Sparta's Anniversary

[Wide Asleep]

Today I am going to Sparta's 100th anniversary celebration. In addition to an actual game (against Znojmo) there is also going to be a lot of other things going on, including raising one line of legends' numbers to the rafters, the first time this has been done.

Most of the names of those legends won't be familiar to you, but some may be. The youngest of them at 45 is Jiri Hrdina who won the Stanley cup with both Calgary and Pittsburgh. One of the other forwards is Vladimír Zábrodský, who was chosen third in the poll for the best Czech hockey player of the century after Jagr and Hašek, and Zábrodský played 50 years ago!

Currently active players were not eligible, so stars like Petr Briza and Richard Zemlicka were not available.

Of course I only remember the last ten years or so, but it has been a good ten years!

Sparta has won 6 titles in the last 100 years, which puts has only been matched or beat by about four teams.

The best Czech team historically is LTC Praha which won something like 13 titles and several Spengler Cups as well. They not only wrote history, but are now only part of it, ceasing to exist many years ago.

[MarmotMike]

Source: Impact!

"Hockey Hot Spots - 10 places where Hockey Rules!"

Banstra Bystrica, Slovakia -- This small city has produced five of the current Slovakians plying their trade in the NHL. For the most part, the players from Bystrica are as high-profile as they come, as well.

Center Michal Handzus is playing a huge role for Eastern Conference powerhouse Philadelphia. Nashville's Vladimir Orszagh is one of the primary offensive threats for the surprising Predators and Montreal's Richard Zednik has won over the demanding Montreal fans with his ability to produce clutch goals. Youngsters Tomas Surovy of Pittsburgh and Florida's Ivan Majesky also call the Bystrica area home.

Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic -- Located in South Bohemia at the confluence of the Vltava and Malse rivers, Ceske Budejovice is home to five current NHLers, the same as the much bigger capital city of Prague. All told, the Czech Republic contributes more than 60 players to current NHL rosters. The Florida Panthers' duo of Vaclav Nedorost and Filip Novak are among the quintet of players from Ceske Budejovice, which is home of the original Budweiser beer. The other natives playing in the NHL today are Los Angeles defenseman Jaroslav Modry, Anaheim center Vaclav Prospal and Pittsburgh defenseman Josef Melichar.

More places listed at this this link:
www.nhl.com/intheslot/read/impact/2003_04/january/top10_spots.html

[Wide Asleep]

Well, the celebration was all right, and everyone got a printed history of the club, but Sparta played like crap, and deserved to lose 1:5, I am afraid to say. I got a chance to talk to Jiri Hrdina about his Stanley Cup in Calgary, and got to meet Zabrodsky, perhaps the greatest Czech hockey player ever, and also in the IIHF hall of fame.

Sparta has 12 goals against in the last two games! With 14 games to go to the playoffs, they need to get their act together. On the other hand, on paper they have a very strong team, and if they can all get back into the rythym of the game after coming off of long injuries, they should be able to present a much more serious challenge.

BTW Marek Schwarz is back in goal since Briza is not feeling very well. He looks good and plays much better than his 17 years (he was the number one Czech goalie at the juniors).

[budvar]

Pardubice is even smaller than Ceske Budejovice and is bithtown of these NHLers - Milan Hejduk, Dominik Hašek and Jan Bulis. The 2 first named knows every hockey fan.