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.

Record crowd watches junior game in Brno

The Czech Junior Hockey Extraliga, usually ignored by all but the most enthusiastic fans of the sport, was front and centre in Brno on Saturday night, as a league-record 4,823 fans went through the turnstiles of Kajot Arena to watch hometown Kometa take on Sparta Praha.

The record-sized jersey is visible in the background as the national
anthem is played. Photo: Martin Kocourek, hc-kometa.cz.

Junior hockey games in the Czech Republic and throughout Europe are usually played before friends-and-family gatherings, even at the leagues' highest levels. As an example, the final game of last year's league championship series between Znojmo and Karlovy Vary was attended by 1,914, and that was considered a good crowd.

The event was organised by the Kometa club to try to get into the record book in a few different categories. In addition to the crowd, they also set the record for largest fan scarf, at 60 x 6 metres, and largest jersey, at 300 square metres.

"This game was great publicity for junior hockey," said Czech Ice Hockey Association President Tomáš Král on the Kometa website, who has long tried to increase the profile of Czech junior hockey. "It was just a wonderful atmosphere that I completely absorbed. I am convinced that every visitor at Saturday's game felt it is sure to return to see another game, which only helps junior hockey."

Raising interest in junior hockey in Brno is good news for the Czech Ice Hockey Association because that's where the IIHF World U18 Championship will be played in April. 

The fans in attendance were treated to a great effort from their team as well. Despite outshooting Sparta 49-29 on the night, it took a goal by Jan Káňa with 11:42 remaining in regulation time to break the 3-3 tie, a goal that held up as the eventual game winner. Kometa was led by two goals from Jakub Novák and a goal and an assist from Tomáš Dujsík. Sparta got two goals from Martin Procházka and two assists from Stanislav Eis. Káňa's goal gives him 28 points, which makes him the league's leading scorer.

After 22 games, Kometa Brno is second place in the Junior Extraliga standings with 50 points. They trail the leaders, Litvínov by 3 points. Sparta is currently fifth with 41 points. With a victory, they could have jumped ahead of Jihlava and Chomutov into third.

Red Army beats KV to win WJCC

Krasnaya Armiya Moscow, the junior club of CSKA, won the first ever World Junior Club Championship on Saturday in Omsk, Russia. They defeated Energie Karlovy Vary 7-2 in the final game before a sell-out crowd of 9,500. 

The opening faceoff of the final game before a full house in Omsk.
Photo: Jiří Ryžuka, hokejkv.cz.

After surrendering only 1 goal in its first three games, KV was shelled for 3 in the first period and trailed 5-0 by the time the game was 25 minutes old. In a fairly balanced attack, the Russian club was led by 2 goals and 1 assist from Mikhail Plotnikov, who was the player of the game.

"This was the first time in my life I've seen so many people in the stands. It's an incredible feeling. Such adrenaline. I had never experienced such feelings. When you score, it's just an explosion of emotions!" About the game, he said, "We knew nothing about the Czechs. We had never even seen them, at the hotel or on the ice. And we could have scored more than seven goals. It's too bad that I couldn't complete the hat-trick."

At the team's website, Karlovy Vary's Jiří Ryžuka speculated that their opponent "is maybe the strongest junior club in Europe. It would certainly be an interesting confrontation to see them play the winners of the North American Memorial Cup, the St. John's Sea Dogs."

Indeed, that's the kind of match-up that was hoped for when the tournament was organized. But the calibre of the North American teams sent to compete was a disappointment. The Canadian representative came from the Alberta Junior Hockey League, which is on the second tier of Canadian junior hockey, and the American representative was an all-star team created from the third-tier Eastern Junior Hockey League.

Defending champions of the MHL, the Red Army team were the favourites to win, but they started slowly. They beat Tatranskí Vlci, the junior club of the KHL's Lev Poprad, 4-3 in their first game and then were shut out 2-0 by HK Riga. In their last game of the group stage, they faced a must-win game against the EJHL Selects and blew them out 9-1.

Karlovy Vary entered the final as the only unbeaten team in the tournament. They were a perfect 3-0 in the group stage, surrendering only 1 goal in the process. Goaltender Vladislav Habal posted a pair of shutouts against Mälmo and Shinnik, 4-0 and 1-0, before Fort McMurray managed a goal against back-up Denis Rauscher in the third game, which finished 4-1.

