Czech Extraliga

Czech Extraliga

Current season or competition: 2011–12 Czech Extraliga season
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1993
No. of teams	14
Country(ies)	Czech Republic
Most recent champion(s)	HC Oceláři Třinec
Most titles	HC Vsetín (6)
TV partner(s)	Česká televize
Related competitions	Czech 1.liga Czech 2.liga
Official website	http://www.hokej.cz/

The Czech Extraliga (Czech: Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. As of 2009, it is ranked by the IIHF as the third strongest league in Europe.^[1]

The Czech Extraliga is rooted in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League. The Czech Extraliga was spun off in 1993 following the administrative break-up of Czechoslovakia. A lot of Extraliga players leave every year on transfers to the North American NHL and Eurasian league, the KHL. There are currently 57 Czech ice hockey players based in the National Hockey League, making Czechs the third largest nationality represented in the league, after Canadians and Americans.

Name and sponsorship

The name of the league is leased a general sponsor and changes frequently.

• 1999-2000 – Staropramen Extraliga
• 2001-2002 – Český Telecom Extraliga
• 2003-2006 – Tipsport Extraliga
• 2007-2010 – O2 Extraliga
• 2010-current – Tipsport Extraliga

League format

14 teams compete in the 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.

There is also only one assist credited for each goal instead of two since 2006-07, which affected the league statistics, so the rule was cancelled in the 2008-09 season. Two assists are counted now.

The top 6 teams at the end of the regular season play qualify for the playoffs, known as the Česká pojišťovna play-off Tipsport extraligy to determine the league champion. The teams that finish 7th thru 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 group (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). The winner of this series will play in the Extraliga the following season. The loser will play in the First League.

Current teams

Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Kometa Brno	Brno	Hala Rondo	7,200
Mountfield České Budějovice	České Budějovice	Budvar Arena	6,421
Energie Karlovy Vary	Karlovy Vary	KV Arena	6,000
Rytíři Kladno	Kladno	Zimní Kladno Stadion	8,600
Bílí Tygři Liberec	Liberec	Tipsport Arena	7,500
Verva Litvínov	Litvínov	Ivan Hlinka Stadion	7,000
BK Mladá Boleslav	Mladá Boleslav	Ško-Energo Aréna	4,200
ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice	Pardubice	ČEZ Aréna (Pardubice)	10,194
HC Plzeň 1929	Plzeň	ČEZ Aréna (Plzeň)	8,420
Slavia Praha	Prague	O2 Arena	17,360
Sparta Praha	Prague	Tesla Arena	13,995
Oceláři Třinec	Třinec	Werk Arena	5,200
Vítkovice Steel	Ostrava	ČEZ Aréna (Ostrava)	7,719
PSG Zlín	Zlín	Zimní stadion Luďka Čajky	7,500

Past champions

by Year

by Club

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning Years
VHK Vsetín	6	1	1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001
HC Sparta Praha	4	1	2000, 2002, 2006, 2007
HC Slavia Praha	2	3	2003, 2008
HC Pardubice	2	3	2005, 2010
PSG Zlín	1	3	2004
HC Energie Karlovy Vary	1	1	2009
HC Oceláři Třinec	1	1	2011
HC Olomouc	1	0	1994

by Region

Region	Titles	Winning Clubs
Zlín Region	7	VHK Vsetín (6), PSG Zlín (1)
Prague	6	HC Sparta Praha (4), HC Slavia Praha (2)
Pardubice Region	2	HC Pardubice (2)
Olomouc Region	1	HC Olomouc (1)
Karlovy Vary Region	1	HC Energie Karlovy Vary (1)
Moravian-Silesian Region	1	HC Oceláři Třinec (1)

References

External links

• Hokej.cz
• Hokej iDNES.cz

See also

• 1. národní hokejová liga
• 2. národní hokejová liga