Extraliga Opening Day

It's time for the puck to drop on another Czech Extraliga season. The first game will, in fact, be an afternoon affair between BK Mladá Boleslav and PSG Zlín, beginning at 15:10 CET. The game can be seen live on ČT4 in the Czech Republic and online at ct24.cz/sport. The rest of Sunday's slate of games all begin at 17:00 or later, and  most of them can be viewed at tv.hokej.cz.

One of the more interesting opening-day matchups will occur in the northeastern corner of the country, where Oceláři Třinec will begin defence of their first-ever national championship on home ice against Kometa Brno. They were the league's most dominant team last year, finishing first overall during the regular season and then going 12-6 in the playoffs, winning seven of their last eight games.

One of the great things about the start of a new season is the fresh start that every team gets. Everyone is optimistic that they can improve on their fortunes from a year ago. But how realistic are those expectations? For comparison's sake, here are last year's final standings:

Place	Team	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	HC Oceláři Třinec	52	26	5	8	13	178	136	96
2	HC Bílí Tygři Liberec	52	26	5	6	15	159	139	94
3	HC Vítkovice Steel	52	26	6	2	18	162	137	92
4	PSG Zlín	52	22	7	8	15	158	134	88
5	HC Eaton Pardubice	52	24	3	10	15	146	125	88
6	HC Mountfield České Budějovice	52	23	6	4	19	158	131	85
7	HC Slavia Prague	52	21	9	3	19	140	131	84
8	HC BENZINA Litvínov	52	23	2	4	23	133	162	77
9	HC Plzeň 1929	52	27	6	3	16	153	145	77*
10	HC Energie Karlovy Vary	52	15	7	12	18	152	154	71
11	HC Kometa Brno	52	19	5	1	27	130	146	68
12	HC Sparta Prague	52	14	6	3	29	115	142	57
13	HC Vagnerplast Kladno	52	10	3	5	34	105	172	35*
14	BK Mladá Boleslav	52	14	4	5	29	123	158	33*

Since last season's conclusion, some teams have overhauled their rosters so much that trying to predict where they will finish this year would be a daunting task. Logically, most of the teams that fit into that category were the ones that missed the playoffs last season, and last year's bottom three teams: Sparta Praha, Kladno and Mladá Boleslav, bear little resemblance to the ones that finished the 2011-12 season. 

Owner Jágr, flanked by Pavel Patera and Jiří Bicek in
Kladno's new jerseys. Photo: hc-kladno.cz.

The financially-strapped Kladno club was close to selling its Extraliga license in the off-season, but were saved by native-son Jaromír Jágr, who is now the club's owner. 

The new-look Kladno team has dumped the corporate name and adopted the catchy nickname "Rytíři" (Knights). As far as player personnel, the biggest name added to their roster is former NHLer Jan Hlaváč, who has spent most of the past three seasons in the Swedish Elitseren. 

The club's new website, rytirikladno.cz, will soon open. Currently, the new site displays the club's new logo and slightly modified colour scheme of double blue and gold.

While Kladno did all fans a favour by discarding a long corporate nickname, HC Pardubice went the opposite direction and adopted what is quite possibly the most cumbersome team name in the history of organised sport. HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice should again contend for the title, which is good news for their strong and loyal fans, but bad news for writers and broadcasters who have to use the name. 

Like Kladno, PSG Zlín has made a cosmetic change. They are keeping their trademark yellow and blue colours, but adopting what they are calling a "retro-modern" design, which includes a laced neck and stitched numbers and names. The names will also be above the number, as modelled by Antonín Honejsek below.

Photos: Daniel Ostrčilík, Zlínský Deník.

Keeping with the new Zlín sweaters, the Extraliga this season is returning to the policy of having the home team wear dark colours and the road team wear light. However, Zlín wishes to continue wearing yellow at home, and were seeking an exception.

As for who will win the championship, it would seem that the top teams from last season will probably remain so, but where exactly they finish is anyone's guess. One should keep in mind that Plzeň 1929 belongs in that group, even though they officially finished 9th last season. They were deducted 19 points mid-season, which otherwise would have landed them in a first-place tie with Třinec. 

