Czech Ice Hockey

The Czech Extraliga was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia, and is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. In 2008 the IIHF ranked Extraliga third among the top 7 European teams for seeding purposes in the 2008-2009 Champions Hockey League season. Many Extraliga players leave every year on transfers to the NHL and KHL. 14 teams compete in the league, with the top 6 teams at the end of the regular season play qualifying for the playoffs to determine the league champion, known as the Česká pojišťovna play-off Tipsport extraligy. The teams that finish 7th through 10th play a play-in series (best-of-five) to determine who will join the top six into the playoff quarter-finals (best-of-seven). The four lowest ranked teams (11–14) after the regular season play in a play-out goup (12 games, all regular-season matches are counted into the ranking). The last-place team after the play-out group plays with the winner of the First League playoff series (best-of-seven), with the winner of that series being qualified to play in Extraliga the following season while the losing team plays in the First League. Since the 2006-07 season, 3 points have been awarded for a regulation win and 2 points for an overtime victory, while the defeated team in overtime gets 1 point. If necessary, penalty shots are used to decide games after overtime. From the 2006-07 season through the 2007-08 season there was only one assist credited for each goal instead of the standard two that other leagues credit. This rule change affected league statistics in a negative manner, and so the rule was changed back to the standard two assists starting in the 2008-09 season. During the 2011-12 season the association of Czech Extraliga managers attempted to close the league to prevent any relegations to or promoting from the second tier national league and also set a maximum salary cap similarly to the NHL system. However, after some legal difficulties and strong opposition by the public the whole proposition was scratched.

1 - HC Kometa Brno - The club was founded in 1953 as an army ice hockey club with the name Rudá hvězda Brno ("Red Star"). The majority of players were transferred from 2 hockey clubs in Brno (TJ Spartak Brno Zbrojovka and TJ Spartak GZ Královo Pole). In 1962 the club changed its name to ZKL Brno (ZKL is abbreviation of "Ball Bearing Factory") and stopped being an army team. In 1976 the name was changed to Zetor Brno. Shortly after the 1994 revolution, the club changed its name to HC Kometa Brno. "Kometa" was the team's nickname since 1950's (opposite to official "Red Star") and the team was commonly referred to by this name since it was founded. They are the Second most succesful Czech team with 11 titles.
2 - HC Ceske Budejovice - On 10 of January 1928 AC Stadion were founded by merging two clubs in the town - Viktoria and Slovan. AC Stadion České Budějovice became a vital part of the league and produced many international players. In just their first season they finished third behind LTC Praha and AC Sparta Praha. The league included 8 teams and each team played 7 matches. In the 1950/51 season the club won their only league title.
3 - Pirati Chomutov - Founded in 1945, they play in Blue & White.
 

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4 - HC Karlovy Vary - The club planned to create an independent expansion team for the 2009-10 KHL season. They would have attempted to operate as a national team of sorts for the Czech Republic by luring top players from the Czech Extraliga, in the same way as Dinamo Minsk and Dinamo Riga do in their respective countries. It is now unclear when or if they ever will. Energie's junior team will join the MHL, KHL's junior league, for 2012–13 season.
5 - HC Kladno - Kladno was a particularly strong team in the late 1970s, when it won four consecutive league titles (1975–1978), and again in 1980. The team's star, Milan Novy, was league MVP in 1977, 1981, and 1982, and won 6 scoring titles. Frantisek Pospisil was league MVP in 1971 and 1972. Jaromir Jagr played for his hometown Kladno for parts of four seasons, including during the work stoppages in 1994, 2004, and 2012.




6 - HC Bili Tygri Liberec - nicknamed the Tigers. Their home is the Tipsport Arena in Liberec. Their current captain is Petr Nedved, and club president is Petr Syrovátko.

7 - HC Litvinov - Founded in 1945 8 - HC Pardubice - Founded in 1923 9 - HC Plzen - Founded in 1929 10 - HC Slavia Praha - Founded in 1900 11 - HC Sparta Praha - Founded in 1903 12 - HC Ocelari Trinec - Their home arena is Werk Arena in Trinec. The team's main sponsors are the local Trinec Iron and Steel Works 13  - HC Viktovice Steel - Founded in 1928 14 - PSG Zlin - Founded in 1928