Who will win the Golden Stick?

The Golden Hockey Stick (or Zlatá hokejka) is an annual award presented to the Czech hockey player who had the best season. The player can play anywhere in the world, and contributions to both his club team and the Czech national team can be taken into account. The 2011 winner will be announced on Saturday night at a special ceremony at the Grand Hotel Pupp in Karlovy Vary, beginning at 21:00 Central European Time. It will be televised on ČT1 and webcast at ceskatelevize.cz. More information can be found at zlatahokejka2011.cz.

Following last month's World Championships, a group of panelists voted on who they felt were the ten best Czech hockey players over the past season. Each panelist ranked them one to ten, with the top-ranked player getting 10 points, and the tenth-ranked player getting 1 point. The panel included all 14 Extraliga head coaches, plus coaches from the Czech national men's senior and U20 teams, retired Czech hockey players, and members of the media.

Once the top ten finalists were determined, a second round of voting was conducted, where the panel again ranked the ten remaining players. The result of that second-round vote will be revealed on Saturday.

Here are the ten finalists, listed alphabetically:

ČERVENKA, ROMAN	Avangard Omsk (KHL)
ELIÁŠ, PATRIK	New Jersey Devils (NHL)
HAVLÁT, MARTIN	Minnesota Wild (NHL)
JÁGR, JAROMÍR	Avangard Omsk (KHL)
KREJČÍ, DAVID	Boston Bruins (NHL)
PAVELEC, ONDŘEJ	Atlanta Thrashers (NHL)
PLEKANEC, TOMÁŠ	Montreal Canadiens (NHL)
STRAKA, MARTIN	HC Plzeň 1929
VOKOUN, TOMÁŠ	Florida Panthers (NHL)
ŽIDLICKÝ, MAREK	Minnesota Wild (NHL)

Of the ten finalists, seven played in the NHL, while two played in the KHL and one, Martin Straka, played at home in the Czech Extraliga. Straka, who has never won the award, would be a sentimental pick, as held the titles of President, General Manager, and team captain and had to deal with a ton of front-office headaches and still finished second in league scoring. He would be the first domestic player to win the award since Jiří Dopita in 2001.

The two KHL players, Roman Červenka and Jaromír Jágr, were linemates in Omsk. Jágr, who with nine Golden Sticks has won the award more than any other player in history, surely made his way up the voting with his performance in the World Championship, where he registered 9 points in nine games.

Jágr is one of three finalists who have won the award before. The others are the past two winners: Tomáš Vokoun and Patrik Eliáš. Like Jágr, Eliáš's presence in the Top Ten is likely aided by his World Championship performance, where he also recorded 9 points in nine games. Vokoun, on the other, hand, won the award last season based on his performance at the Worlds, but his refusal to play this season will likely prevent him from repeating. The other goaltender on the list, Ondřej Pavelec, was spectacular in goal in the Worlds, but may not have had enough of a spectacular regular season to top the voting.

Eliáš, along with Martin Havlát and David Krejčí, would seem to be the three favourites to win. The trio finished tied with 62 points to lead all Czech players in the NHL. While Eliáš and Havlát starred in the World Championship, Krejčí won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Boston Bruins and led all playoff scorers with 23 points in 25 games.

In total, 58 players received votes:

