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

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.

Scott Barney leaves Boleslav, returns to Finland

Photo: www.bkboleslav.cz.

Scott Barney of Oshawa, ON has parted company with BK Mladá Boleslav and will return to the Finnish SM-liiga, reports the club's website. He will join club HPK Hameenliina.

The 31-year-old centre and right winger signed with Boleslav back on November 21 and made his debut with the club five days later. He scored that night in a 4-1 loss to Vítkovice Steel and picked up an assist in his second game, a 3-2 loss to Slavia Praha. In the 11 games since then, however, Barney registered only 1 goal and 1 assist, while the club struggled along in the league basement.

Barney becomes the second Canadian player to leave the Boleslav club this season. Duncan Milroy of Edmonton, AB started the season with the team, but left in November to join the Krefeld Penguins of the German DEL. Defenceman Darrell Hay of Kamloops, BC has played on the club all season. The son of former NHL coach Don Hay has played in all 42 of his team's games this season, and has 5 goals and 13 assists.

Barney started the season in the SM-liiga, playing 21 games for SaiPa Lappeenranta before being released from the club after he was arrested for driving while impaired.

It's been a trying season for BK Mlada Boleslav. After getting off to a decent start and sitting in a playoff position in mid November, they were stripped of 22 points by the league for improperly registering three of their players. The club's appeal is still pending. Additionally, they faced banishment from the Extraliga when they were accused of falsifying documents relating to the club's financial status in December, but it was eventually ruled that the discrepancies were not malicious, and they faced only a fine.

It appears unlikely they will climb out of the basement before the end of the season, which would mean that they will have to defend their position in the top league in a best-of-seven series against the First League champions.

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.

Salcido finds a home in Finland

Mladá Boleslav's Duncan Milroy (left) and Sparta's Brian
Salcido battle for a loose puck in an October 26 game. Both
players have since left the Tipsport Extraliga and now play
elsewhere in Europe. Photo courtesy ČTK.

Just days after leaving HC Sparta Praha, Brian Salcido of Hermosa Beach, CA has found a new team. On Monday, the 25-year-old defenceman signed to play the rest of the season for SaiPa Lappeenranta of the Finnish SM-liiga.

SaiPa is the same team that BK Mladá Boleslav's Scott Barney started the season with, before an arrest for impaired driving led to his release from the team.

In Lappeenranta, Salcido will hope to regain his offensive touch from the back end that he became known for in the AHL. He recorded only 3 points in 23 games with Sparta this season, which was part of a general problem for the team that is second from the bottom of the league in goals scored.

Since his release, Sparta has lost two more games to run its losing streak to six. They play in Karlovy Vary on Tuesday night.

Sunday's action sees movement in the standings

As the Tipsport Extraliga approaches the halfway point of its schedule, the standings remain compact. Every round of games shuffles the deck a little bit, and Sunday was no different. All 14 teams were in action on the same day for round 25 of the league's 52-game schedule.

At the top of the table, HC Olelaří Třinec and HC Vítkovice Steel both managed to win and remain tied for first place. Vítkovice routed a floundering Sparta Praha club 4-1 in Prague, while Třínec shut out a Plzeň squad that had been resurgent as of late.  

Doug O'Brien's return to Sparta's blueline, after sitting out one game with an injured shoulder, was unable to help his team break a losing streak that has now reached six games.

Meanwhile, in Třinec, Peter Hamerlík made 31 saves for his third shutout of the season, frustrating Plzeň attackers all night. In an attempt to shake things up, coach Marian Jelínek split up the duo of John Lammers and Nick Johnson, who normally play together. Johnson saw action with Radek Duda and Martin Straka, while Lammers ended up with Michal Dvořák and Martin Heřman. For Třinec, who won 4-0, Bryan McGregor of Niagra Falls, ON played on a line with Jan Peterek and Jakub Osrava.

In his second game with BK Mladá Boleslav, Oshawa, ON's Scott Barney recorded his second point. Barney played on Boleslav's top line with Daniel Boháč and Tomáš Divíšek, and trio struck twice to give Boleslav an early lead in a game they desperately needed to try to get themselves back into the playoff race. However, HC Slavia Praha were just as desperate and stormed back to win the game, 3-2 on the road. Jiří Doležal scored the winning goal early in the third period, as Slavia moved into a ninth-place tie with HC Benzina Litvínov.

And in a battle for fifth place, HC Eaton Pardubice won on the road against PSG Zlín, 4-3. Pardubice's two Americans, defenceman Jeff Jillson and left-winger Adam Pineault were both pointless, with Jillson picking up a tripping minor in the third period.

Other results:

HC Kometa Brno 3-0 HC Vagnerplast Kladno
HC Mountfield České Budějovice 3-2 HC Energie Karlovy Vary (OT)
HC Benzina Litvínov 0-1 Bílí Tigři Liberec

Barney scores in Boleslav debut

Scott Barney (#36) celebrates his first goal in his first game
for Boleslav. Photo courtesy Jan Pavlíček, bkboleslav.cz.

