Ice hockey in the Czech Republic

((Article published in print and online by Beyond Adventure magazine - see the original at http://beyondadventuretv.com/site/index.php/2011-06-30-23-44-4/item/60-pro-cycli...   ))

Ice hockey is often said to be the national game here, and it’s definitely the one sport which can bring out more passion and pride in the Czech Republic than any other.

Czech ice hockey only dates back to the 20th century, but that short history is packed with drama. Fans have witnessed dizzying highs followed by terrible lows over the years, and one tragedy which instantly comes to mind is the plane crash earlier this year, which killed three of the country’s top hockey stars – all of them part of the team which has won the world championship no less than six times since 1996. The game saw a similar incident in 1949. when six members of the national team were killed in a plane crash, as well as the imprisonment of several other team members a year later, after being falsely accused of espionage by the communist state of Czechoslovakia.

And yet despite all this the team has also seen great success, taking three consecutive gold medals in the world championships from 1998 to 2001 - and when the Czech national team won Olympic gold in 1998, around 70,000 people took to the streets of Prague’s Old Town to celebrate. The Czech victory against Russia in the World Ice Hockey Championships earlier this year put them in third place – and brought every last person in the pub to their feet for an emotional rendition of “Kde domov můj?", the Czech national anthem.

It’s easy to see why ice hockey is able to inspire such passionate feelings of national pride, and why the sport is so incredibly popular here, considering this history so full of victory in the face of adversity. The tiny country has the third-highest number of registered ice hockey players in the NHL, behind the US and Canada, and thanks to this game many Czech athletes have acquired a legendary reputation on the world stage.

The Czech Republic is home to many of the world’s greatest players, and players like Jaromír Jágr are household names here. Jágr is one of the world’s highest-paid hockey players and greatest goal scorers, currently playing for Russia. There were even calls for the unconventional goalkeeper Dominik “The Dominator” Hašek to run for political office after the team’s 1998 Olympic victory, and many Czech players such as Bobby Holík and Patrik Eliáš have found international fame in the NHL.

Closer to home, 14 teams compete in the national professional hockey league, the Czech Extraliga,. The current champions are HC Oceláři Třinec (the Třinec Steelers), from the east of the country. Prague is home to two famously successful ice hockey clubs, so there’s plenty of opportunity for fans to experience a hockey game in the capital. The long-running and intense rivalry between HC Sparta Praha and HC Slavia Praha fans means that a match between the two can become particularly heated and unpredictable.

The experience of any hockey match in Prague is always going to be an exciting one, with the chanting, drum-beating crowds, cheerleaders and music during stops in the fast-paced play creating a raucous atmosphere.

September marks the beginning of the regular ice hockey season, with games on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday evenings running until February. Playoffs are usually in March and April.

You can see an ice hockey game at HC Slavia Praha's modern, state-of the art O2 Arena, or at HC Sparta’s Tesla Arena which, although less aesthetically pleasing, is full of character and guarantees a great atmosphere. Czech beer and the usual greasy snacks are for sale at around the same prices you’d expect to pay anywhere outside of the arena; and tickets are also very reasonably priced at around 120-200kc. Tickets are available from the arenas and online at:

www.hcsparta.cz
www.hc-slavia.cz
www.sazkaticket.cz