The Ocelari Trinec players and staff celebrate after winning the deciding game of the Czech final series against Bili Tygri Liberec.
photo: Lukas Filipec / hcocelari.cz
For the second time in the club’s history, Ocelari Trinec is the champion of the Czech Extraliga. They won the final series 4-2 over Bili Tygri Liberec, and won game six on home ice by that same 4-2 score. It was an evenly matched game to end an evenly matched series between the top two teams in the regular season.
“It’s a huge relief after all the hard work that goes into it,” said Vaclav Varada, who has now been part of both Trinec titles – in 2011 as a player and now as head coach. “The whole team played very good hockey throughout the season, never gave up, and in the finals, even though it was pretty even, I think we were a bit better.”
"We played great, but we just weren’t lucky enough,” said Liberec head coach Filip Pesan, who had his Liberec team in the finals for the third time in four years. “But I don’t mean that Trinec were just lucky – they deserved it. Today, from the blueline in, we didn’t do enough to get pucks through to the net and they did. The whole series, it was just little things that won games and tonight Trinec did it and I congratulate them.”
There wasn’t much difference between the two teams all season. Liberec finished first in the regular season with 101 points and Trinec was second with 99.
In the playoffs, Trinec swept nearby rival Vitkovice Ostrava in the quarter-finals but then faced some adversity in the semis. After losing the first two games on home ice to HC Plzen, Trinec won four of the next five games, finishing off the series with a decisive 5-1 win at Werk Arena.
Liberec, meanwhile, eliminated BK Mlada Boleslav in five games and two-time reigning champion Kometa Brno in six to reach the finals for the third time in four years.
In the final series, the teams split the first two games in Liberec and then split the two games in Trinec. With the series knotted at two apiece, game five back in Liberec went to overtime tied 2-2, and then double overtime, where Ondrej Kovarcik broke a long scoring draught with his first point of the playoffs at an opportune time.
“We were in the middle of a line change, Aron (Chmielewski) fired a shot off the end glass and I got to it first,” Kovarcik said. “I just slapped at it and, luckily, it went in.”
Looking ahead to the sixth game, Kovarcik said: “Now the psychological advantage is on our side. We play at home, and I think that fans try to cheer us on to another win. We’ll do our best to win it at home, but we know very well that it won’t be easy.”
It certainly wasn’t, with game six tied 2-2 after two periods. It looked like perhaps overtime was on the horizon again, when after some great work down low from Martin Ruzicka, Vladimir Roth one-timed his pass to break the deadlock with just 3:57 left in regulation time, which sent Werk Arena into a frenzy. An empty-netter made it a 4-2 final score.
Trinec’s hockey club was established in 1929 and was nicknamed Ocelari – Steelworkers in English – in honour of the main industry in the town of less than 40,000 in the northeastern corner of the country. The town and its blue-collar fans had to wait until 2011 to finally win a national title.
Since that time, however, Trinec has been a consistent contender in the Czech Extraliga. The team moved into a new arena in 2014, returned to the finals in 2018 and now has its second title.
Five players from that 2011 championship team were also members of this year’s team – either still playing for the team or having returned. As he was in 2011 when he set an Extraliga playoff scoring record that still stands, Ruzicka is team’s offensive catalyst at age 33. This past season, his point totals of 44 and 18 led the team in the regular season and playoffs, respectively. Other double winners are forwards Jiri Polansky, Martin Adamsky and Erik Hrna, defenceman Lukas Krajicek and backup goaltender Peter Hamerlik, who was the team’s starter back in ‘11.
And, of course, Varada.
“A lot of players stood out, but everyone was able to pitch in at the right moment and help,” the coach said of his players. “Even so, I would highlight Simon Hrubec in goal, who was great. He held us in a lot of games we might not have otherwise won.
“But the best player throughout the playoffs was Vladimir Dravecky, the team's heart and soul. Whenever it was needed, he gave his best. But I don't want to skip anyone. Martin Ruzicka with a lot of points, Petr Vrana finally wins a title, Ondrej Kovarcik gets one point and it’s a game-winner, David Cienciala also excellent.”
