Latest news with #CzechExtraliga
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Sabres First-Rounder Signs With Sparta Prague
Canadian defenseman Mark Pysyk, 33, has signed a one-year contract with Sparta Prague, the Czech Extraliga club announced on Thursday. The former NHLer is coming off a season where he helped SaiPa to the Finnish Liiga finals. 'Last season was my first in Europe and I didn't know what to expect, but the SaiPa fans were incredible,' said Pysyk. 'I know Sparta has a huge arena and a huge and loyal fan base, so I can't wait to get there and feel the energy, especially when the playoffs come.' 'He is an experienced defenseman with excellent skating and passing,' said Sparta director of hockey operations Tomáš Divíšek. 'If not for an unfortunate injury, he might still be a stable NHL defenseman.' Originally from Sherwood Park, Alta., Pysyk played junior hockey for the hometown Edmonton Oil Kings in the WHL and was chosen in the first round, 23rd overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. From 2012 to 2022, Pysyk played 521 NHL regular-season games for the Sabres, Florida Panthers and Dallas Stars, recording 104 points and 152 penalty minutes. He also played four playoff games for Florida in the 2020 Eastern Conference playoff bubble in Toronto. Former Sabres First-Rounder Signs in Finland Canadian defenseman Mark Pysyk, 32, has signed a contract to play the remainder of the current season with SaiPa Lappeenranta, the Finnish Liiga club announced on Thursday. In the summer of 2022, Pysyk signed with the Detroit Red Wings. However, a short time later, he underwent surgery to repair a torn Achilles' tendon and missed the season. Pysyk spent the 2023-24 season in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Calgary Wranglers, recording four assists in 43 regular-season and playoff games combined. In September 2024, he attended the training camp of the Anaheim Ducks on a PTO. In November 2024, Pysyk signed to play the remainder of the season with SaiPa in the Finnish Liiga. He recorded 17 points in 56 regular-season and playoff games as SaiPa reached the finals. Last season, Sparta finished first in the Extraliga regular season but was eliminated in the semifinals by eventual champion Kometa Brno. In addition to Pysyk, the team has under contract for 2025-26 numerous ex-NHLers, including captain Vladimír Sobotka, Michal Kempný, Miikka Salomäki, Filip Chlapík and goaltender Josef Kořenář, whose NHL rights are retained by the Utah Mammoth. There Will Be A New Czech Champion - Třinec's 5-Year Reign Ended By Sparta After five long years, Oceláři Třinec's reign as Extraliga champion is over, following the team's quarterfinal defeat at the hands of Sparta Prague before a sellout crowd of 17,220 at O2 Arena on Monday.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Peter Mueller Re-Signs With Czech Champs
American forward Peter Mueller, 37, has re-signed to play another season with Kometa Brno, the Czech Extraliga club announced on Tuesday. Mueller was a member of the Kometa team that won the Extraliga title last month, although the team sat 13th out of 14 teams when he signed in October, eight games into the season. Mueller had previously played for the team from 2018 to 2022. 'Peter has never hidden the fact that Brno is his second home,' Kometa sports manager Tomáš Vincour said when Mueller returned there last fall. 'He has a really strong emotional relationship with Kometa and its fans, which played a big role in his return.' Originally from Bloomington, Minn., Mueller starred in junior hockey for the WHL's Everett Silvertips and was chosen eighth overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. However, he never lived up to his potential in the NHL. He recorded 54 points his rookie season in 2008-09, but was never able to reach that total again. In 297 NHL games over six season with the Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers, Mueller scored 63 goals and added 97 assists for 160 points with 98 penalty minutes. Mueller has played in Europe almost continuously since 2013 – he returned to play the 2016-17 season with the AHL's Providence Bruins. Otherwise, in addition to Czechia, his career has taken him to Switzerland, Sweden, Austria and Germany. Kometa Brno Returns To Top Of Czech Extraliga Kometa Brno is once again the champion of the Czech Extraliga, defeating Dynamo Pardubice 3-0 in the seventh and decisive game of the finals on Tuesday night in Pardubice. It was the second series in a row that the team won a seventh game on the road. Internationally, Mueller has represented the USA at two U-18 World Championships (winning gold in 2005), two World Junior Championships and two senior men's World Championships. In his first tour of duty with Kometa, he was the Extraliga MVP in 2018-19 and led the league with 64 points in 2020-21. Last season, he had 36 points in 36 regular season games and then 13 points in 20 playoff games. Mueller's first-period goal in Game 7 of the finals against Dynamo Pardubice turned out to be the series-winner in a 3-0 Kometa victory. In addition to Mueller, Kometa has under contract for 2025-26 25-year-old defenseman Filip Král, who played two games for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2023-24 and whose NHL rights are currently retained by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Radim Zohorna Signs With Swedish Club Czech forward Radim Zohorna, 29, has signed a two-year contract with Färjestad BK, the SHL club announced on Friday.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kölner Haie Shatters Own European Single-Season Attendance Record
Kölner Haie will break its own single-season attendance record for a European club, according to a press release from the German club on Friday. The team's final DEL regular-season game on Friday night against the Fischtown Pinguins from Bremerhaven is already sold out at Lanxess Arena, which has a capacity of 18,500 for hockey. That would bring the team's total to 463,543 over 26 home games – an average of 17,829. That breaks the record that the club set last season by almost a thousand fans per game. According to the figures published at on March 7, Die Haie's attendance this season is greater than the NHL's regular-season average and higher than 14 of the league's 32 teams. 'We are very grateful for the special loyalty and support of our fans – they made this new record possible,' said club managing director Philipp Walter. 'We are pleased that the cogs of our marketing and digitization strategy are working so well together.' Though meaningless in the standings, Friday's game will be a warm-up for the playoffs, as Die Haie and Bremerhaven will finish sixth and third respectively in the standings, and will face each other in the quarterfinals. Kölner Haie set a new European single-season attendance record last season with 16,993 fans per home game. That ended the streak of Swiss club SC Bern, which had led European hockey clubs in attendance for 21 consecutive seasons – not counting the pandemic-affected 2020-21 season, where attendance was severely limited everywhere. Bern's top-drawing season was 2016-17 at 16,399, which was the record until last season. Kölner Haie tops European clubs in attendance The German club returns to the top after SC Bern's 21-year reign According to the press release, Germany's DEL will also set a new attendance record for European leagues this season with more than 2.8 million fans, breaking the record the league set last season with 2.61 million. An exact figure won't be available until the regular season concludes after Friday's full slate of games. Elsewhere in Europe, according to a tweet from the club on Wednesday, Sparta Prague broke its own Czech Extraliga attendance record this season by more than a thousand per game with an average of 12,804. FAKT: Sparta ovládla extraligovou návštěvnost. S průměrem 12.804 fanoušků (celkem 332.916) na zápas máme dvojnásobnou návštěvnost, než samotná @telhcz (⌀5.823 diváků, celkem 2.121.051). Každý šestý fanoušek extraligy tak zavítal právě do naší O2 areny! — HC Sparta Praha (@HCSpartaPraha) March 5, 2025 What other attendance records will fall this season? The Alliance of European Hockey Clubs usually releases its Europe-wide attendance report in mid March, once all of the major leagues have completed their regular seasons. The reports from 2001-02 through 2023-24 can be found here.