Despite making the finals, no player from Karlovy Vary recorded more than 3 points. Jaromír Kverka scored 3 goals, including 1 in the final game. Martin Funk scored Energie's other goal in the final game.

Two players from Riga finished atop tournament scoring with 8 points in three games. Miks Indrašis recorded 5 goals and 3 assists, while linemate Robert Bukarts scored 4 goals and 4 assists. Also recording 8 points was  Also from Riga, Kristers Gudlevskis was named the tournament's top goaltender. The best defenceman and forwards were both from CSKA: Andrei Sergeev and Roman Lyubimov.

Karlovy Vary's junior squad begins its Junior Extraliga schedule on September 8 at home to Mladá Boleslav.

KV will play in World Junior Club Cup final

HC Energie Karlovy Vary U20 has posted shutout victories in each of its first two games at the inaugural World Junior Club Cup in Omsk, Russia, and is now assured a spot in the tournament's championship game on Saturday.

Though Dynamo-Shinnik wasn't able to get any pucks past
Vladislav Habal on Wednesday, they did manage to put a player
into the net. Photo: mhl.khl.ru.

Vladislav Habal made 15 saves on Tuesday in a 4-0 win over the Malmö RedHawks from Sweden, and then stopped all 23 he faced on Wednesday in a 1-0 win over Dynamo-Shinnik from Belarus. Last season, Habal led the Junior Extraliga in goals-against average (1.97) and shutouts (5) and led KV to the league finals.

Petr Koblasa got things going against Malmö just 26 seconds in, with Adam Shusser and Jaromír Kverka adding to the lead before the first period was out. Marek Švec added the fourth goal early in the second to round out the scoring. Against Shinnik, Martin Funk scored the lone goal midway through the first period.

After an day off Thursday, they will play their final game of the group stage on Friday against the tournament's Canadian representative, the Fort McMurray Oil Barons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. The Barons are 0-2, having fallen to both teams that Energie has already beaten. By virtue of this, the best that either Malmö or Shinnik can do is tie Energie. Having beaten both teams, the Czech team would advance on the head-to-head tiebreaker.

In the opposite group, the picture isn't quite as clear. The American representative, a team of Eastern Junior Hockey League All-Stars, is 2-0 like Karlovy Vary. Unlike KV, however, their opponent on Friday, CSKA Moscow U20, is 1-1. Therefore, if the EJHL Selects picks up any points in the game, either by winning in regulation or taking the game to overtime, they will advance to Saturday's final. However, if CSKA wins in regulation, they will be KV's opponents.

Friday's game between Karlovy Vary and Fort McMurray begins at 19:00 local time, 14:00 CET and 6am MT. Live audio play-by-play is available at ustream.tv/channel/MOB-Hockey. Saturday's final game will begin at 20:00 local, 15:00 CET, 9am ET. For those who can read Russian, live online commentary can be seen for all games at mhl.khl.ru/.

15 Czechs taken in CHL Import Draft

The Canadian Hockey League, which is the top tier of junior hockey in North America, held its annual Import Draft on Wednesday. Fifteen Czech players, more than from any other country, were selected.

The draft allows European junior-aged players to join teams in the CHL, which is divided into the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The 60 total CHL teams, nine of which are based in the United States, are limited to two import players (non-North American) each.

Petr Šidlík (right) at the 2011 UI8 World Championships. Photo:
hockeyfans.ch.

The first Czech player chosen was defenceman Petr Šidlík of Dukla Jihlava of the Czech First League. He also played for the Czech U18 team at the Five Nations Tournament in Hradec Kralove and the World Championships in Dresden last year. He was taken fifth overall by the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, who then traded his rights to the Victoriaville Tigre. 

Then a trio, Tomáš Hyka, Dominik Volek, and Patrik Machač were taken eighth, ninth, and tenth. Hyka, from Mladá Boleslav, was expected to be taken in the recent NHL Draft, but was passed on. Lukáš Sedlák, who was chosen 14th, is the only Czech player who has already been drafted by an NHL team. Sedlák was taken in the sixth round this year by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
 
Most of the players selected played on either the Czech U18 or U17 national teams last season. Inevitably, some of the players drafted will choose to leave the Czech Republic and play for the CHL team that picked them. If they leave, it weakens the talent pool that the Czech national teams have to choose from.

