Pardubice won Czech Junior Extraleague

This year the juniors of HC Pojistovna Pardubice fought their way into the finals, where they had to face the juniors from HC Ceske Budejovice. Pardubice won the junior Extraleague the last season and now they were hoping on a back-to-back season after they defeated HC Sparta Praha in the semifinals.
Their lineup was stocked with quality prospects and most of them already had experience from the last year’s run. Overager Josef Vitek, flashy Petr Koukal and scorer Petr Prucha, who performed for the Czech Republic at the 2002 WJC, joined the team again after seeing playing time in the Div I league. To other core players can be counted two-way forward Miloslav Komarek or talented offensive winger Stanislav Horak.
The team was using the help of all rookies well and Pardubice have really a bright future. 1984 born forwards Jan Kubista and Jan Velich both perform regularly for the Under-18 team and are quite likely to be drafted in June. 1985 born hulking underage defenseman Martin Lojek is a 6’4” behemoth who will probably be among the first CHL Import picks this year as he is planning to come over. Pardubice created a great mix of players with three or four years of experience with top junior hockey and young rookies with great skill and NHL upside.

Even then, Ceske Budejovice team was said to be more talented. Budejovice had to deal with Litvinov juniors in the semifinal series and they swept them 6:1 and 5:1. They only lost Buffalo Sabres draftee Michal Vondrka due to a broken thumb, but else they had all their stars complete. Buffalo’s first-rounder Jiri Novotny was permitted to leave the Czech pre-WHC camp and rejoin the Budejovice juniors, just like 2003 NHL Entry Draft’s potential top 3 pick Milan Michalek postponed his arrival to the Czech Under-18 team’s pre-WJC camp. Captain Jiri Lala, a son of former Czech senior national team forward is along with offensively gifted winger Jan Rehor also among players who were considered as potential draft picks last year, but was overlooked. Both of them saw playing time in the senior Extraleague, where Novotny and Michalek were among the best junior-aged players.
Ceske Budejovice have a very strong both 1982 and 1983 birthyear and both the teams claimed Midget Extraleague championship titles in 1999 and 2000. From the 1984 born rookies big, skilled defenseman Michal Barinka showed the biggest upside and the series looked to be a tight battle.

But in the first contest, played in Pardubice, the Ceske Budejovice juniors looked a bit out of place. Pardubice were in control of the game since the first minute. It took them only 24 seconds to score the first goal. Jan Kubista carried the puck into the offensive zone, splitted the defense and fired a shot at Josef Kucera in the net of Budejovice. Kucera allowed a rebound, which was picked by Petr Prucha – 1:0.
This goal brought confidence on the sticks of Pardubice players, who kept the Budejovice juniors far from their own net. The second Pardubice goal came in the second period. Stanislav Horak was racing with the puck off the left wing into the Budejovice zone, sized Martin Lojek kept the backchecking Budejovice defenseman off him so that Horak could fire his wrister over Kucera’s glove to increase the lead. After Josef Vitek scored a marker of his own from the slot right under the crossbar to set the score at 3:0, the situation was looking desperate for Ceske Budejovice. Budejovice could be satisfied with at least one fact, Pardubice were awarded a penalty shot, but Petr Prucha missed his attempt to score.
Still, Prucha was the man who decided about this game. Late in the third period he won the puck in the corner even if he was attacked by two Budejovice players, fired a wrist shot and then rebounded it into the almost empty net. The score was now 4:0 and there was no sign of a turnover. Alexander Hylak in the net for Pardubice played a very solid game and earned the shutout, even if he was hit by Lukas Martinek’s slapper into his head with five minutes to go in the game. After the shot Hylak appeared to be injured, but then stood between the pipes until the final buzzer.

The second game of the series had to be played in the Ceske Budejovice’s training facility, which limited the crowd to about 150 people. Ceske Budejovice had to win and they had to do so without their fans. They played better than in the previous contest, but still didn’t manage not to give up the first goal again. In the 15th minute Stanislav Horak rebounded the loose puck into Josef Kucera’s net to give Pardubice the lead. But this time Ceske Budejovice turned the game over. First top prospect Milan Michalek has beaten Hylak with his wrister off the perimeter and in the next minute Stepan Hrebejk has set the score to 2:1. The goal came after Hrebejk went with the puck behind Hylak’s net and then found a place near the left goalpost where he could pop the puck in. Pardubice were in a tough situation, but they could handle it. Before the period was over Stanislav Horak tied the game again and three minutes later Petr Prucha finished the Pardubice turnover. He received a pass, corraled the puck and fired a wrist shot from between the faceoff circles which surprised Kucera. The last Ceske Budejovice attempt to do something with the result came as they pulled the goalie. But unfortunately, they gave up one more goal. Petr Prucha scored the empty netter and proved that his great scoring touch ruled the series. The smallish sniper scored 4 goals in the two final games to lead Pardubice to the back-to-back championship title. Overager Josef Vitek then scored four points for four assists in the last final game. The whole team has been awarded with a trip to Croatia to rest in a seaside resort, but then they’ll have to start preparing for the new season. They will have a tough task next year. Build a dynasty in Pardubice!

Top playoff scorers Pardubice