For those who want detailed information about off-season player moves, team rosters and schedules, hokej.cz provides plenty of it, and is even manageable for readers who don't understand Czech. 

For a complete list of off-season roster moves, listed alphabetically by player, visit here: http://www.hokej.cz/index.php?lng=CZ&view=prestupy&id=539

Complete opening-day rosters of all teams, along with some interesting statistics, can be found here: http://www.hokej.cz/index.php?lng=CZ&view=clanek&id=53494

Finally, the complete Extraliga schedule, by individual rounds of matches, can be found here: http://www.hokej.cz/index.php?lng=CZ&webid=385&id=539&view=

Sunday's games, which is actually the second round, are:

Mladá Boleslav	Zlín	15:10
Slavia Praha	Karlovy Vary	17:00
Oceláři Třinec	Kometa Brno	17:00
Pardubice	Bílí Tygři Liberec	17:00
Rytíři Kladno	Sparta Praha	17:30
Litvínov	České Budějovice	17:30
Plzeň 1929	Vítkovice	17:30

Czechs finish 7th at WJC

Petr Holík engages in a battle along the boards
against Slovakia. Photo: hokej.cz.

The Czech Republic played its last game of the 2011 IIHF World U20 Championship on Tuesday night, beating Slovakia by a score of 5-2 to finish seventh in the tournament. They were led offensively by captain Jakub Jeřábek (2 assists), Martin Frk, and Andrej Nestrašil (each 1 goal and 1 assist). In goal, Filip Novotný stopped 19 of 21 shots for his second straight win.

Click here to see the official individual statistics, as compiled by the IIHF, for the Czech U20 team at the 2011 World Junior Championships.

Jeřábek was their leader and best player all tournament. The 19-year-old undrafted defenceman led the team offensively with 8 points (1 goal and 7 assists) in 6 games. Collectively, only 1 other point was recorded by a thin Czech defensive unit. Jerábek, who plays full time for HC Plzeň 1929 in the Czech Extraliga, made a strong case for being drafted in 2011, and suitors from the KHL may come calling as well.

Up front, the club was led by 17-year-old Frk. Frk wasn't even on the radar for inclusion on this team at the start of the season, but his strong season in Halifax garnered attention. Frk recorded 3 goals and 3 assists and, since his October birthdate means that he won't be eligible for the NHL Entry Draft until 2012, he will almost certainly return next year and be counted on as one of the team's offensive leaders. Michal Hlinka also scored 3 goals and added 1 assist, and Antonín Honejsek had 2 goals and 2 assists.

In goal, the team was definitely hurt by the absence of Petr Mrázek of the Ottawa 67's, and were forced to alternate between Extraliga backups Marek Mazanec and Novotný. While better results may have been expected, they were often getting shelled with a weak blueline in front of them. Mazanec may now face more of the same when he returns to a Plzeň team that has had goaltending and defensive woes all season.

By finishing seventh, the Czech Republic will find itself next season in a group with Canada, the USA, and Finland, with either Denmark or Latvia being the group's fifth team. Again, they will be ranked fourth in their group and facing an uphill battle to reach the quarter-finals, though it may be slightly easier than it was this year.

From this year's club, only Frk, Bohumil Jank, Petr Holík, and Rimouski Oceanic teammates Jakub Culek and Petr Straka will be eligible to return. Dmitrij Jaškin and defenceman David Musil, a pair of 17-year-olds who missed this year's tournament with injuries, are also expected to be there.

Though the Czechs ended up in the relegation round, they were represented in the gold medal game of this tournament. Příbram-native Martin Fraňo was one of the referees of the game in which Russia defeated Canada 5-3 to claim the championship. The 28-year-old Fraňo, who is a referee in the Czech Extraliga, also worked the Canada-USA semi-final. In his early twenties, he spent a year living in Minnesota and worked as a linesman in the junior A-level United States Hockey League. Jaromír Bláha, from Újezd nad Lesy, was a linesman in the tournament and worked the Finland-Russia quarter-final.