"We would obviously like to see the players stay, but it is not easy to convince them. Likewise, their parents or agents," Czech U18 national team coach Jiří Veber told hokej.cz's Václav Jáchim. "Our desire is the opposite, but some departures are inevitable. We're stuck with it," he says.

Convincing its top young players to remain at home is an ever-increasing challenge in the Czech Republic.
 
Here are the 15 Czech players chosen:

 5. Petr Šidlík        D    Victoriaville Jihlava
 8. Tomáš Hyka         RW   Gatineau      Ml. Boleslav
 9. Dominik Volek      LW   Regina        Sparta Praha
10. Patrik Machač      C    Brampton      Kladno
14. Lukáš Sedlák       C    Chicoutimi    Č. Budějovice
22. Radek Faksa        C    Kitchener     Třinec
26. Tomáš Pavelka      D    PEI           Vítkovice
29. Roman Will         G    Moncton       Ml. Boleslav
35. Matěj Beran        C    PEI           Lulea (SWE)
36. Lukáš Králík       F    Victoria      Olomouc
48. Michal Plutnar     D    Tri-City      Liberec
52. Jaroslav Pavelka   G    Niagara       Hradec Králové
54. Adam Řehák         C    Medicine Hat  Vítkovice
57. Jiří Sekáč         L/C  Sudbury       Youngstown (USHL)
59. Patrik Bartošák    G    Red Deer      Vítkovice

Draft Picks by Country:

Czech Republic – 15
Russia – 11
Sweden – 9
Slovakia – 7
Germany – 5
Switzerland – 5
Norway – 4
Latvia – 3
Finland – 2
Belarus – 1

Znojmo wins national junior championship

Orli Znojmo is the champion of the Czech Junior Extraliga, having beaten Energie Karlovy Vary, two games to one, in the final series.

Both teams were a bit of a surprise to make it this far, defeating teams that finished higher than them in the regular season in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. Seventh-seeded Karlovy Vary swept both second-seeded Vítkovice and top-seeded Sparta Praha, while fifth-seeded Znojmo edged fourth-seeded Zlín and third-seeded Slavia Praha, each in three games. In the best-of-three final, the home team won each game.

Game 1 was played in Karlovy Vary on Sunday with the home side winning it's fifth consecutive playoff game, 7-3, before an enthusiastic crowd of 1,870. Tomáš Klíma scored 2 goals and added 2 assists, while Vladislav Habal turned away 31 of 34 shots. At the other end, Ondřej Kacetl was beaten on 7 of 24 shots.

Znojmo took to its home ice on Tuesday night needing a win to prolong the series, and they did so in a big way. Tomáš Rachůnek opened the scoring when he scored on a first-period penalty shot, and that opened the floodgates to a convincing 8-0 victory. Leading the charge were David Bartoš and Richard Jarůšek with 4 points each and Tomáš Komínek with 3. Kacetl rebounded from a shaky first game to post a 21-save shutout.

Photo: Rostislav Pfeffer, www.reklamafoto.cz.

In a decisive third game on Wednesday night, Znojmo continued its dominance by jumping out to a 3-0 first-period lead. As the contest started to become out of reach in the second, frustration began to show on the side of Karlovy Vary, leading way to a wild melée late in the period. Two players for Karlovy Vary and one for Znojmo were kicked out for fighting. By the third period, the outcome was clear and the home crowd of 1,914 began celebrating. The final score was 7-2, and the Znojmo players poured over the boards as the game ended.

"I don't know. We try to play attacking hockey," said Znojmo captain Jan Tojan about the barrage of goals, 27 in three games, in the final series. "Really, the superb fans here in Znojmo supported us and drove us forward. And because of that it challenged us to score."

Of the nine players in the Junior Extraliga playoffs to score 7 or more points, seven were Znojmo players. Leading the way were Komínek with 12 points and Rachůnak with 10. Czech World Junior defenceman Martin Pláněk led all rearguards with 8 points in 8 games.

Znojmo-Karlovy Vary in Jr Extraliga finals

After dropping the first games of their best-of-three series on the road, both Prague-based teams in the Junior Extraliga semifinals needed to sweep two games at home to advance to the finals. Neither was successful.

