HV-71 Fans In Falkirk

Pre last game of the regular EIHL season I was questioned on more than one occasion about my choice of hockey jersey. My mates insisted that I should have been wearing a Capitals top and that my choice of HV-71 was down right wrong for such a game.


But on my way home from the Caps victory over the Bison yesterday I was forced to depart the train at Falkirk Grahamston station due to "essential" work being carried out further down the line. So off I got with my brother and crossed over to the car park where I was being picked up to get a lift home. As I was waiting about on my parents arriving in their car I noticed a young couple staring in our direction and obviously talking about us. About five minutes later they came over to us and questioned my HV-71 jersey. It turned out they were Swedish exchange students over in Scotland studying but were from originally from Jönköping which just happens to be the home of HV-71. They said they couldn't believe their eyes when they saw me randomly walk past in what to them is an obscure Scottish town in the middle of no-where wearing the hockey jersey of their home town team. They had to come over and find out why I was there, so I stood talking to them for a little while explaining how I had been in Sweden and Jönköping earlier this year and that I had bought my top at the Kinnarps Arena just before I saw HV-71 beat Frolunda. They were so shocked about it all but that might have been down to them discovering that their was a hockey league in the UK.

So let that story be an inspiration to you all. You should wear your hockey tops all the time no matter where you go because you just don't know who you might just meet out on your travels.

Sasu Hovi Goal

Sasu Hovi's goal against Trencin in game one of the semi-final. Hovi's shot would definitely have caused Vesa Toskala a few problems but his Slovan side who won the game 4-1now currently find themselves 3-1 down in the series.

Vlad Holík Points Machine

Vladimír Holík, pictured above playing for Ostrava in the Czech 1.liga has been having a ball since his transfer over to Banská Bystrica in the Slovak first division. The D man sits 4th over-all for defencemen in points during the playoffs.

RD 11 4 6 10 20

It will be interesting to see if Vlad will stay on in Slovakia if B.B fail to get promoted. After all he was invited to Vitkovice's pre-season training camps and skated four or five times in the top Czech league last season too.

Euro Attendance Figures

I am impressed once again with the loyalty shown by the Frolunda faithful despite their favourites having a rather disappointing regular season in Sweden.

Kucera - cera

I did a Miro Droppa final regular season stats update, so I guess I should do the same for the nervous netminder that is Skalica back-up shot stopper Martin Kucera. The one time Capital's goalie finished the regular season having played in only 18 games during the season. His stats read:

Shots faced: 422

GA: 37

No. Saves: 385

Save % : 91.23%

His numbers actually make him one of the leagues best back-up netminders, with only MHC's Michal Dzubina and Poprad's Marcel Melicherčík doing better between the pipes when give the chance.

AND seeing as Iam going on about Slovak goalies. I may as well take this chance to announced that the title of worst helmet design that belonged to Vlasta Lakosil for so long has now changed hands. The rubbish helmet design award now well and truly belongs to Marek Mastič of Nitra

I hope you feel shame Marek!

Jaroslav Kudrna

I posted this on the Caps forum a month or so ago but I really should have put it up here too:



Look at Jaro Go... Oh yes he will be a Caps player, Oh yes it shall happen

and his Magnitogorsk team mate Jan Marek showing some "sick" skills during his Trinec days: I like Marek because he told the NHL where to go. Awesome!

Some Favourites

Seeing as I love my European hockey I thought I would write a little bit about some of my favourite European based players out there.I don't expect you to have heard of them all but if you have then consider me to be one of your new very best friends. I mean it, I really do. If you ever need a spare lung, part of a liver or just some blood I'm there for you, well I will be if you can prove you have heard of Jaroslav Török.

So lets starts with him Jaro Török, MHC Martin's #26 and top line winger. What a player!Not only does the Slovak have a wicked twisted wrister, he has the speed and the skills to match. He does the #26 a whole lot of credit. He is that good. I bet Jason Lafreniere himself would agree with that if he ever got the chance to see Török play. Török has spent all his career in Slovakia splitting the majority of his time there with MHC Martin and Zvolen. At Zvolen he was a team mates with Andrej Rajcak, Pavel Kowalczyk and Peter Konder. so I'm hoping that those three guys could put a good word in with Török for the Capitals. We might see him here if they do... and sh'yuh pigs might fly.

