COMMENTARY – Extraleague teams are entering their final phase of preparation for the new season, which includes a series of warm-up matches. After that, a sharp game will be played already in mid-September, after which another group of hockey players will enter the Masaryk Cup in golden letters. Who will get the dream grail in the spring?
Hard work, sweat, joy, but also tears. That’s a brief menu of each year of the Tipsport Extraliga. Months of fierce battles will start this year on Friday, September 16, with the first round, which regularly attracts a lot of fans to the stands.
However, only one group out of a total of fourteen will be smiling the most at the end of the jubilee 30th year of the Czech top competition. Like every year, the following season will have several hot favorites.
For thirteen of the fourteen clubs, the number one task sounds quite clear – to stop the dominance of the Třinec Steelers. For the last four years (the 2019/2022 season was not completed due to the coronavirus), we have been following the same scenario. Tough fights in the regular season, then even more dramatic in the playoffs, but in the end still the same winner.
Such a masterpiece was last achieved by Vsetín at the turn of the millennium, but in the modern era of hockey, it is even more unique. So the question is – will all other teams be watching the Steelers after the next season?
Yes, the Ocelari are certainly among the top favorites of the Tipsport Extraliga this time as well. And if someone tells themselves otherwise, they are only lying to themselves.
But it won’t be easy this time either. Especially after Václav Varaďa and assistant Marko Zadina ended up on the champions’ bench after the season. There, the Slezans undoubtedly suffered the biggest loss, because it was Varaďa who was one of the main architects of the golden hat trick.
However, the Steelers did not lose so much luster in the field. Yes, they had to deal with a heavy toll on the champions this time too, with several elite players leaving. However, no major personnel changes took place. The management of Třinec once again managed to at least for the most part replace the departures with quality reinforcements.
Time will tell how Zdeněk Moták (the new coach of Třinec) copes with his new challenge in life. In any case, it can be said quite frankly that the absence of Varadi increases the chances of the other competitors that the steel era in the Czech top competition will eventually end.
BIGGEST CHALLENGERS
Sparta Prague has already dragged out its wait for the title for sixteen years. In the last season, practically the biggest adept to end the Třinec dynasty. Despite the brutally loaded squad, however, the traditional club remained below the top.
Sparta will try to take another step towards their dream goal under the new coach Pavel Patera. It will be interesting to see if Patera has already reached such qualities as a coach to lead such a loaded squad to the highest ranks. Far more experienced coaches have failed to do so in the past.
In the attack, the people of Prague suffered the biggest direct hit when Filip Chlapík left for Switzerland. Replacing 70 Canadian points in the regular season seems like an impossible challenge. It is clear that other players will have to take the reins. At least in the goal area, it could work for Sparta years later. The arrival of Jakub Kovář is a real jackpot.
However, Dynamo is also vehemently claiming the role of favourites. The owner Petr Dědek does not look at the state of his bank account at all, this time he pumped even more money into the team than last year. The end in the quarter-finals was an absolute disappointment last season.
This year, Pardubice will once again have the highest ambitions. Just look at the army of incoming players. If anyone in the Czech Republic really profited from the war in Ukraine, it was Dynamo. Absolutely, as far as the quality of reinforcements is concerned.
Even here, however, there are many question marks. Many people (myself included) wonder if this is a little too much. If there aren’t too many elite fighters in the Dynamo cabin who want to be the absolute leaders of the team. That might not do any good. The balance of great hockey players and less visible workers is one of the essential steps in team composition.
Radim Rulík, whom Dynamo literally stole from Boleslav for an attractive financial offer, combined with the highest ambitions, has to help with this. In Mladá Boleslav, he had a team built entirely on workers. Now he will be working with somewhat different material. A lot of pressure for results will be a matter of course.
The Comets roster also looks interesting. Paradoxically, the released budget for the departure of Peter Mueller can help Libor Zábranský’s group. In addition, the Comet significantly strengthened the defense, and also reinforced the offensive ranks. They needed a change of staff in Brno like salt, because the results of the last seasons went down steeply. But will it be enough for the title?
Or will the extra league be conquered again after some time by the pack of the White Tigers, who have recruited one of the biggest signings of the summer, Michael Frolík? And what about last year’s unexpected bronze České Budějovice Motor?
Or will someone else go on the golden path?
Source: Tipsport Extraliga
