The Czech Extraliga 2003/04

[Wide Asleep]

Ladies and Gentlemen, we are coming into the home stretch here in the Czech league, so I will let you know how things are going. The league has 52 rounds, and today is the 51st round. Of the 14 teams in the league, the top 8 advance to the playoffs and the 14th plays the winner in the 2nd league to see who will be in the Extraliga the following season. Here are the current standings:

1 Pardubice 104
2 Zlín 90
3 Sparta 84
4 Znojmo 83
5 Slavia 82
6 Vítkovice 76
7 Tøinec 75
8 Plzeò 65
9 Kladno 65
10 K. Vary 61
11 Vsetín 60
12 Litvínov 60
13 Liberec 59
14 È. Budìj. 47

So Pardubice is definitely 1st, Zlin is almost certainly 2nd and 3-5 will be Sparta, Znojmo and Slavia (last year's overall winner). Sparta plays Znojmo in the last round on Friday, so it maynot be decided until then! Trinec and Vitkovice will fight it out for the 6th and 7th places and four teams have a chance for the final, 8th, playoff spot: Plzen, Kladno, Karlovy Vary and Vsetin. Litvinov and Liberec will have to wait until next year.

I am cheering for Sparta, of course, and then for Plzen. I will also cheer for Ceske Budejovice in the relegation round, since they have always been a favorite of mine.

Plzen is in an interesting position. I am cheering for them because they have a phenomenal goalie named Roman Malek, who played for the champions, Slaia, last year and this season until December, when he was traded to Plzen. That caused a lot of bad blood since he was considered a cornerstone of the Slavia team. He was injured at the beginning of the season and took a while to get back into form. Slavia kept saying he was number one, but traded him anyway. So to get back at Vladimir Ruzicka (coach of Slavia) I would like to see Plzen advance (true poetic justice would see Plzen then beat Slavia, though I don't think they would meet in the playoffs). Another reason is if Malek gets into the playoffs he has a better chance of being called on for the World Championships.

To be continued...

[DanCan]

I am glad you find some time to inform us about the Extra league. The thread is GREAT! Maybe you could also inform us about some of key players in the league, in particular info about players we can expect to see at the WC's.?

[Wide Asleep]

So Sparta beat Plzen just by the skin of their teeth to keep their third place secure. Now it all depends on the last round on Friday to see who will end up where. Here were today's scores and the new standings:

Round 51:
PCE SLA 6:1
LTV ZLN 6:3
VSE VIT 3:4
TRI ZNO 5:6
SPA PLZ 5:4
KLA KVA 6:4
CEB LIB 2:6


1 Pardubice 107
2 Zlín 90
3 Sparta 87
4 Znojmo 86
5 Slavia 82
6 Vítkovice 79
7 Tøinec 75
8 Kladno 68
9 Plzeò 65
10 Litvínov 63
11 Liberec 62
12 K. Vary 61
13 Vsetín 60
14 È. Budìj. 47

That means that the 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th and relegation 14th place has been decided. Now only Kladno and Plzen have a chance at the 8th and final playoff slot. Here are, then, the possible matchups:

1 vs. 8: Pardubice vs. Kladno/Plzeò
2 vs. 7: Zlín/Sparta vs. Tøinec
3 vs. 6: Zlín/Sparta/Znojmo vs. Vítkovice
4 vs. 5: Sparta/Znojmo vs. Slavia

I will come back with some of the stars as we get the final eight spots. As for WC, a lot of those players will come from other places in Europe, like Jaroslav Hlinka from Switzerland and a number of players from Russia. While the Czech coach, Slavomir Lener, did use the Eurohockey tour to try out various players, I think in the end he will use a core group of NHL players with only a few Europeans and the ones he chooses will definitely have to show they are in good shape during the upcoming playoffs. Some people to think about in the Czech league:

1) Michal Sykora (D-Pardubice) who is a mainstay on the International scene and has a lot of NHL experience as well.
2) Jiri Dopita (C-Pardubice). While his foray into the NHL was a dismal failure for the man called the best player outside the NHL three years ago, his return to the Czech league has shown him to be back at the top of his game, and I would be surprised if he was not nominated, depending on how far Pardubice goes in the playoffs.
3) Josef Beranek (C-Slavia), well-known by Penguins fans, this is a tough, no-nonsense forward who just happens to be leading the league in points this season.
4) Roman Malek (G-Plzen) is really a magician and is destined for great things. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if he's healthy, he is really hard to beat, and his specialty is penalty shots. The catch is that Plzen is not guaranteed to make the playoffs, and Lener will not choose him if he has a two-month holiday before the Worlds. It is down to Friday's game for Plzen. They are playing Kladno at home and need to win in regulation time to advance to the quarterfinals. I think in a couple of years Malek will be in the NHL and then he will have to show if he is really as good as I say he is. He simply has this ability to be where the puck is. When Plzen acquired him, they were 13th, now they are vying for 8th place and a playoff berth!