11. Tomáš Vlasák (Plzeň) 212 points, 12. Dominik Hašek (Spartak Moscow, KHL) 181, 13. Karel Rachůnek (Yaroslavl, KHL) 178, 14. Martin Růžička (Třinec) 170, 15. Milan Hejduk (Colorado, NHL), 129, 16. Jakub Štěpánek (St. Petersburg, KHL) 124, 17. Zbyněk Michálek (Pittsburgh, NHL) 108, 18. Tomáš Rolinek (Magnitogorsk, KHL) 83, 19. Milan Michálek (Ottawa, NHL) 76, 20. Tomáš Kaberle (Boston, NHL) 74, 21. Miroslav Blaťák (Ufa, KHL), 45, 22. Jakub Voráček (Columbus, NHL) 42, 23. Petr Sýkora (Davos, Switzerland) 36, 24. - 25. Michal Neuvirth (Washington, NHL) and Alexandr Salák (Färjestad, Sweden) 29, 26. Lukáš Krajíček (Třinec) 26, 27. Aleš Hemský (Edmonton, NHL) 24, 28. Petr Nedvěd (Liberec) 18, 29. Michael Frolík (Chicago, NHL) 16, 30. - 31. Jakub Kovář (České Budějovice) and Roman Málek (Vítkovice) 15, 32. Jiří Burger (Vítkovice) 14, 33. Radim Vrbata (Phoenix, NHL) 12, 34. Lukáš Kašpar (Astana, KHL) 11, 35. - 36. Roman Hamrlík (Montréal, NHL) and Jan Marek (Atlant/Yaroslavl, KHL) 10, 37. Milan Gulaš (České Budějovice) 9, 38. - 40. Petr Čajánek (St. Petersburg, KHL), Petr Hubáček (Kometa Brno) and Jiří Hudler (Detroit, NHL) 8, 41. Josef Vašíček (Yaroslavl, KHL) 7, 42. - 43. Miroslav Kopřiva (Slavia Praha) and František Ptáček (České Budějovice) 6, 44. - 45. Tomáš Duba (Zlín/Třinec) and Marek Malík (Vítkovice) 5, 46. - 48. Petr Leška (Zlín), Radek Martínek (New York Islanders, NHL) and Petr Průcha (St. Petersburg, KHL) 4, 49. - 50. Viktor Hübl (Litvínov) and Viktor Ujčík (Vítkovice) 3, 51. - 54. Jaroslav Bednář (Davos, Switzerland), Radek Bonk (Třinec), Petr Čáslava (CSKA Moscow, KHL) and Martin Růžička (Pardubice) 2, 55. - 58. Radek Duda (Chomutov/Plzeň), Jan Kovář (Plzeň), František Lukeš (Litvínov) and Ondřej Němec (Cherepovets) 1.

First awarded in 1969, the Golden Stick began essentially as an MVP award for the Czechoslovak First League, and continued to be until the administrative breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993. At that time, due to the fact that most of the best Czech hockey players were now playing abroad, the award was changed to its present format, where all Czechs are eligible for the award, regardless of where in the world they play.

Past Winners:

1969 - Jan Suchý (D), HC Dukla Jihlava
1970 - Jan Suchý (D), HC Dukla Jihlava
1971 - František Pospíšil (D), Poldi Kladno
1972 - František Pospíšil (D), Poldi Kladno
1973 - Vladimír Martinec (RW), HC Pardubice
1974 - Jiří Holeček (G), HC Sparta Praha
1975 - Vladimír Martinec (RW), HC Pardubice
1976 - Vladimír Martinec (RW), HC Pardubice
1977 - Milan Nový (C), Poldi SONP Kladno
1978 - Ivan Hlinka (C), CHZ Litvínov
1979 - Vladimír Martinec (RW), HC Dukla Jihlava
1980 - Peter Šťastný (C), HC Slovan Bratislava
1981 - Milan Nový (C), Poldi SONP Kladno
1982 - Milan Nový (C), Poldi SONP Kladno
1983 - Vincent Lukáč (RW), VSŽ Košice
1984 - Igor Liba (LW), HC Dukla Jihlava
1985 - Jiří Králík (G), HC Gottwaldov
1986 - Vladimír Růžička (C), CHZ Litvínov
1987 - Dominik Hašek (G), Tesla Pardubice
1988 - Vladimír Růžička (C), Dukla Trenčín
1989 - Dominik Hašek (G), Tesla Pardubice
1990 - Dominik Hašek (G), Tesla Pardubice
1991 - Bedřich Ščerban (D), HC Dukla Jihlava
1992 - Róbert Švehla (D), HC Dukla Trenčín
1993 - Miloš Holaň (D), TJ Vítkovice
1994 - Roman Turek (G), HC České Budějovice
1995 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), Poldi Kladno/Bolzano/Schalker Haïe/Pittsburgh Penguins
1996 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), Pittsburgh Penguins
1997 - Dominik Hašek (G), Buffalo Sabres
1998 - Dominik Hašek (G), Buffalo Sabres
1999 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), Pittsburgh Penguins
2000 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), Pittsburgh Penguins
2001 - Jiří Dopita (C), HC Vsetín
2002 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), Washington Capitals
2003 - Milan Hejduk (RW), Colorado Avalanche
2004 - Robert Lang (C), Washington Capitals/Detroit Red Wings
2005 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), HC Rabat Kladno/Avangard Omsk
2006 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), New York Rangers
2007 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), New York Rangers
2008 - Jaromír Jágr (RW), New York Rangers
2009 - Patrik Eliáš (LW), New Jersey Devils
2010 - Tomáš Vokoun (G), Florida Panthers

Most wins:

9 - Jaromír Jágr
5 - Dominik Hašek
4 - Vladimír Martinec
3 - Milan Nový

2 - Jan Suchý

2 - František Pospíšil

2 - Vladimír Růžička

St. Petersburg pulls out of Jágr sweepstakes

After earlier declaring their intention to sign Jaromír Jágr for the coming season, KHL club SKA St. Petersburg has now stated that they have abandoned efforts.