Tomáš Klíma was the hero for Karlovy Vary in their Junior
Extraliga semifinal versus Sparta. Photo: Jan Beneš,
www.sporting-photo.com.

On Wednesday, Energie Karlovy Vary went into Tesla Arena and defeated Sparta Praha 3-2 in a shootout, knocking out the league's first-overall team in the regular season. After scoring twice in game 1, Karlovy Vary's Tomáš Klíma added 2 more goals in game 2, including the shootout winner, and an assist. 20-year-old Slovak-native Klíma played most of the year in the professional Extraliga and, after the team lost to Slavia in the first round of the playoffs, joined the junior team for its playoff run.

On Thursday, Orli Znojmo had its first chance to join Karlovy Vary in the finals, but met a Slavia Praha team firing on all cylinders. Michal Hellar scored twice as Slavia built up a 5-0 lead midway through the game before Znojmo battled back with a pair of scores to make it a 5-2 final. Znojmo was very upset with the work of referee Štěpán Souček, who awarded Slavia with 8 power-plays compared to 3 for Znojmo, and felt there were several infractions not called against Slavia. In the final minute of play, coach Martin Stloukal was ejected from the game.

In Friday's rubber match, Slavia built up a 2-1 lead halfway through the first period, but after that Znojmo played a very sound defensive game, surrendering very few quality scoring chances, even while penalty killing. Adam Havlík and Richard Jarůšek scored in the second period, and they held on the rest of the way.

Both games at Eden were well-attended by a large contingent of Znojmo supporters, who even outnumbered the Slavia fans on Friday, likely due to the early start time and the fact that most Slavia fans were more concerned with the Extraliga playoff game in the evening.

The Junior Extraliga finals start on Sunday in Karlovy Vary at 17:30. The series then shifts to Znojmo for games Tuesday and, if necessary, Wednesday.

Prague junior teams face elimination at home

Sparta Praha and Slavia Praha, both the higher-ranked teams in their best-of-three Junior Extraliga semifinal series, each dropped the first games on the road, and now must sweep at home to advance to the finals.

Karlovy Vary's Vladislav Habal making one of 47 saves on
Tuesday against Sparta. Photo: Jan Čech, Karlovarský deník.

Both first games were played on Tuesday. In Karlovy Vary, the Engergie junior team beat Sparta 3-2 in overtime, when Tomáš Klíma scored his second goal of the game. As he has done the entire season, goaltender Vladislav Habal was the team's saviour, stopping 47 of 49 shots. Meanwhile, in Znojmo, the hometown Eagles beat Slavia 5-2 before an enthusiastic gathering of 817 fans. Orli was totally dominant in the game, outshooting the visitors 54-26.

Both Prague teams will now try to get back on track at home.

Sparta and Karlovy Vary play the second game of their series on Wednesday night, due to the unavailability of Tesla Arena on Thursday. The game starts at 19:00, and is actually the second half of a double-header, as Sparta's U18 team hosts Olomouc in an Extraliga Starší Dorost playoff game at 15:30. If Sparta wins the junior game, the third and decisive game of that series will be played Friday afternoon at 13:45.

Slavia and Znojmo play their second game at Zimní stadion Eden Thursday night at 18:00. If Slavia wins, a decisive third game will be played Friday at 15:30.

Wild finish to Jr Extraliga quarterfinals

After the weekend's events, the eight remaining teams in the Junior Extraliga have been reduced to four. Sparta Praha, Slavia Praha, and Energie Karlovy Vary all completed sweeps of their best-of-three quarterfinal series on Saturday. Meanwhile, Orli Znojmo beat out PSG Zlín in a series where the road team won each game, despite the efforts of Zlín star Petr Holík, who gave Bill Mosienko's hat-trick record a challenge.

After needing overtime to beat Oceláři Třinec in game 1, Slavia was completely dominant at home in game 2, winning easily 9-3. The Slavia junior team possesses an impressive group of 17-year-old players on its roster, many of whom will be seen at next month's U18 World Championships, and the most impressive of them all is Dmitrij Jaškin. Despite his age, he truly looked like a man among boys on the ice at Eden Arena on Saturday. Tomáš Hertl and Pavel Klhůfek both notched 4 points. For Třinec, 17-year-old defenceman Filip Pavlík is their most noticeable player, quarterbacking the power-play, killing penalties, and seemingly always on the ice.

