Czech Extraliga

Czech Extraliga
Current season, competition or edition:
Current sports event 2015–16 Czech Extraliga season
Sport Ice hockey
Founded 1993
No. of teams 14
Country Czech Republic
Most recent champion(s) HC Verva Litvínov
Most titles VHK Vsetín (6)
TV partner(s) Česká televize
Related competitions Czech 1.liga
Czech 2.liga
Official website www.hokej.cz

The Czech Extraliga (Czech: Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia. In 2008 the IIHF ranked the Extraliga as the third-highest ice hockey league in Europe.[1]

Naming and sponsorship

The name of the league is leased to a general sponsor and changes frequently.

League format

14 teams compete in the league, with the top 6 teams at the end of the regular season play qualifying for the playoffs to determine the league champion, known as the Česká pojišťovna play-off Tipsport extraligy. The teams that finish 7th through 10th play a play-in series (best-of-five) to determine who will join the top six into the playoff quarter-finals (best-of-seven). The four lowest ranked teams (11–14) after the regular season play in a play-out group (12 games, all regular-season matches are counted into the ranking). The two worst placed teams after the play-out group plays with the two semi-finalists of the First League in qualify group,they will play totally 12 matches,(twice home and twice away with every team in group), with the 1st and 2nd placed teams of that group being qualified to play in Extraliga the following season while the 3rd and 4th plays in the First League.

During the 2011–12 season the association of Czech Extraliga managers attempted to close the league to prevent any relegations to or promoting from the second tier national league and also set a maximum salary cap similar to the NHL system.[2] However, after some legal difficulties and strong opposition by the public the whole proposition was scratched.

History

The league was founded in 1993, after the separation of Czechoslovakia put an end to the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League. The first season was won by HC Olomouc, who won after defeating HC Pardubice 3 games to 1. HC Slavia Praha and HC Dadák Vsetín were promoted from the First League after beating HC Stadion Hradec Králové and HC Vajgar Jindřichův Hradec in the qualifying series. The 1993-94 season was the only season Vajgar ever participated in the Extraliga, while Hradec Králové would return to the league some twenty years later as Mountfield HK.

The 1994-95 season marked the beginning of the Vsetín dynasty. In its first year in the league, HC Dadák Vsetín finished first in the regular season and later won the playoffs, beating AC ZPS Zlín 3 to 1. Vsetín would go on to win the next four installments of the Extraliga, with the team usually finishing first in the regular season as well. No team ever even came close to matching the feat of dominance that was shown by Vsetín throughout the second half of the 1990s.

In the 1995–96 season, the league expanded from 12 to 14 teams. This was the final expansion made to the league and 14 teams have been playing in the league eversince.

The 1998–99 season would be the last for one of the league's most traditional participants, HC Dukla Jihlava. The team lost the qualification series against HC Znojemsti Orli. Dukla later appeared in the 2004–05 installment of the Czech Extraliga, putting up a non-impressive 6-0-5-40 record and were relegated that same season.

In the 1999–2000 season, HC Sparta Praha broke Vsetín's five year long winning streak, defeating them in the finals. This was the only time Vsetín was defeated in the finals, as they would get their revenge and beat Sparta in the finals a season later. The 2000-01 season was the last time Vsetín managed to advance to the finals, and the team began falling further down in the standings every season.

Sparta won their second title in the 2001–02 season. The title would stay in Prague the next season as well, however, this time Sparta's main rival, Slavia, won the title. The title would then be won by Hamé Zlín (2003–04 season) and HC Moeller Pardubice (2004-05 season) before one of the Prague teams captured it again.

For the first and only time, Sparta and Slavia would appear in the finals in the 2005–06 season. Sparta was the more successful team out of the pair, triumphing over Slavia 4 games to 2. Sparta would win the cup in the next season as well, this time defeating the 2004-05 champion Pardubice in 6 games.

Vsetín's run in the Extraliga would come to an end after the 2006–07 season. The Czech Ice Hockey Federation would revoke the club's extraliga license due to the team's enormous debt, forcing them to fold. As a result, no other teams were relegated that season and the First League champions, HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi, were automatically promoted to the Extraliga. The 2007–08 season was the only season Slovan ever appeared in the Extraliga, as they were relegated back to the First League at the end of the season.

Since the 2006–07 season, 3 points have been awarded for a regulation win and 2 points for an overtime victory, while the defeated team in overtime gets 1 point. If necessary, penalty shots are used to decide games after overtime. Also from the 2006–07 season through the 2007–08 season there was only one assist credited for each goal instead of the standard two that other leagues credit. This rule change affected league statistics in a negative manner, and so the rule was changed back to the standard two assists starting in the 2008–09 season.

Slavia Prague would defeat HC Energie Karlovy Vary in the finals in the 2007–08 season. The same teams appeared in the finals a year later, this time with the opposite outcome. Pardubice then captured its second and third title in the 2009–10 and 2011–12 season, respectively. HC Oceláři Třinec won their first title in the 2010–11 season.