Jaromír Jágr (shown here with Vladimir Putin), may return to
Russia, but it won't be in St. Petersburg. Photo: Presidential Press
and Information Office.

"We are no longer pursuing Jaromír Jágr," said SKA general manager Alexei Kasatonov, citing the league's salary cap and limit on import players. "This is mainly due to the budget. The salary cap is not inflatable. Another reason is that we have too many foreigners. We already have six instead of the allowable five. Jágr would be the seventh. So that's the end of the story."

With St. Petersburg out of the picture, the only KHL team that still seems interested in signing him is Avangard Omsk, with whom he has played the last three seasons. Other possibilities are the NHL, or his home club in Kladno, where he will eventually take over as club president from his father. 

If anyone thought the 39-year-old Jágr was beyond the point of being a productive NHL scorer, his performance at the most recent World Championship, where he recorded 8 points in 8 games, showed that he still seems capable of playing hockey at an elite level. All three teams that he played for during his NHL career, Pittsburgh, Washington, and the New York Rangers, have expressed interest. Other possibilities are Montreal and Detroit.

Czech Republic will host 2012 U18 men's and women's championships

It has long been known that the IIHF Women's U18 World Championship will be played in the Czech Republic in early January 2012. On Wednesday, Czech website hokej.cz announced that the men's edition of the tournament will be held in the same country, subject to rubber-stamp approval from the IIHF Congress.

"Information was sent to us from the IIHF, stating that we will host the tournament," said Czech Ice Hockey Association (ČSLH) Gereral Secretary Martin Urban. "Officially, it still must be confirmed by Congress." The ČSLH website is also announcing they will host the tournament, which suggests the information is true.

The tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Switzerland, but rumblings began during the 2011 tournament in Germany that the Swiss may relinquish their right to host, citing a lack of suitable venues that were willing to host. The Czech Republic and Denmark stepped to the forefront as possible replacements, and now it seems that the Czechs will, indeed, host both the women's and men's U18 events.

Hosts for both tournaments have not been announced, but there are many possible candidates.
 
Among last season's top women's teams were Pardubice, Slavia Praha, Karvina, Kladno, and Plzeň. While Prague isnt likely to host, the others are all possibilities, as is Slaný, which hosted a 5-teams U18 womens tournament last December, prior to the World Championship in Sweden. Slaný is just 13 km north of Kladno, which could make them suitable candidates to co-host.

Hradec Králové hosted a U18 tournament in February 2011.
Photo: Stanislav Souček, hockeynews.cz.

As for the men's event, Pardubice has hosted World U20 Championships in 2002 and 2008, and the area's passion for hockey makes them likely front-runners for this event as well. Nearby Hradec Králové hosted a five-team U18 tournament in February, making them ideal co-host candidates. Indeed, the Czech Republic is no stranger to hosting U18 hockey tournaments. The Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament is annually co-hosted in South Moravia, usually Břeclav, along with a Slovak city, usually Piešťany. Junior hockey is usually more popular in Moravia, as seen by the excitement in Znojmo over their national junior title. Znojmo's 5,500-seat Hostan Arena would seem to suit the needs of the tournament, although the departure of the Orli Znojmo professional team to the Austrian League might not earn them any points with the ČSLH. Brno's 7,200-seat Hala Rondo and the area's passionate fans is another option worth considering.

Of course, cities won't be chosen until after the IIHF formally approves the host nation. That won't happen until their next Congress meeting, August 22 to 24 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Rebuilding Sparta signs Foster and Bližňák

In an ongoing effort to rebuild from a disastrous 2010-11 campaign, HC Sparta Praha signed a couple of forwards with NHL experience, American Alex Foster and Slovak Mario Bližňák, on Tuesday.

Alex Foster. Photo: marlies.ca.

"We need the squad to be balanced," said head coach Josef Jandač on the team's website. "We therefore signed Foster and Bližňák on the grounds that they are forwards who also know how to defend well. They can both be part of our offence and also play defensively."

26-year-old Foster was born in Canton, Michigan while his father, Dwight Foster, played for the Detroit Red Wings in the 1980s. His uncle, Wes Jarvis, also played in the NHL. The younger Foster attended Bowling Green University and was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2006. He has spent the past five seasons in the Toronto organization, playing for the AHL's Toronto Marlies and 3 games with the Leafs in 2007-08.