But while the team’s core is getting older, all signs point to continued success, with the club’s U19 team winning the country’s national junior title this season as well.
“It shows that things are working very well in Trinec,” said Varada. “The days when we had to rely on shopping for players are gone. We couldn’t have gotten to this situation without a lot of work from a lot of people, and I'm so glad that we can offer the conditions that make them want to come to us.”
Jagr leads Kladno to Extraliga promotion
While the championship was a big story, arguably a bigger story in Czech hockey this season is the promotion of Rytiri Kladno from the second-tier Chance Liga to the Extraliga.
Amid much fanfare, Jaromir Jagr returned to the Czech Republic halfway through last season to help his hometown team, which he co-owns. Then in November of this season, he was joined by another hometown boy, Tomas Plekanec.
After finishing fourth in the Chance Liga regular season and winning its semi-final, Kladno played in the four-team promotion-relegation tournament known as the “barrage” and finished second. As a result, first-place Dynamo Pardubice stays in the Extraliga, fourth-place Motor Ceske Budejovice stays in the Chance Liga, and Kladno and Pirati Chomutov switch places.
“We’re a small city outside of Prague, and these fans didn’t have (the Extraliga) for five years, which was tough,” Jagr said after the team’s last home game of the season, with the fans all celebrating on the ice. “As you can see right now, they love it.”
In the “barrage”, Jagr added to his legend by scoring 10 goals in 11 games, including all four of his team’s goals in the game where they clinched promotion, a 4-2 win in Ceske Budejovice.
“I could have scored six or seven if I wanted to,” Jagr said, perhaps jokingly but maybe not. “Sometimes you have a good day and you just feel it.”
On his continued success at age 47, Jagr said with a grin on his face: “A lot of people look at my age and they underestimate me. They look at my age and say, ‘Oh, he’s too slow to play anymore,’ and that can be an advantage to me.
“Don’t forget, I played in the NHL just last season and my linemate Tomas Plekanec – maybe you’ve heard of him – played there at the start of this season.”
Looking ahead to the off-season, Jagr said with a more serious look on his face: "My job now is to start building a team for next season. There's a lot of work to do."
“It’s a huge relief after all the hard work that goes into it,” said Vaclav Varada, who has now been part of both Trinec titles – in 2011 as a player and now as head coach. “The whole team played very good hockey throughout the season, never gave up, and in the finals, even though it was pretty even, I think we were a bit better.”
"We played great, but we just weren’t lucky enough,” said Liberec head coach Filip Pesan, who had his Liberec team in the finals for the third time in four years. “But I don’t mean that Trinec were just lucky – they deserved it. Today, from the blueline in, we didn’t do enough to get pucks through to the net and they did. The whole series, it was just little things that won games and tonight Trinec did it and I congratulate them.”
There wasn’t much difference between the two teams all season. Liberec finished first in the regular season with 101 points and Trinec was second with 99.
In the playoffs, Trinec swept nearby rival Vitkovice Ostrava in the quarter-finals but then faced some adversity in the semis. After losing the first two games on home ice to HC Plzen, Trinec won four of the next five games, finishing off the series with a decisive 5-1 win at Werk Arena.
Liberec, meanwhile, eliminated BK Mlada Boleslav in five games and two-time reigning champion Kometa Brno in six to reach the finals for the third time in four years.
In the final series, the teams split the first two games in Liberec and then split the two games in Trinec. With the series knotted at two apiece, game five back in Liberec went to overtime tied 2-2, and then double overtime, where Ondrej Kovarcik broke a long scoring draught with his first point of the playoffs at an opportune time.
“We were in the middle of a line change, Aron (Chmielewski) fired a shot off the end glass and I got to it first,” Kovarcik said. “I just slapped at it and, luckily, it went in.”
Looking ahead to the sixth game, Kovarcik said: “Now the psychological advantage is on our side. We play at home, and I think that fans try to cheer us on to another win. We’ll do our best to win it at home, but we know very well that it won’t be easy.”