The first open-air hockey game since the 1960s took place during the 2010-11 season in Pardubice. The attendance for this game was record breaking, with 17 140 people in the crowd. The home team squared off against HC Kometa Brno, for whom this was the first season back in the Extraliga since 1995. Pardubice won this game 4-2.

HC Mountfield České Budějovice was forced to sell its license after the 2012–13 season, due to an interesting dispute. At the end of the season, Extraliga announced that Radegast would be the new beer sponsor for the league. However, Mountfield had a naming rights agreement with Budweiser Budvar Brewery at the time, and would therefore be unable to sell any other kind of beer at their stadium. As a result of Extraliga and the club not being able to reach an agreement, the team sold its license to Hradec Králové, thus forming Mountfield HK.

Current teams

Team City Arena Capacity
Kometa Brno Brno Hala Rondo 7,200
HC Olomouc Olomouc Zimní stadion Olomouc 5,500
Mountfield HK Hradec Králové Zimní stadion Hradec Králové 7,700
Energie Karlovy Vary Karlovy Vary KV Arena 6,000
BK Mladá Boleslav Mladá Boleslav Ško-Energo Aréna 4,200
Bílí Tygři Liberec Liberec Tipsport Arena 7,500
Verva Litvínov Litvínov Ivan Hlinka Stadion 7,000
ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice Pardubice ČEZ Aréna (Pardubice) 10,194
HC Škoda Plzeň Plzeň Home Monitoring Aréna (Plzeň) 8,420
Piráti Chomutov Chomutov SD aréna 5,250
Sparta Praha Prague Tipsport Arena 13,995
Oceláři Třinec Třinec Werk Arena 5,200
Vítkovice Steel Ostrava ČEZ Aréna (Ostrava) 9,551
PSG Zlín Zlín Zimní stadion Luďka Čajky 7,500

Past champions

by Year

Year Winner 2nd place 3rd place
1994 HC Olomouc HC Pardubice HC Kladno
1995 HC Dadák Vsetín AC ZPS Zlín ČEZ Motor České Budějovice
1996 HC Petra Vsetín HC Chemopetrol Litvínov HC Sparta Praha
1997 HC Petra Vsetín HC Vítkovice HC Sparta Praha
1998 HC Slovnaft Vsetín HC Železárny Třinec HC Vítkovice
1999 HC Slovnaft Vsetín HC ZPS Barum Zlín HC Železárny Třinec
2000 HC Sparta Praha HC Slovnaft Vsetín HC Škoda Plzeň
2001 HC Vsetín HC Sparta Praha HC Vítkovice
2002 HC Sparta Praha HC Vítkovice HC Hamé Zlín
2003 HC Slavia Praha HC Pojišťovna Pardubice HC Sparta Praha
2004 HC Hamé Zlín HC Slavia Praha HC Sparta Praha
2005 HC Moeller Pardubice HC Hamé Zlín HC Liberec
2006 HC Sparta Praha HC Slavia Praha HC Znojmo
2007 HC Sparta Praha HC Moeller Pardubice HC Liberec
2008 HC Slavia Praha Energie Karlovy Vary ČEZ Motor České Budějovice
2009 Energie Karlovy Vary HC Slavia Praha HC Sparta Praha
2010 HC Pardubice HC Vítkovice Steel HC Slavia Praha
2011 HC Oceláři Třinec HC Vítkovice Steel HC Pardubice
2012 HC Pardubice HC Kometa Brno HC Škoda Plzeň
2013 HC Škoda Plzeň HC PSG Zlín HC Slavia Praha
2014 HC PSG Zlín HC Kometa Brno HC Sparta Praha
2015 HC Verva Litvínov HC Oceláři Třinec HC Kometa Brno

by Club

Club Winners Runners-up Winning Years
VHK Vsetín
6
1
1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001
HC Sparta Praha
4
1
2000, 2002, 2006, 2007
HC Pardubice
3
3
2005, 2010, 2012
HC Slavia Praha
2
3
2003, 2008
PSG Zlín
2
4
2004, 2014
Energie Karlovy Vary
1
1
2009
HC Oceláři Třinec
1
1
2011
HC Verva Litvínov
1
1
2015
HC Olomouc
1
0
1994
HC Škoda Plzeň
1
0
2013

by Region

Region Titles Winning Clubs
Zlín Region
8
VHK Vsetín (6), PSG Zlín (2)
Prague
6
HC Sparta Praha (4), HC Slavia Praha (2)
Pardubice Region
3
HC Pardubice (3)
Olomouc Region
1
HC Olomouc (1)
Karlovy Vary Region
1
Energie Karlovy Vary (1)
Moravian-Silesian Region
1
HC Oceláři Třinec (1)
Plzeň Region
1
HC Škoda Plzeň (1)
Ústí nad Labem Region
1
HC Verva Litvínov (1)

See also

References

  1. "Russian league tops first CHL ranking". Retrieved 3 November 2009.
  2. "Czech Extraliga Managers Want to Close the League". eurohockey.com. Retrieved 26 July 2012.

External links

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