Slavia Prague‘s Return to Top-Flight Hockey Could Spark Investment, claims Former Player Jaroslav Bednář
Former Slavia Prague forward Jaroslav Bednář believes the club has the potential to rejoin the Czech Extraliga – the nation’s top hockey league – and that doing so would attract significant new investment.Bednář, who played ten Extraliga seasons for slavia, suggests the prospect of playoff contention would be a major catalyst for renewed financial backing.
Slavia Prague hasn’t competed in the Extraliga for ten and a half years, but Bednář anticipates a return is inevitable and would reignite the historically significant derby matches. He acknowledges logistical hurdles, such as finding a suitable venue beyond sharing the O2 arena with Sparta prague, but believes owners would be willing to take the risk if conditions were secured, necessitating a larger squad and reinforcements.
“I know how owners react. ‘Slavia is still a huge concept,and if it were crazy that it would get into the playoffs,I believe that more money would flow in from new partners,'” Bednář stated. He also noted the club would need to prepare for the demands of the extra league, adding, “yes, Slavia would have to have prepared where they would play the extra league. I can’t imagine that it would share the O2 arena with Sparta, there are a lot of other events there besides hockey.”
Bednář’s comments come as Slavia recently joined other first league clubs in advocating for the abolition of the playoffs in favor of direct promotion and relegation – a proposal quickly dismissed by Extraliga management.Despite the current playoff system’s challenges, exemplified by the struggles of teams like Jihlava, Vsetín, and Zlín against Kladno and Olomouc, Bednář remains optimistic.
“I believe that sooner or later Slavia will be able to return and we will go to derbies again. Slavia has been down for a long time,” he concluded.