At the north end of the city, in Holešovice, Sparta needed overtime to eliminate Benzina Litvínov 2-1. Litvínov actually led a fast-paced game 1-0 until Daniel Přibyl tied the score with 4:07 left in regulation time. In the first minute of overtime, Tomáš Rubeš finished off a goalmouth scramble by shovelling in the loose puck. Přibyl and Rubeš assisted on each other's goals, and the 18 year olds are both candidates to play in next year's World Junior Championships.

In the surprise of the first round, seventh-ranked Karlovy Vary finished off a two-game sweep of second-ranked Vítkovice Steel on Saturday. Vítkovice had a 2-0 lead on home ice and was 20 minutes away from extending the series, but they were outscored 4-1 in the third period and lost 4-3. Michal Vachovec scored the winning goal with 5:34 remaining, to go along with 2 assists.

Wild scramble in front of the Znojmo (red) goal. Photo: Petr
Sagner, Zlín Press, hokej.zlin.cz.

In the most interesting series of the Junior Extraliga quarterfinals, Zlín won the opening game in Znojmo and went home with a chance to wrap up the series. With game 2 tied 2-2 with 8 minutes remaining in regulation time, Znojmo scored 3 times in 4:29 to seemingly wrap up the game. At that point, Petr Holík took matters into his own hand and produced a natural hat trick on one shift, 51 seconds to be exact, and tied the score to send it to overtime. However, in overtime, Znojmo's Martin Plánek scored his second of the game to force a third and decisive game on Sunday.

On Sunday, Znojmo scored twice in the second and held that lead until late in the third, when Holík scored for Zlín with 2:11 left in regulation time. In the dying seconds, there was a wild goalmouth scramble in which Holík and Jakub Šlahař both took whacks at the puck and it eventually ended up in the net, a fraction of a second after the expiration of time. Ondřej Kacetl kept the puck out of the net long enough to preserve the victory for Znojmo, and send them into the semifinals.

The semifinals begin Tuesday, with Sparta at Karlovy Vary and Slavia at Znojmo. Both series return to Prague on Thursday and then Friday, if necessary. Times are yet to be announced.

Action-packed Saturday in Czech hockey

For hockey fans in the Czech Republic, Saturday is a busy day. In particular, for the cities of Prague and Ostrava, which each host two big games.

Of Prague's two Extraliga clubs, one is long gone and the other is waiting to begin its semifinal series on Monday. However, the Junior Extraliga counterparts of those clubs are at home on Saturday, hosting big playoff games.

Zlín goaltender Libor Kašík kicks away a shot in Znojmo
Thursday in Junior Extraliga playoff action. Photo: hcorli.cz.

At 16:00, Slavia Praha hosts Oceláři Třinec at Zimní stadion Eden, and they can advance to the semifinals with a win Saturday or on Sunday. The series opened Thursday in Třinec, where Slavia won 4-3 in overtime, with Michal Barák scoring the winning goal with 24 seconds to play in the period. The biggest surprise was the presence of Dmitrij Jaškin in Slavia's lineup, after he had played game 7 in Liberec for Slavia's pro team the night before. He scored a goal and added 2 assists. Presumably, Jaškin will be in the lineup again at home Saturday, before re-joining the pro club in Třinec on Monday, so hockey fans in Prague who want a chance to see the possible first-round NHL draft pick in action for free should head to Eden.

At 19:00, Sparta Praha hosts Benzina Litvínov at Tesla Arena. Top-ranked Sparta can also earn a spot in the semifinals with a win, thanks to a 4-1 road victory on Thursday. Like Slavia, Sparta's lineup was bolstered by the presence of a pro. David Tůma, who played in the World Junior Championships in Buffalo, NY, played in the game, though he recorded no points. Sparta was led by 2 goals from Daniel Přibyl, both assisted by Tomáš Rubeš.

For real hockey junkies in Prague, there are a variety of public transportation options that could take a fan from Kubánské náměstí to Výstaviště (tram stops for the respective arenas) in 35 to 40 minutes. Check jizdnirady.idnes.cz/praha/spojeni for details.