It certainly wasn’t, with game six tied 2-2 after two periods. It looked like perhaps overtime was on the horizon again, when after some great work down low from Martin Ruzicka, Vladimir Roth one-timed his pass to break the deadlock with just 3:57 left in regulation time, which sent Werk Arena into a frenzy. An empty-netter made it a 4-2 final score.
Trinec’s hockey club was established in 1929 and was nicknamed Ocelari – Steelworkers in English – in honour of the main industry in the town of less than 40,000 in the northeastern corner of the country. The town and its blue-collar fans had to wait until 2011 to finally win a national title.
Since that time, however, Trinec has been a consistent contender in the Czech Extraliga. The team moved into a new arena in 2014, returned to the finals in 2018 and now has its second title.
Five players from that 2011 championship team were also members of this year’s team – either still playing for the team or having returned. As he was in 2011 when he set an Extraliga playoff scoring record that still stands, Ruzicka is team’s offensive catalyst at age 33. This past season, his point totals of 44 and 18 led the team in the regular season and playoffs, respectively. Other double winners are forwards Jiri Polansky, Martin Adamsky and Erik Hrna, defenceman Lukas Krajicek and backup goaltender Peter Hamerlik, who was the team’s starter back in ‘11.
And, of course, Varada.
“A lot of players stood out, but everyone was able to pitch in at the right moment and help,” the coach said of his players. “Even so, I would highlight Simon Hrubec in goal, who was great. He held us in a lot of games we might not have otherwise won.
“But the best player throughout the playoffs was Vladimir Dravecky, the team's heart and soul. Whenever it was needed, he gave his best. But I don't want to skip anyone. Martin Ruzicka with a lot of points, Petr Vrana finally wins a title, Ondrej Kovarcik gets one point and it’s a game-winner, David Cienciala also excellent.”
But while the team’s core is getting older, all signs point to continued success, with the club’s U19 team winning the country’s national junior title this season as well.
“It shows that things are working very well in Trinec,” said Varada. “The days when we had to rely on shopping for players are gone. We couldn’t have gotten to this situation without a lot of work from a lot of people, and I'm so glad that we can offer the conditions that make them want to come to us.”
Jagr leads Kladno to Extraliga promotion
While the championship was a big story, arguably a bigger story in Czech hockey this season is the promotion of Rytiri Kladno from the second-tier Chance Liga to the Extraliga.
Amid much fanfare, Jaromir Jagr returned to the Czech Republic halfway through last season to help his hometown team, which he co-owns. Then in November of this season, he was joined by another hometown boy, Tomas Plekanec.
After finishing fourth in the Chance Liga regular season and winning its semi-final, Kladno played in the four-team promotion-relegation tournament known as the “barrage” and finished second. As a result, first-place Dynamo Pardubice stays in the Extraliga, fourth-place Motor Ceske Budejovice stays in the Chance Liga, and Kladno and Pirati Chomutov switch places.
“We’re a small city outside of Prague, and these fans didn’t have (the Extraliga) for five years, which was tough,” Jagr said after the team’s last home game of the season, with the fans all celebrating on the ice. “As you can see right now, they love it.”
In the “barrage”, Jagr added to his legend by scoring 10 goals in 11 games, including all four of his team’s goals in the game where they clinched promotion, a 4-2 win in Ceske Budejovice.
“I could have scored six or seven if I wanted to,” Jagr said, perhaps jokingly but maybe not. “Sometimes you have a good day and you just feel it.”
On his continued success at age 47, Jagr said with a grin on his face: “A lot of people look at my age and they underestimate me. They look at my age and say, ‘Oh, he’s too slow to play anymore,’ and that can be an advantage to me.
“Don’t forget, I played in the NHL just last season and my linemate Tomas Plekanec – maybe you’ve heard of him – played there at the start of this season.”
Looking ahead to the off-season, Jagr said with a more serious look on his face: "My job now is to start building a team for next season. There's a lot of work to do."