“We have an extremely uncertain season ahead of us, so I’m glad that we introduced in advance that it will be non-downhill and the play-off is now affected by 12 teams. The four best will advance straight after the basic part, the teams from the fifth to the twelfth position will play for him the preliminary round in the series for three victories. However, we must, of course, reckon with the solution of such things as have acutely affected Vítkovice. But we want to play until someone locks our winters. The risks cannot be underestimated, but the coronavirus must not paralyze us either, “says the head of Czech Hockey, Tomáš Král.
Spectator restrictions
All anti-cancer measures in the auditorium must unconditionally comply with the valid regulations of the Ministry of Health. Currently, therefore, spectators can be divided into separate sectors of 500 people, which, given the parameters of the halls, gives the opportunity to use barely fifty percent of the capacity.
Karlovy Vary hockey fans rejoice at the goal.
Slavomír Kubeš, ČTK
In addition, a further reduction in the number of spectators will occur during the first round, as the stands will be completely banned from the spectators after the tightening of ministerial measures from Friday, September 18. They will pay the most for this ban in Brno, Pilsen and Pardubice, especially the most loyal fans of clubs will not like it, because it was in the standing sector that they had their place in the so-called boiler.
So far, the smallest number of people in the stands is for Mladá Boleslav (2600) and the highest attendance, perhaps over eight thousand, will be enabled by the Prague O2 arena at the Prague Sparta matches, where all the seats are. However, it remains uncertain how many tickets will be released for guest fans within a certain reciprocity.
The clubs had to come to terms with drastic audience restrictions. Usually only a minimum of tickets will go on sale, because somewhere it will be very difficult to satisfy all domestic fans who have bought a season ticket. “If the measures at mass events were to be further tightened and a hockey spectator was banned altogether, the clubs reserved the right to decide what to do next, because without the fans the competition would be totally loss-making for them and it would not make much sense to them. , “says the director of the extra league, Josef Řezníček.
No regular tests
In addition, the environment of hockey arenas is perceived by hygienists as epidemiologically risky. Nevertheless, officials at the union rely on the government to sanctify the National Sports Agency’s manual, noting that if positive testers appear on the team, it does not mean a necessary ten-day quarantine for everyone. It would be mandatory only for people with symptoms of the disease.
The management of Czech Hockey also came to the conclusion that it would be financially and technically unbearable to carry out tests of players and implementation teams before each round, ie sometimes three times a week. However, there will also be no regular sampling, for example on a weekly basis, until mandatory or the Ministry of Health mandates it.
–
Martin Gernát from Třinec between Roman Polák (left) and Jan Schleiss from Vítkovice.
Jaroslav Ožana, ČTK
At the winter stadium, everyone present is obliged to have their nose and mouth covered at all times with a veil or respirator. It applies not only to spectators, but also to icemen, officials in the box of timekeepers or on the bench and all other organizers. The only exceptions are the direct actors of the match, ie players, implementation teams on the substitute and referees. The clubs are then advised to measure the temperature when entering the stadium, minimize their contact with the environment and train in smaller groups.
It can also happen to percentages
However, the coronavirus does not disappear immediately and almost certainly breaks down the extra league’s schedule. However, the clubs are making every effort to play all the postponed matches in some alternate time. However, within the framework of regularity, they have to manage within 40 days from the original date, otherwise the mentioned matches will be considered as unplayed.
It is then necessary to have the table of the basic part closed by March 7 at the latest. “We anticipate that there may be situations where not all teams have the same number of matches, then the order will be determined on the basis of the average point gain from the matches that each team managed to play,” says Řezníček. at least 26 basic matches.
The preliminary round is then planned from March 10 to 17, and the actual play-off can then last until April 30. However, matches that are not allowed to be quarantined or other measures are already counted during it. Should such an obstacle affect both teams, the series may be shortened by a decision of the Sports and Technical Commission. If the entire playoffs are not completed, as happened in the spring, the best placed team of the basic part, which has not yet been eliminated on the day of the end of the competition, will be entitled to the championship title.