Feel free to ask any questions, and I will try to answer. I will certainly update y'all on Friday night!

[DanCan]

I saw some highlights of Finland vs Czech Republic in the Sweden Hockey Games, and I have to say that Malek was absolutely brilliant.
Looking forward to hear more after the games on Friday.

[Wide Asleep]

Today is the last day of the regular season, all games start at 5:30 p.m. and only three of the 7 will have any bearing on the final quarter-final pairings:

Plzen : Kladno - This is kind of like game seven of a playoff series. One advances. One can book their vacation. This is the moment of truth. If Kladno gets even one point (even losing in overtime) they will advance. Plzen needs to win in regulation time for them to go o the playoffs. This will definitely be the game to watch tonight.

Zlin : Vsetin - Vsetin is out of the playoffs race, but Zlin is their arch-rivals so I am sure they will want to give it their all. If Zlin wins, they will retain second place (actually one or two points would do it too). If they lose, they will have to see how the Sparta - Znojmo game turns out...

Znojmo - Sparta : Sparta is currently third and Znojmo 4th one point behind. If Sparta wins and Zlin loses Sparta will move up to 2nd, Zlin down to 3rd and Znojmo will remain 4th. If Sparta wins and Zlin wins, or if Sparta ties Znojmo, the standings stay as they are. If Znojmo wins in regulation time or overtime, they will be 3rd and Sparta 4th.

So I guess you all know how I am cheeiring: Go Sparta, Vsetin, Plzen!!!!

[Wide Asleep]

So all the results are in, and it all almost worked out the way I wanted it, but in the end Zlin just wouldn't lose, so Sparta stays third.

Here are todays results:
LIB LIT 2:2
PLZ KLA 5:0
SLA CEB 4:2
KVA PCE 3:3
VIT TRI 4:1
ZLN VSE 3:1
ZNO SPA 0:4

So both Roman Malek for Plzen and Petr Briza for Sparta got shutouts!

Here are the final standings:
1 Pardubice 108
2 Zlín 93
3 Sparta 90
4 Znojmo 86
5 Slavia 85
6 Vítkovice 82
7 Tøinec 75
8 Plzeò 68
9 Kladno 68
10 Litvínov 64
11 Liberec 63
12 K. Vary 62
13 Vsetín 60
14 È. Budìj. 47

And the quarterfinal matchings:
Pardubice – Plzeò (1.3, 2.3, 5.3, 6.3, 9.3, 11.3, 13.3)
Zlín – Tøinec (1.3, 2.3, 5.3, 6.3, 9.3, 11.3, 13.3)
Sparta Praha – Vítkovice (3.3, 4.3, 7.3, 8.3, 10.3, 12.3, 14.3)
Znojmo – Slavia Praha (3.3, 4.3, 7.3, 8.3, 10.3, 12.3, 14.3)

More to come!

[DanCan]

Looks good!

Could you provide us with a top 10 scoring leader list for the regular season (like in Pihinalle's thread)

Also, I am curious about the tv coverage in the Czech Republic. How much will be coveraged of the playoffs? Only highlights or live games on a regular basis?

[Wide Asleep]

Good idea, here are the stats at the end of the season:

overall scoring leaders (name team games goals assists points):

1 Beránek, Josef Slavia Praha 51 16 47 63
2 Leška, Petr Zlín 52 14 43 57
3 Straka, Josef Plzeò 52 23 32 55
4 Pucher, Peter Znojma 52 13 42 55
5 Marek, Jan Sparta Praha 50 21 30 51
6 Uram, Marek Znojma 46 25 24 49
7 Burger, Jiøí Vítkovice 51 23 26 49
8 Dopita, Jiøí Pardubice 47 20 28 48
9 Balaštík, Jaroslav Zlín 51 29 18 47
10 Sýkora, Petr Pardubice 48 23 23 46

Goals (name team games goals)::

1 Balaštík Jaroslav Zlín 51 29
2 Sup Michal Slavia Praha 47 27
3 Uram Marek Znojma 46 25
4 Straka Josef Plzeò 52 23
5 Burger Jiøí Vítkovice 51 23
6 Sýkora Petr Pardubice 48 23
7 Melenovský Marek Tøinec 52 23
8 Marek Jan Sparta Praha 50 21
9 Havel Lukáš Litvinov 49 21
10 Dopita Jiøí Pardubice 47 20

And finally goalies (name team goals/game shutouts percentage):
1 Murín Igor Zlín 1.75 9 94.03
2 Bøíza Petr Sparta Praha 2.01 6 93.91
3 Orct Zdenìk Kladno 2.45 1 93.82
4 Franìk Petr Slavia Praha 2.31 2 93.57
5 Málek Roman Plzeò 2.24 5 93.49
6 Trvaj Jiøí Vítkovice 2.14 2 93.21
7 Svoboda Adam Pardubice 1.93 5 93.03
8 Biegl Radovan Vsetín 2.34 5 92.86
9 Vojtek Martin Tøinec 2.59 1 92.74
10 Duba Tomáš Znojmo 2.41 4 92.67

And everyday one of the games is televised in its entirety. So for the first two weeks of March we might have it everyday!