Slavia and Sparta weren't the only junior clubs that received reinforcements from the big league. Dalibor Řežniček and Petr Holík, both WJC participants and regulars in the professional Extraliga, skated for PSG Zlín's junior squad and contributed to their 3-1 victory in Znojmo. Řežniček assisted on a goal by Holík in the last minute of the first period. The addition of these two players greatly improves fourth-ranked Zlín's chances, and makes them a serious contender for the junior national championship. Saturday's game gets underway at 12:30.

Game 1 action between Karlovy Vary (white) and Vítkovice (blue)
in the Junior Extraliga quarterfinals. Photo: Jan Čech, Karlovarský
deník, hokejkv.cz.

Ostrava's ČEZ Arena will be the site of two playoff games on Saturday. At 13:00, the junior Vítkovice Steel club will host Energie Karlovy Vary. Unlike the other three teams that are hosting Junior Extraliga quarterfinal games on Saturday, Vítkovice dropped its first game, so it will be looking to even the series on home ice. Martin Rohan led Karlovy Vary with 2 goals.

Hockey fans in Ostrava don't have to worry about transportation. Later on Saturday, ČEZ Arena will host the main event, as the professional Extraliga's semifinals get underway. Vítkovice hosts Eaton Pardubice at 17:00. The game can be viewed live online at www.ct24.cz/sport or tv.hokej.cz, but the television broadcast on ČT4 Sport will be tape-delayed until 19:30, following the AC Sparta Praha-FC Zbrojovka Brno football match. Game 2 will be televised live on Sunday at 18:10.

Junior Extraliga playoffs get underway

On Wednesday, the main event of the Czech hockey world will be the seventh game of the Extraliga quarterfinal series between Bílí Tygři Liberec and Slavia Praha. On Thursday, the professional circuit takes the day off, while its U20 counterpart, the Junior Extraliga, takes centre stage.

Třinec's Jakub Herman and Sparta's Jakub Kolář in Junior Extraliga
action at Prague's Tesla Arena. Photo: Jan Beneš,
www.sporting-photo.com.

It's unusual for junior hockey to ever get much attention in the Czech Republic, or anywhere else in Europe, for that matter. This was one of the biggest differences I noticed in hockey culture when I first arrived from Canada, where, particularly in small towns, a player on the local junior team is often a local celebrity. The top junior teams in the Czech Republic play at a level that is roughly similar to Canadian Junior "A" hockey (or tier-two junior, as it is sometimes called), but get much less attention from the general public. Whereas it is normal in Canada for 2,000 people to pay $10 to watch Junior "A" hockey, admittance to Junior Extraliga games is free, and yet usually draw only friends and family to watch. This is despite the fact that there are often numerous prospects playing.

The problem is, because it gets so little attention, a good portion of the public is totally unaware that there is good-quality hockey to be seen for free. I thought I would try to help raise that awareness a bit, with the playoffs upon us, to provide some basic information about when and where some of these games can be seen, and which players to watch for.

Karlovy Vary's Jaromír Kverka. Photo: Jan Čech, Karlovarský
deník, kv-hokej.cz.

There are eight teams in the Junior Extraliga playoffs. Ranked in order of regular season finish, they are Sparta Praha, Vítkovice Steel, Slavia Praha, PSG Zlín, Orli Znojmo, Oceláři Třinec, Energie Karlovy Vary, and Benzina Litvínov. In the quarterfinal round, they are paired in the normal highest versus lowest way, and teams are then re-seeded in the semifinals. All three rounds consist of best-of-three series.

The quarterfinal round begins on Thursday, with second and third games going Saturday and Sunday. The winners of those series advance to the semifinals, which will be played Tuesday the 22nd, Thursday the 24th, and Friday the 25th. The finals then go Sunday the 27th, Tuesday the 29th, and Wednesday the 30th. In all cases, the series begins at the home of the lower-seeded team, with the second and third games at the home of the higher-seeded team. Of course, in all cases, the third games will only be played if the first two are split.

Even at the junior level, the Slavia-Sparta rivalry is a fierce one.
Photo: Jan Beneš, www.sporting-photo.com.