In his first game as a member of BK Mladá Boleslav, Scott Barney scored his team's lone goal in a 4-1 loss to HC Vítkovice Steel. After last-place Boleslav quickly fell behind 2-0 against first-place Vítkovice, Barney cut the lead in half on a set-up by Lukáš Pabiška and Darrell Hay. But the overall strength of the Vítkovice team prevailed on the strength of 2 goals and an assist from Jan Kaňa.

High-flying HC Kometa Brno got off to a quick start against HC Plzeň 1929, building up a 3-0 lead. But despite the deficit on the scoreboard and in the standings, the scrappy club from West Bohemia scored four times in the second period and eventually won the game 5-4. Once again, the duo of John Lammers and Nick Johnson teamed up with captain Martin Straka to form a line that gave their opposition fits all night. Lammers assisted on the first of two goals by Radek Duda to increase his season total to 14 points; tops among North Americans in the Tipsport Extraliga. Tomáš Vlasák's 3 points gives him a league-leading 36 for the season. And Plzeň continues to battle its way back toward a playoff spot after being penalised 19 points by the league. With 22 points, they now trail 10th-place HC Slavia Praha by 9, with still more than half a season to go.

On the day that ex-NHLer Jiří Šlegr took over as the team's General Manager, HC Benzina Litvínov topped HC Mountfield České Budějovice 6-4.

And in its first game after the release of defenceman Brian Salcido, HC Sparta Praha lost 4-1 in Liberec. Also missing from the lineup was defenceman Doug O'Brien, who sat out the game with an injured shoulder. His status for Sunday is unknown. The White Tigers (Bílí Tigři) were led by a goal and an assist from Petr Nedvěd.

Rounding out the night's action, HC Eaton Pardubice won 5-2 on home ice against HC Vagnerplast Kladno.

Scott Barney arrives in Boleslav

Scott Barney playing for SaiPa
Lappeenranta of the Finnish SM-liiga.
Photo courtesy Tuomas Vitikainen.

Less than a week after parting with Duncan Milroy, Mladá Boleslav has acquired another Canadian forward. Scott Barney of Oshawa, ON has joined the team.

Barney, 31, can play both centre and right wing. He started the season with SaiPa of the Finnish SM-Liiga, where he registered 9 goals and 9 assists in 21 games. He was released from the team after being arrested for drunk driving.

Barney played junior hockey for the Peterborough Petes and was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 1997. He's played 27 games in the NHL for the Kings and Atlanta Thrashers, and has also spent time in the AHL and in Germany.

BK Mladá Boleslav took to the ice at home on Sunday, without Barney, against HC Plzeň 1929.

Boleslav led 3-1 late in the second, but gave up a goal to Martin Straka in the last minute of the middle frame to bring the Indians within one. Straka then set up Jan Kovář to tie the score in the first minute of the third, and then Plzeň struck three times in a five-minute span in the middle part of the frame to take over the game. Straka finished with 4 points and John Lammers of Langley, BC assisted on the go-ahead marker as Plzeň won 7-4.

With the 3 points, Plzeň now has 19 points, 10 back of Slavia Praha for the tenth and final playoff spot. Mladá Boleslav remains last in the league with 9. Both teams had occupied playoff positions before Friday's ruling stripped them of 19 and 22 points, respectively, for using improperly registered players.

Other results:

PSG Zlín 2-3 Vítkovice Steel
Kometa Brno 3-2 Eaton Pardubice
Vagnerplast Kladno 3-1 Slavia Praha
BENZINA Litvínov 0-2 Energie Karlovy Vary
Ocelář Třinec 3-4 Bílí Tigři Liberec (SO)
Sparta Praha 3-4 Mountfield České Budějovice

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."

Duncan Milroy leaves Mladá Boleslav

On the verge of a ruling that will shatter the team's chances at making the playoffs, BK Mladá Boleslav has decided to shed Duncan Milroy of Edmonton, AB from its roster.

German sports website www.kicker.de is reporting that the Canadian right winger has now signed a contract to play the rest of the season for the Krefeld Penguins of the Deutsch Eishockey Liga (DEL). Milroy previously played in the DEL for Ingolstadt ERC in 2008-09.

A draft pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2001, the 27-year-old Milroy played 5 games for the Habs in 2006-07. He played junior hockey for the Swift Current Broncos and Kootenay Ice, and in the AHL for the Hamilton Bulldogs and Houston Aeros.

In 20 games this season for Mladá Boleslav, Milroy registered 3 goals and 3 assists, with 2 penalty minutes. He leaves Darrell Hay of Kamploops, BC as the lone North American on the team.

Without Milroy in the line-up last night, Boleslav beat Karlovy Vary 9-5 in a wild affair. The win temporarily gives them 28 points, tied with HC BENZINA Litvínov for the tenth and final playoff spot. However, an announcement tomorrow is expected to strip Boleslav of 22 of those points, dropping them into last place.

Tonight, Boleslav vists Liberec in the only game on the Extraliga slate.

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.

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