Bližňák, 24, hails from Trenčín, Slovakia, but has played in Canada since the age of 18. He spent three seasons with the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants, where he was part of their 2007 Memorial Cup championship team.  He was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the fifth round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft and has played professionally in that organization ever since. He played a total of 6 games for the Canucks, recording a goal, but the club's depth at centre has relegated him to the AHL's Manitoba Moose for the rest of that time. The signing comes despite the fact that the Canucks' season is not yet over; they are currently playing in the Stanley Cup Final.

Mario Bližňák. Photo: bleacherreport.com.

The signings came a day after the club signed defencemen Jaroslav Kasík and Michal Sersen. Kasík is a Prague native who grew up in the Sparta organization, while Sersen is another Slovak who played two years in the QMJHL with the Rimouski Océanic and Québec Remparts.

The club's roster for 2011-12 is starting to come together after releasing nine players on April 7. Traditionally one of the strongest Czech clubs, Sparta had a disastrous 12th-place finish last season, which resulted in the shake up.

The first chance anybody might get to see the new players in Sparta crimson will be August 11, when they host Swedish club HV71 Jönköping on the opening day of the 2011 European Trophy.

Znojmo joins Austrian League

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

More details about the Znojmo transfer will be announced Thursday.

Jeřábek and Přibyl taken in KHL draft

The KHL held its third annual junior draft on Saturday. Two Czechs were among the 135 players selected: Jakub Jeřábek of Plzeň 1929 and Daniel Přibyl of Sparta Praha.

Jakub Jeřábek could play for the KHL's Lev
Poprad next season. Photo: Photo: Rick
Stewart, Getty Images North America.

Jeřábek was taken 109th overal by Lev Poprad, the expansion club that will begin play in Northern Slovakia this season. He was Lev's fourth selection. Jeřábek, who just turned 20 in May, was a mainstay on the Plzeň pro club's defence this past season, and played well enough to earn a spot in the LG Games in Sweden, playing for the Czech national team. He proved his value in the World Junior Championships in Buffalo, where he was the Czech team's captain and best player.

Přibyl was taken 17 spots later, at 126, by Severstal Cherepovets. The 18-year-old played 3 games in the Tipsport Extraliga this past season, but spent the majority of the year in the Junior Extraliga, where he recorded 58 points in 41 games, leading Sparta to first place in the standings. The junior Sparta team was knocked out in the semifinal by Karlovy Vary, but that wasn't due to a lack of production from Přibyl, who recorded 5 points in 4 games. He scored the tying goal late and assisted on the overtime winner in the quarterfinal clincher against Litvínov.  He is projected to be a middle-round pick at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft and considered a top candidate to be on next year's Czech World Junior team.

Considering his age, the higher level of competition he played this past season, and due to the fact he was chosen by the Poprad club, which is by far the closest team to home, distance-wise, Jeřábek seems like a much safer bet to make the jump straight to the KHL this upcoming season.

That sentiment was shared by the team's head coach, Czech Radim Rulík, who stated, "(Slovak Marek) Tvrdoň and Jeřábek very much want to play in the KHL, therefore there is a chance that they could appear on our team as early as next year. I think that Jeřábek could turn out to be the discovery of the year."

Nedvěd: "I will return to Liberec"

When his season ended back on March 16, there was speculation that 39-year-old Petr Nedvěd would retire.

"I've got a lot of time to think, give it some time. I'll see how I feel," he said at the time.

He is now confirming his intention to return for another season. "I will return to Liberec," he told Czech newspaper Sport.

Nedvěd defected from communist Czechoslovakia as a 16 year old while playing at an international Midget tournament in Calgary in January 1989.  He played a year for the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds before being drafted second overall by the Vancouver Canucks in 1990. He gained Canadian citizenship in 1993 and represented his adopted homeland at the 1994 Winter Olympics, while in a contract dispute with Vancouver, and earned a silver medal.

He first played in the Czech Extraliga, briefly, in 1997 while in another contract dispute, this time with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played 5 games with Sparta Praha that year and then played a full season with Sparta during the 2004-05 NHL lockout. He returned to Sparta yet again, in 2007-08, but after an unsuccessful attempt to return to the NHL with the New York Rangers in the fall of 2008, he signed with his hometown team, Bílí Tygři Liberec, where he has played ever since.

In 2010-11, as the team's captain, he led Liberec with 55 points in 45 games, a total that was third in the league. He added 10 points in a seven-game playoff series, in which Liberec was defeated by Slavia Praha.

"For us it's a good thing, because Petr had a great season for himself and for us," said Liberec general manager Ctibor Jech. "We're counting on him in all capacities: as a team captain and leader on and off the ice. We are pleased that he'll be staying with us."