Another favourite of mines is Kalle Sahlstedt. A bit like former Caps D man Roland Carlsson he is a Finn with a Swedish name. Shalstedt though is an ickle 5"9 centre that has always played at the top level of Scandinavian hockey. He sets up goals and he scores them. I first became aware of Sahlstedt during his days with HV-71 in the Swedish Elitserien where he put up some fantastic numbers over four years. He then decided it was time to head back home to continue his hockey where he was lucky enough to sign for Kärpät Oulu. He has had a ton of success with them winning the SM-Liiga title a few times and has took part in the European Champions Cup. He is more or less the reason why I travelled to Northern Finland to see Kärpät play.


Next up is Petr Sykora of Pardubice, I could have chosen a few players from that team as I love Pardubice a whole lot. Don't worry though. If the Capitals ever played them I'd be at Murrayfield with my game worn Jan Krajicek top on shouting for the Caps to slay the visiting Pardubice team even when we were 10-0 down. Anyway Sykora, that's Seekora and not Sickora is a goals machine. Its no coincidence that Pardubice failing to make the playoffs this year is tied in with Sykora only bagging 23 goals, thats 13 less than last seasons total when Pardubice made it all the way to the playoff finals. A Czech international Sykora has attempted to start an NHL career twice skating for Nashville and Washington but Pardubice is his home and where he plays his best hockey. I hope he never leaves again.

Another favourite of mines and another Czech is Michal Mikeska. Yup he is a former Pardubice forward that now plys his trade in the Russian Super League with Ufa where he has been for the past two seasons. Mikeska earned that move by playing a big part in the title winning team of 04/05. He was the top scorer in Czech Extraliga that season. That's why I like him. Saying that though having Milan Hejduk, Jan Bulis, Ales Hemsky, Jiri Dopita and Petr Prucha on your side definetly helped him fire in the goals.


Last up and a netminder this time is pint sized stopper Marek Pinc. I travelled over to the Czech Republic hoping to see this guy play a few years ago. I was really looking forward to it but unfortuately his club at the time Vitkovice decided that they would play their back-up in the game I was attending. I was raging. Damn you Vitkovice. Pinc is well known over there for being a bit of a party animal and is often seen out enjoying himself to the fullest in the pubs and clubs of Ostrava. He was actually warned by his club about partying to hard and turning up to training with hang-overs but they couldn't argue with the performances he put up. Pinc has recently moved clubs to play for Liberec, a championship contending team.


Honourable mentions for the other favourites of mines are of course Jaroslav Kudrna, Viktor Hubl, Jani Pesonen, Michal Berran. Johan Davidsson and Tukko Mantyla. Pffft their are a lot of good players I like to watch play hockey. All very good at it they are too. If you have Eastside Hockey Manager why don't you sign up all of these guys and then watch your team win the silverware.

Miro Droppa

Miro finished the season at Liptovsky Mikuláš
49 6+6 12 54PiM

His joint 2nd highest ever point production in the Slovak Extraliga and I saw him nearly have a fight. Go Miro!

Random Results

It is playoff time in Europe and I know you are all just as excited as I am to read these very important scorelines. So where to start this time...

How about Croatia

KHL Zagreb 1-18 KHL Mladost (0:8,1:6,0:4)
This was game two of the semi-final series where only 100 people turned up at Velesajam Ice Hall. Interestingly the entire Zagreb team apart from one player who was off the ice for a valid reason at the time had been suspended for this match up after they refused to take the ice in protest after a minor penalty was called apon them 52 minutes in. Zagreb took to the ice with an under 18s squad.

Red Bull Salzburg 7-1 Vienna Capitals (2:1,5:0,0:0) - Series 4-1
So to the Austrian playoffs. I put this result in because I actually took this game in online. Red Bulls won pretty easily and the third period turned out to be a snore fest. I have actually been watching quite a lot of Austrian hockey recently and haven't been to impressed with their on ice product but maybe I shouldnt be to harsh thise time as I was watching a team with the name Capitals in it.

And in Hungary

Dunaújvárosi Acélbikák 2-6 Csíkszeredai Hockey Club(1-2, 1-1, 0-3)
I also watched this online. I love sopcast!!!The game was actually pretty competitive despite the final score-line. The 1000 spectators in the small rink were also very loud and made a great atmosphere. A dood called Patrik Bosak scored twice for the visitors.

Hijs Den Haag 2-3 Flyers Heerenveen OT(1-1 0-0 1-1 0-1) - Series 1-3
Having looked into this match up I found that the most interesting thing to come out of it is that Heerenveen have a player called Ronald de Boer

Last but not least, A semi-final result from the Belgian league

HYC Herentals 5-4 IH Leuven(1-2,0-1,4-1)
The series sits at 1-1... Exciting stuff in Belgium

Martin Cingel Interview

Why did you choose to play hockey?