Czechs crushed by Canada at WJC, Sparta 0-2 at Spengler Cup

When Antonín Honejsek of the Moose Jaw Warriors opened the scoring for the Czech Republic just 49 seconds after the opening faceoff, perhaps some thought the pre-game predictions of a one-sided Canadian victory wouldn't come to fruition. However, Canada cashed in on the power play twice late in the opening frame to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

Still, the game was within reach. In the sixth minute of the second period, Canadian Zack Kassian hit Czech defenceman Petr Šenkeřík in open ice, a collision between two number 9s, and Šenkeřík went down. He remained on the ice for some time before being removed from the ice on a stretcher. Kassian's shoulder caught Šenkeřík in the jaw, and though there did not appear to be any attempt to target the head, he was assessed a match penalty, which results in an automatic one-game suspension and a disciplinary review to be led by former NHL referee Dan Marouelli to see if further punishment is warranted. As of yet, there is no word on Šenkeřík's status, or of any further disciplinary action against Kassian.

At this point, the Czechs were given a five-minute power-play and a golden opportunity to get back into the game. Honejsek almost did just that when he beat two Canadian penalty-killers single-handedly before being turned back by Canadian goaltender Olivier Roy in an attempt to score his second goal of the game. Seconds later, Louis LeBlanc converted on a pretty play short-handed to give Canada a 3-1 lead, and for the Czech Republic it was all downhill from that point.

In the end, it was 7-2, with Jakub Jeřábek of Plzeň 1929 scoring a late goal. Martin Frk of the Halifax Mooseheads was also assessed a spearing major and a game misconduct in the third period, and could also face further disciplinary action.

Now 1-1, the Czechs play Sweden on Thursday and Russia on Friday. They will have to beat at least one of them in order to advance to the quarter-finals.

Sparta celebrates an early goal, but the lead didn't last.
Photo: spenglercup.ch.

At the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, Sparta Praha will play in the quarter-finals despite losing both games of its group stage, as all teams in the tournament go at least that far. On Wednesday, they fell 4-1 to SKA St. Petersburg. Petr Kafka opened the scoring for Sparta, but the KHL club responded with two goals late in the first period and never looked back.

Sparta defenceman Doug O'Brien, who hasn't seen any action yet in the tournament, will hope to get back into the lineup on Wednesday when his team plays against Team Canada at 20:15 Central European Time (2:15 PM ET). The game can be seen in Canada on TSN2 and in Europe on Eurosport 2.

Czechs win WJC opener over Norway

A couple of Czech teams began their post-Christmas tournaments abroad on Monday.

Jakub Osrava venutres into the Norway zone in the Czech
Republic's first game at the 2011 World Junior Championships.
Photo: Andre Ringuette, HHOF-IIHF Images.

The Czech national U20 team played its first game at the World Junior Championships in Buffalo, NY, defeating Norway 2-0. Marek Mazanec of Plzeň 1929 stopped all 21 shots he faced and the offence was supplied by Tomáš Rachůnek, formerly of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in the second period and Antonín Hanejsek of the Moose Jaw Warriors on a third-period penalty kill.

The competition will get a lot tougher for the Czechs from this point, however, beginning with Tuesday's encounter with Canada. The game will begin at 4pm in Buffalo, 10pm Central European Time. In addition to various television outlets, including TSN in Canada, the NHL Network in the United States, ČT4 Sport in the Czech Republic, and Eurosport 2 elsewhere in Europe, it can be seen streaming online at:

http://www.tsn.ca/live/wjhc/default.aspx

Sparta goaltender Tomáš Pöpperle thwarts a Servette
attempt in Spengler Cup action. Photo: spenglercup.ch.

Meanwhile, Sparta Praha played its first game at the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland, falling 4-3 to Servette Geneva. Sparta got goals from Tomáš Kůrka, Yorick Treille (who was playing against his former team), and Félicien DuBois, a pick-up who normally plays for the Kloten Flyers of the Swiss A League. DuBois' goal early in the third period gave Sparta a 3-2 lead, but Servette came back with goals from Josh Hennessy of Boston, MA and Paul Savary to win.

Today they play SKA St. Petersburg in the last game of the round-robin. On Sunday, St. Petersburg beat Servette 3-1, meaning a victory by three goals or more would earn Sparta an automatic berth in the semi-finals, otherwise they will play a quarter-final game on Thursday. If Sparta manages to finish second in the group, their quarter-final opponent would be Spartak Moscow, with Dominik Hašek in goal.