[Wide Asleep]

Here are the going odds for the playoffs. If you are not familiar with this system, the number represents the amount you multiply your initial bet by if you win, thus if you bet 10 dollars on Sparta advancing and they did, you would get 1.22 x 10 or 12.20 (winning 2.20). Thus the lower the number, the greater the chances of advancing.

PARDUBICE-PLZEN : 1.15 - 4.10
ZLIN-TRINEC : 1.42 - 2.45
SPARTA PRAHA-VITKOVICE : 1.22 - 3.40
ZNOJMO-SLAVIA PRAHA : 1.90 - 1.70

[Wide Asleep]

All the teams have two games under their belt. Two of the best=of=seven series are ties, in the other two the favorites have taken the lead:

Here are the scores so far:

PCE PLZ 6:3
PCE PLZ 5:2
Pardubice lead the series 2:0

ZLN TRI 4:1
ZLN TRI 1:3
The series is tied

SPA VIT 3:2 in overtime
SPA VIT 3:0
Sparta leads the series 2:0

ZNO SLA 4:3
ZNO SLA 1:4
The series is tied.

Sparta played poorly in the first game and won in overtime on a curious goal when Petr Ton was pushed onto the goalie by an pposing player just as Pavel Srek shot the puck into the empty goal. Vitkovice protested, but the video showed the goal to be fine. So Sparta has the first overtime of the playoffs and Petr Briza, who is absolutely unbelievable in goal, has the first shutout.

Briza is really playing well. Without him, Sparta would have lost the first game and maybe even the second. He has the most experience of all the goalies with 22 years in the big leagues (he will be 40 later this year) but he still has what it takes to drive the other teams insane. Of all the goalies in the extraleague I would say he showed the best overall performance throughout the season.

[Wide Asleep]

Four more games were played yesterday and today. Here are the results:

PLZ PCE 4:2
PLZ PCE 6:3

Because of Plzen's two home wins the series is tied 2:2 with Pardubice shocked at the loss, especially today's where they were up 1:3 at around the half point of the game, then got two goals in less then a minute to tie it up and 3 more before the end of the game.

In the second series:

TRI ZLN 1:0
TRI ZLN 2:3 ps.

The Trinec goalie was the second goalie going into the series but after a couple of goals in the first match stepped in and has been very good, the second goalie after Briza to get a shutout. In today's game Zlin scored with less than a minute to go after pulling the goalie and tied the game. Then they scored the game winning goal on penalty shots, the first time it came to this in the playoffs so far.

[DanCan]

Hey WideAsleep!

At the IIHF Fan Corner, a Russian fan asked whether Karel Hromas will play for the Czech U18 team in Belarus in April.

Nobody seems to know the guy in the Fan Corner! But I guess you know him How has he been playing this season and will he maintain his spot in the U18 roster?

[Wide Asleep]

Hromas played more for Sparta's junior team this year, racking up 10 goals and 10 assists in about 23 games. But when Sparta was decimated with illness he did get a chance to play, but scored no goals. I don't see much of him because he is a young guy playing on a team full of stars, and he is overshadowed by David Vrbata and a couple of other juniors who are getting more ice time.

[DanCan]

Thanks WA. So considering that 1) he has made 20 points in 23 games for the junior team, 2) that he is only 17 or 18 years old (born in 1986) and 3) that he participated in the U18 World Cup in September, he should have a fair chance of retaining his place in the roster?

[Wide Asleep]

I think the fact that he played in Sparta's A team, regardless of the fact that there were so many injured, certainly means he is very likely to keep his spot. There aren't that many at that age to have that experience. He has already played in one of the playoff games, too. Now he is injured but it is not so bad, so he could be back and part of the young lads line along with Jakub Sindel (the youngest person to score a hat trick in Czech, and Czechoslovak, hockey history). Providing Sparta goes to the next round in the playoffs...

He scored 20 points in 21 games in the juniors, which is not bad, and in the U18 categor he has 3 goals and an assisit in 5 games, which is probably a better reason to keep him!