Long-time NHLers Tomas Plekanec and Jaromir Jagr may soon play together for their hometown team Rytiri Kladno.
photo: Jeff Vinnick / HHOF-IIHF Images
Ever since Tomas Plekanec returned to his native Czech Republic a couple weeks ago, there was speculation over where he would play the remainder of the season. Would he play for his hometown team, Rytiri Kladno of the Chance Liga, the country’s second-highest league, or would he play in the country’s top league, the Extraliga? It turns out, the answer is both.
Jaromir Jagr, the part-owner of the Kladno club and Plekanec’s long-time friend, began a press conference on Monday afternoon by saying: “We are here to break the secret we’ve kept since Tomas Plekanec arrived from Montreal. Tomas Plekanec will play for our team, Rytiri Kladno. I'm glad to be here right now to hand over his new jersey.”
But that wasn’t all. Plekanec will also play for Kometa Brno, the two-time reigning Extraliga champion. Confused?
As the Extraliga primarily plays on Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays and the Chance Liga primarily on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays, the schedule does allow for players to play in both leagues. Such contracts are usually used for young players in development. Imagine a player playing in the NHL and AHL concurrently. Jagr himself agreed to such a deal last season with Kladno and Ocelari Trinec, although he never played for the latter.
Plekanec is motivated to help his hometown team return to the Extraliga, and at the same time compete in the Czech Republic’s highest league.
“From the start, I was determined to play Kladno and then there was a choice of four Extraliga teams and I decided on Brno,” Plekanec explained. “Kometa Brno has been the best team in the league for the past two years. I was very interested and I'm glad to be able to play for them."
Although game conflicts between the two leagues are rare, Plekanec obviously can’t play in every game for both teams, as that could mean up to six games in some weeks.
“We haven’t finalized those details,” Plekanec said. “As far as the workload is concerned, I'm used to the NHL.”
However, he won’t be able to move back and forth between the two teams after 15 February, which is the country’s transfer deadline. Plekanec made it clear that, from that point, his commitment will be to Kladno. If Kladno happens to be knocked out of the Chance Liga playoffs early, he would then be free to join Kometa for the playoffs.
Jaromir Jagr, the part-owner of the Kladno club and Plekanec’s long-time friend, began a press conference on Monday afternoon by saying: “We are here to break the secret we’ve kept since Tomas Plekanec arrived from Montreal. Tomas Plekanec will play for our team, Rytiri Kladno. I'm glad to be here right now to hand over his new jersey.”
But that wasn’t all. Plekanec will also play for Kometa Brno, the two-time reigning Extraliga champion. Confused?
As the Extraliga primarily plays on Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays and the Chance Liga primarily on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays, the schedule does allow for players to play in both leagues. Such contracts are usually used for young players in development. Imagine a player playing in the NHL and AHL concurrently. Jagr himself agreed to such a deal last season with Kladno and Ocelari Trinec, although he never played for the latter.
Plekanec is motivated to help his hometown team return to the Extraliga, and at the same time compete in the Czech Republic’s highest league.
“From the start, I was determined to play Kladno and then there was a choice of four Extraliga teams and I decided on Brno,” Plekanec explained. “Kometa Brno has been the best team in the league for the past two years. I was very interested and I'm glad to be able to play for them."
Although game conflicts between the two leagues are rare, Plekanec obviously can’t play in every game for both teams, as that could mean up to six games in some weeks.
“We haven’t finalized those details,” Plekanec said. “As far as the workload is concerned, I'm used to the NHL.”
However, he won’t be able to move back and forth between the two teams after 15 February, which is the country’s transfer deadline. Plekanec made it clear that, from that point, his commitment will be to Kladno. If Kladno happens to be knocked out of the Chance Liga playoffs early, he would then be free to join Kometa for the playoffs.
All of this opens the door for the possibility of Jagr and Plekanec to play together in Kladno again, as they did during the 2012/13 NHL lockout and finished first and second in team scoring despite only playing 34 and 32 games, respectively. At that time, they played on a forward line with Jiri Tlusty, with Marek Zidlicky and Tomas Kaberle on defence to form a fearsome five-man lockout unit.
Some are hoping that will happen as early as this Saturday when Kladno hosts HC Stadion Litomerice. It might very well happen on that day, or at least one of them might play, but both still have health issues and are day-to-day.
On his own status, Plekanec said: “It's not okay yet, but it’s better than it was last week and I believe it's going to be fine soon.”
Jagr has not played at all yet this season due to a nagging knee injury that he suffered last season, although it’s been speculated for several weeks that he could be ready to go any game.
“One day I will return," Jagr said with a wry grin when asked. “But I don’t want to promise anything. It might be tomorrow, it may be a week from now. I hope it will be as fast as possible.”
Jagr added: “I believe I'm a fighter. I've always been a warrior. I’m not going to give up after one or two setbacks. I will fight to the end!”
Jagr, 46, concluded his NHL career last season as the league’s number-two all-time scorer with 1,921 points. He made a highly-publicized return to Kladno late in the season but after a quick start was sidelined by his injury.
Plekanec, 36, played his 1000th NHL game earlier this season with the Montreal Canadiens. He returned to Kladno in mid-November and has been at the centre of Czech media speculation leading up to this announcement.
Some are hoping that will happen as early as this Saturday when Kladno hosts HC Stadion Litomerice. It might very well happen on that day, or at least one of them might play, but both still have health issues and are day-to-day.
On his own status, Plekanec said: “It's not okay yet, but it’s better than it was last week and I believe it's going to be fine soon.”
Jagr has not played at all yet this season due to a nagging knee injury that he suffered last season, although it’s been speculated for several weeks that he could be ready to go any game.
“One day I will return," Jagr said with a wry grin when asked. “But I don’t want to promise anything. It might be tomorrow, it may be a week from now. I hope it will be as fast as possible.”
Jagr added: “I believe I'm a fighter. I've always been a warrior. I’m not going to give up after one or two setbacks. I will fight to the end!”
Jagr, 46, concluded his NHL career last season as the league’s number-two all-time scorer with 1,921 points. He made a highly-publicized return to Kladno late in the season but after a quick start was sidelined by his injury.
Plekanec, 36, played his 1000th NHL game earlier this season with the Montreal Canadiens. He returned to Kladno in mid-November and has been at the centre of Czech media speculation leading up to this announcement.