Fourteen from overseas will bring recovery
The revival of the extra league is already represented by fourteen players, for whom the insurance of overseas contracts has already been paid, and they could thus be temporarily released home by their clubs. Hronek, Zadina, Zohorn, Kaše, Kaut, Lauko, these are the young faces of Czech hockey with huge potential and can prove to be different players in the extraleague.
In the Czech Republic, everyone will work at least until November 5, and then they will see each other according to the development or determination of the start of the new season in the NHL. If the start of competitions across the Atlantic is postponed, other players will certainly find themselves in the search engine of domestic clubs.
At least Kristian Reichel is already negotiating intensively about working in his native Litvínov, Kryštof Hrabík is scoring goals on a Liberec farm in Venice, and in the future they can target even more resounding names on extra-league ice.
| Overseas reinforcements in the extraleague |
| Libor HÁJEK defender NY Rangers / NHL Olomouc |
| Filip HRONEK defender Detroit / NHL Mountfield HK |
| Matěj CHALUPA forward Chicago / NHL Mountfield HK |
| Lukáš JAŠEK forward Utica / AHL Třinec |
| David KAŠE forward Philadelphia / NHL Karlovy Vary |
| Martin KAUT forward Colorado / NHL Pardubice |
| Josef KOŘENÁŘ goalkeeper San Jose Barracuda / AHL Třinec |
| Jakub LAUKO forward Boston / NHL Karlovy Vary |
| Jan MYŠÁK forward Hamilton / OHL Litvínov |
| Jiří PATERA goalkeeper Brandon Wheat / WHL České Budějovice |
| Michal TEPLÝ forward Winnipeg Ice / WHL Mladá Boleslav |
| Filip ZADINA forward Detroit / NHL Třinec |
| Jakub ZBOŘIL defender of Providence / AHL Brno |
| Radim ZOHORNA forward Pittsburgh / NHL Mladá Boleslav |
The extra league is managed by 22 main and 28 line judges, while nine of them (Hejduk, Hradil, Jeřábek, Kika, Micka, Pešina, Pražák, Šindel, Šír) whistle on a professional basis. Anti-victim measures also affect the judges’ regime, whether it is to minimize contact with the environment, transport to matches or delegation to them in permanent groups.
| FIFTY MEN IN STRIPE |
| Main judge: 4 Oldrich Hejduk, 5 Pavel Hodek, 7 Tomas Horak, 8 Rene Hradil, 13 Antonin Jerabek, 66 Adam Kika, 67 Zbynek Kubicik, 10 Petr Lacina, 61 Tomas Micka, 12 Roman Mrkva, 72 Pavel Obadal, 15 Vladimir Pesina, 82 Ludek Pilný, 60 Daniel Pražák, 96 Peter Stano (SR), 19 Roman Svoboda, 56 Matěj Sýkora, 79 Jakub Šindel, 21 Robin Šír, 23 Petr Úlehla, 73 Tomáš Veselý, 83 Filip Vrba. |
| Line judge: 81 Michal Axman, 28 Tomas Brejcha, 29 Jaromir Bryska, 31 Jakub Frodl, 71 Jiri Ganger, 32 Jiri Gebauer, 33 Tomas Gerat, 34 Marek Hlavaty, 35 Daniel Hynek, 39 Lukas Kajinek, 40 Milan Kis, 74 David Kloucek, 41 Vit Komárek, 42 Vít Lederer, 43 Miroslav Lhotský, 44 Ladislav Lučan, 76 Ondřej Malý, 45 Jiří Ondráček, 46 Tomáš Pešek, 75 Lukáš Rampír, 80 Vladimír Rožánek, 50 Jiří Svoboda, 85 Martin Ševic, 84 Petr Šimánek, 78 Radek Špringl, 51 Josef Spur, 86 Jan Votrubec, 54 Michal Zika. |
– .
