 20 4 0 1 15 13

If nothing happens to change the Commission's mind between now and when teams return to the ice on November 16, it appears that things may look this way:

Team GP W OW OL L Pts 1 HC Oceláři Třinec 20 11 3 2 4 41 2 HC Vítkovice Steel 20 11 2 1 6 38 3 Bílí Tygři Liberec 20 10 1 4 5 36 4 HC MOUNTFIELD 20 9 3 1 7 34 5 HC Eaton Pardubice 19 9 1 4 5 33 6 HC Kometa Brno 20 10 1 1 8 33 7 HC Energie Karlovy Vary 19 7 3 3 6 30 8 PSG Zlín 20 6 3 4 7 28 9 HC BENZINA Litvínov 20 8 1 2 9 28 10 HC Slavia Praha 20 7 2 0 11 25 11 HC Sparta Praha 21 5 4 2 10 25 12 13 HC Plzeň 1929 HC Vagnerplast Kladno 20 20 4 2 0 0 0 1 16 17 12  7

14	BK Mladá Boleslav	21	0	1		1	19		3

A tough week for Plzeň

Last season, with the help of a few imports from North America, HC Plzeň 1929 finished first place in the Tipsport Extraliga before bowing out in the quarter-finals. This season, things haven't gone quite as well. Still, with four North Americans on their roster, the "Indians", as they are known colloquially, are likely to command more attention in North America than any other team in the league.

They currently have defensemen John Slaney from St. John's, NL and Nick St. Pierre from St-Étienne, QC and forwards John Lammers from Langley, BC and Nick Johnson from Windsor, CT. To Canadians, Slaney is by far the most noteworthy name, by virtue of his winning goal at the 1991 IIHF U20 World Championships followed by his lengthy career in the NHL and AHL. Currently, however, Slaney is on the sideline. He broke his jaw October 12 against Mladá Boleslav and is due back in mid-December.

Last Friday night, the rest of the Plzeň team paid a visit to Prague's TESLA Arena to take on HC Sparta Praha. Sparta had a pair of North American defensemen in their lineup, Brian Salcido from Los Angeles, CA and Doug O'Brien who, like Slaney, hails from St. John's.

It was Salcido who broke the goose-egg in the first period with a shot from the high slot that beat goaltender Marek Mazanec inside the post. For Salcido, who was known as an offensive defenseman in the AHL, it was his second goal of the season.

Minutes later, it appeared that the Plzeň duo of Lammers and Johnson may have tied the game, but referee Milan Minař blew the whistle first, claiming that Sparta goaltender Tomáš Pöpperle had covered the puck. Lammers explained, "I took a shot and there was a rebound lying in the crease. Johnson whacked it in but unfortunately there was a quick whistle."

After that, Pöpperle was perfect the rest of the way, posting 21 saves and earning his second straight shutout.

Like Pöpperle, O'Brien played for Plzeň last season, which made the win feel even better. "Yeah, defintely. It feels great to beat 'em. Lot of old buddies so it feels good to beat them. They beat us last time in a close game and tonight was a pretty close game."

For the past few games, O'Brien has been paired on the blueline with Michal Gulaší, who is one of Sparta's harder hitters.Though it wasn't an overly rough contest, Gulaší was a noted physical presence on the back end. "He throws the body around a lot. It's a big part of his game. He loves to do it. I love watching him."

After Salcido's first period tally, Karel Hromas scored late in the second and again midway through the third period to give Sparta a 3-0 victory. The win gave Sparta 22 points on the season and moved them one ahead of Plzeň into the tenth place in a tight race for playoff spots. O'Brien added, "It's a big win for us. With the new coach (Miloš Holaň) that's two in a row for us. The guys are excited. Back to back shoutouts; Pöpperle's played great for us."
 
As far as Plzeň is concerned, they were last season's regular season champions and their record to this point is certainly a disappointment. Unfortunately, an even bigger disappointment would be in store a few days later.

On Tuesday, Czech Ice Hockey Association Competition Director Stanislav Šulc dropped a bomb, stating that three teams, Kladno, Mladá Boleslav and Plzeň, had played games with improperly registered players and would likely be forced to forfeit points accumulated in games where the ineligible players participated.

The players reported were Kladno's Jindřich Kotrla, Mladá Boleslav's Tomáš Divíšek, Jiří Marušák and Peter Fabuš, and Plzeň's Tomáš Frolo and Petr Přikryl.

As Kotrla played only eight games and Kladno was almost certain to finish in last place anyway, they are least affected by this ruling. However, for Mladá Boleslav and Plzeň, the results could be disastrous. Mladá Boleslav would lose 22 points and Plzeň 19, making the playoffs a virtual impossibility. What's more,  Boleslav would drop below Kladno into last place, meaning they might end up having to play a series to avoid relegation to the First National League.