With the exception of Slavia Praha, all of the teams play in the same homes as their senior counterparts. Slavia plays at Zimní stadion Eden in Prague's Vršovice district, rather than the cavernous O2 Arena, for obvious reasons. Eden was home to Slavia's Extraliga club until 2004, and still houses their youth programs and training facilities. For Prague residents who have never been there, it is within walking distance of tram stop Kubanské náměstí, accessible via trams 6, 7, 18, and 22.

Here are the following quarterfinal match-ups, with players to watch for and the series schedule. In the case of some players, I am not totally sure they will be playing, as they have moved between the Junior Extraliga and other levels, including the professional Extraliga, throughout the season. Except where noted, all players mentioned represented the Czech Republic at an international event at some level this season.

(1) Sparta Praha vs (8) Benzina Litvínov

Sparta's lineup includes a quartet of players who are hopefuls for next year's World Junior team: fowards Tomáš Rubeš and Daniel Přibyl and defencemen Dušan Žovinec and Jakub Kolář. It's uncertain whether World Junior goaltender Filip Novotný or forward David Tůma will drop down from the pro club to play in the Junior Extraliga playoffs. Litvínov, who is a heavy underdog in this series, counters with a couple hopefuls of their own: forward Pavel Smolka and defenceman Vladimír Eminger. As well, 17 year olds Jakub Matai and Jakub Šrámek both played for the Czech Republic at the U18 tournament in Hradec Králové in February and are hopefuls for the U18 World Championships in April.

Thu, 17 @ Litvínov, 17:30
Sat, 19 @ Sparta, 19:00
Sun, 20 @ Sparta, 16:00 (if necessary)

(2) Vítkovice Steel vs (7) Energie Karlovy Vary

This strong Víktovice team is led by a trio of prospects. At forward is Adam Řehák, a cut from this year's World Junior team who is considered a strong candidate to make it next year. On defence, 17-year-old Tomáš Pavelka was one of the top defencemen for the U18 team in Hradec Králové and is expected to be on the World Championship team in April. Joining him in Germany at the U18 tournament will likely be goaltender Patrik Bartošák, who finished second in the Junior Extraliga with 3 shutouts. It's not currently known whether 16-year-old Australian Nathan Walker will play in the Junior Extraliga playoffs or not. He split the majority of the season between Vítkovice's junior and starší dorost (major midget) teams. He made a memorable impression in the Junior Extraliga when he scored 6 goals in a single game back on December 11.

Karlovy Vary is led in goal by Vladislav Habal, who turns 20 in April. Though he hasn't represented the Czech Republic since the U17 level, he may have rescued a lost career this year with a phenomenal season. He appeared in 46 of Karlovy Vary's 50 games, leading the league in goals-against average (1.97) and shutouts (5). He may have to continue that play in a series against a Vítkovice club with a lot of firepower. Otherwise, forwards Jaromír Kverka and Michal Vachovec are in the hunt for World Junior spots next year and Petr Koblasa will likely be seen at the World U18 Championships.

Thu, 17 @ Karlovy Vary, 17:30
Sat, 19 @ Vítkovice,13:00
Sun, 20 @ Vítkovice, 17:00 (if necessary)

(3) Slavia Praha vs (6) Oceláři Třinec

Top prospects for Slavia up front include Tomáš Hertl and Jan Müller. 17-year-old Hertl is looking to make the U18 team next month, while 18-year-old Müller might receive an invite to try out for next year's World Junior team. On defence, Štěpán Jeník is expected to be one of the Czechs' top defencemen at the upcoming U18 tournament. 17 year olds Tomáš Moravec, and Antonín Růžička (son of Vladimír Růžička) both played for the U18 team in Hradec Králové, but might be playing the playoffs at the starší dorost level. If their pro team loses in Liberec on Wednesday, they could be joined by 17-year-old sensation Dmitrij Jaškin, although that may be wishful thinking, since Jaškin didn't play a single game at the Junior level all season. For Třinec, defenceman Filip Pavlík and forward Jakub Herman are both candidates for next year's World Junior squad, and 17-year-old Radek Faksa could be playing the playoffs at either the junior or starší dorost levels.

