Overseas NHL Players Struggle in Czech Republic: The Case of Zack Kassian

He should have been the jewel of the league. A player who was the point guard of Edmonton’s stars for most of his career, led by Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl. Sparta bet on his experience before the upcoming playoffs. But he did not succeed, after eight matches in the regular season he left the club, Prague, and eventually the entire Czech Republic.

Zack Kassian can boast more than 700 games in the Canadian-American NHL. He arrived in Sparta with confidence. He was introduced to the audience in the O2 arena during the match with Třinec. The fans had something to look forward to. Goals, hits, battles. He came to end the Spartans’ wait for a title. But after eight games played in the regular season, in which he recorded 3 Canadian points, he did not participate in the quarter-final series with Liberec. The club broke contact with him by mutual agreement. Official statement? Personal reasons. Only the two contracting parties know what the truth really is.

🇨🇦 Zack Kassian is returning home to Canada for personal reasons, he has agreed to end cooperation with our club. We wish him all the best in his personal and hockey life. 👋
ℹ️ More information: pic.twitter.com/txF6E9TXio

— HC Sparta Prague (@HCSpartaPraha) March 19, 2024

It seems that overseas players come to the Czech Republic with the idea that they don’t have to work 100% in the Czech Extraliga, that their NHL experience will be enough for them. But that’s not the case. Kassian became another of several overseas players with NHL experience who failed in the Czech Republic. Some have already been forgotten, the same will happen with this Canadian tough guy.

We first reached back to 2011. Pardubice manager Zbyněk Kusý brought a Stanley Cup winner to his club, who played a total of 484 games in the NHL. It performed brilliantly, it made a name for itself right from its premiere. In the extra league, he played only 21 games in the Pardubice jersey, in which he collected 6 points. In mid-November of the same year, he moved to Slavia Prague on a one-month loan, where he managed to play another 8 matches, in which he scored only twice. Here his Czech journey ended. The experienced fighter went to Germany, but was quickly forgotten in the Czech Republic.

In 2012, the Canadian forward became the first black hockey player to play in the Czech Extraliga. In 2012, during the ongoing lockout in the NHL, he came to Liberec together with Chris Stewart (St. Louis Blues). Stewart managed to play only 5 unsuccessful games in our stadiums, in which he scored a single point. Simmonds, belonging to the Philadelphia Flyers team, played one game more, but he did well in terms of points, collecting 6 Canadian points. After the national team break, they did not wear the White Tigers jersey anymore. Stewart returned to Germany, Simmonds returned to Canada for serious family reasons. Unfortunately, he did not avoid racist attacks during the match in Chomutov. Most likely, this was the reason for his quick end in Liberec.

And we are back in Pardubice. On January 20, 2021, Dynamo announced the arrival of the Belarusian representative Andrei Kosticyn. The native of Navapolack collected 222 points in 398 games of the regular season in the NHL, represented his country 10 times at world championships. He played a total of 20 matches in the Pardubice jersey, adding 11 assists to five goals. His work also had a dark side, he was punished by the disciplinary committee twice for his fouls. He finished after the season in the Czech Republic.