Thu, 17 @ Třinec, 17:00
Sat, 19 @ Slavia, 16:00
Sun, 20 @ Slavia, 15:15 (if necessary)

(4) PSG Zlín vs (5) Orli Znojmo

Zlín's biggest edge may come from their elimination from the professional Extraliga, which frees up defenceman Dalibor Řežniček and forward Petr Holík. Both played in the World Junior Championships in Buffalo this season, as well as significant time in the pro circuit. Both names have been mentioned in connection with the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Režniček is in his last year of junior eligibility, but Holík still has another year. He's a lock to make the Czech World Junior team, and forward Tomáš Fořt and defencemen Tomáš Valenta and Petr Zámorský are also candidates. For Znojmo, defenceman Martin Pláněk and forward Tomáš Rachůnek spent most of the year with Znojmo's First League team, but since they're out of the playoffs, they may be sent in to reinforce the junior team.

Thu, 17 @ Znojmo, 17:30
Sat, 19 @ Zlín,12:30
Sun, 20 @ Zlín, 12:30 (if necessary)

For a complete schedule and summaries of completed games, click here.

Aussie scores 6 in Czech Junior Extraliga game

On December 11, 16-year-old Nathan Walker of Australia scored six goals in a 9-1 win for HC Vítkovice Steel in a Junior Extraliga game against HC Rebel Havlíčkův Brod. With 14 goals and 18 assists in 28 games, he is third in team scoring and 20th overall as the league heads into a two-week break for Christmas.

A few days after his big performance, he did an interview with the club's website, www.hc-vitkovice.cz. Now in his fourth year playing in the Czech Republic, the interview was conducted in Czech. The original Czech version of the interview can be found at:

http://www.hc-vitkovice.cz/archiv/juniorka/nathan-walker-se-o-vikendu-blyskl-sesti-goly-v-jednom-utkani.html

On Saturday, against Havlíčkův Brod you scored just six times! Had you ever done anything like that before?

No, I'd never done that. I'm very happy, but I felt normal. I felt like I had one goal. It was something new, I'd never scored so many goals and I didn't know what to think about it.


Coach Jakub Petr said that in that game you could have scored ten goals.

Well, it could have been more. Twice I had an empty net, but I didn't score. I was in alone on the goalie twice, and I also failed.


Did you do something before the game different than you do normally? Did you feel before the game that you could have a big game?

I don't even know. I didn't do anything special, it was the work of the whole line. On each shift, we had a scoring chance. We got a lot of breaks, two-on-one, three-on-one. It's just how the game turned out.


How did your teammates react?

They said it was good that I did it.


Six goals is two hat tricks in one game, a performance like that will certainly cost you in the dressing room.
Well, they told me it would be expensive (laughs).


Any idea of what you will put into the room?

I don't know yet, I have to really think about it.


How did you ever end up in Vítkovice? Australia is far away and hockey there certainly is not the number one sport.

I've played here for four years. My coach from Australia knows Jakub Petr, the current coach of the juniors. He then coached Australia's U18 team. My coach pointed it out to me and he asked if I wanted to try it in Vitkovice. So I came here and I guess I caught on. They went and I stayed.


And it looks like you like it here too.

Yeah, definitely.


Do you imagine that in the future you might also play in the Extraliga?

Well, I guess. I would like it very much, we'll see how things develop.


Doing an interview in Czech, is it a big problem for you?

When I arrived, for me in the beginning it was a problem. But now, not at all. I understand what everyone else says to me, so now it's okay.



Have you taken any courses in Czech?

In the first year at school I had some individual sessions, but now I don't, but in the future I may start to go somewhere again, so it was perfect.


At Christmas time, the junior league takes a break. Will you spend the holidays in the Czech Republic, or are you going back to Australia?

I'm going to Australia. I'm going home on Thursday (17th). There I'll celebrate Christmas and come back to the Czech Republic at New Year's.


What do you think about the weather? After all, in Australia you are used to very different conditions at Christmas.

In Australia now we have summer, outside is twenty-five, thirty-degree heat (laughs). So it's a lot better than here.


Do you like the atmosphere of a white Christmas?

It's something different. Our Christmas is a lot of fun, but a white Christmas is nice, too. It is definitely nice.


Returning to hockey, the Vítkovice juniors are in first place. Do you think you can win it this year?

It would be great and I'd like it a lot. We have a very good team and I think we feel we can win the title.