My mother wanted me and my brother to play hockey because we were very inpolite at home and when we came home after training, we were very tired and silent. Playing hockey was a sort of "punishment" for us.

In Slovakia you played in Dubnica, Puchov and Martin. Which club was the best one?

Definetaly Martin in season 2001/02. In that season I scored 19 goals, played 4 matches for the Slovak national team and had the Gold helmet for the most productive player in my team. I also played also in the slovak extraliga All-Stars game.

Had you a lot of good offers from other clubs after that season?

Yes I had a lot of good offers from teams in the Slovak Extraliga.

How did you get to British league?
I was in Britain around 1999/2000 but when I returned back to Slovakia I believed that a lot things had changed and I wanted to play again in my home country. But after the 01/02 season I was very disapointed with many things that went on and I only wanted was to return back to Britain. I only needed to pick up my telephone and call there.

Can you compare the conditions in Slovak extraliga and British Elite league?

I will try to compare the incomparable. The first thing I have to mention is that for Slovaks it is hard to believe that sports like darts, billiard, curling or dog races can be more popular than hockey. Popularity of hockey in Slovakia is huge in comparison to Britain. In the British newspapers it is impossible to find anything about hockey. The conditions in Elite League are varying. The club is run mostly only by two people who try to keep the club in a positive way because if the club is not run well it goes bankrupt like all the other firms in the world. The club has also to pay rent for the stadium which is a little bit different from back home.

Can you tell us what is your sallary? How are payed the players in Britain? Are there big differences between domestic and foreing players?

I dont want to talk about specific numbers of my salary but I can tell you that it is like the salary of the better players in the Slovak extraliga. The best paid player in the British League is paid every bit as much as the best 20 players in Slovak extraliga. Foreigners are paid much betterin the UK but some domestic players are also very well paid

Can you compare Elite League and Slovak Extraliga also by the quality of hockey?

Some people in Slovakia think that it is very easy to play here for import players but this is not true. 90% of players here are from USA and Canada and there are also some former NHL players like Theo Fleury 3 years ago and that means that the game is very physical with hard hits. The British league also a lot of good hockey fights, we don't see that as much in Slovakia. Each club in the EIHL can sign up to 10 foreign players and the teams mostly play with 3 attacking and 2 deffensive lines.Tthis league is not easy to play also because we play nearly every weekend with games back to back on saturday and sunday.

How are the hockey fans in Britain?

The average attedance is 2000 people. but when there is an attractive match like between Sheffield and Nottingham you might see about 7000 in the stadium, maybe a sell out. Each club also has its own fanclub and the biggest ones like in Belfast, Sheffield and Nottingham can bring up to about 1000 people to games

And what about the Scotish club Edinburgh Capitals which you play for?

The Capitals are one of the youngest clubs in Elite League. The club has been around for only 10 years and the owner is Scott Neil is a former player of British national team. The average attedance here is about 1000 people. Two years ago you were the biggest star of the Caps. What about this year? The season before this one was not bad although I was very sad that we didnt get into play-off. I was the best scorer and also the most productive player also with Andrej Rajcak. I owe thanks to my great teammates for that season. Before that season, our GM asked me if I knew some good players who could play for the Caps. So after a few telephone calls we had a Czecho-Slovak line with Lúža-Kowalczyk, Cingel-Rajcak-Slak (Slak-Slovenian player). And for this season the coach brought good former NHL players like Colin Hemingway (St. Louis Blues) and Mike Stutzel (Pheonix Coyotes)

How do you see your hockey future? what ambitions do you have?

I am 32 years old but I still like playing hockey very much! I want to play as long as possible and my dream is to be succesful with my club Edinburgh Capitals because the fans really deserve it. How did you adjust to life in Scotland? I knew a bit about Britain because I already had been there. I hadnt any problems with language, but Scotish accent was very hard to understand for a while (laughter). Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in the world So my family loved it. The only thing which we didnt like were ther rainy winters.The people are very friendly here and I have also a lot of good friends here now.

Have you ever wanted to go back to Slovakia?

Of course. Everyone who goes to live or to work in a foreign country experiences these situations. The Scottish accent was very difficult to understand to begin with but with the help of my family and friends I got through it and Iam now very settled in Scotland.

Do you watch Slovak Extraliga? Could you give us the teams which will place on the first 3 places this year?

I keep in touch with some of my former teammates so I know what is going on back home. I also watch it through internet, mostly on hokejportal.sk. I am interesterd in MHC Martin and I am very happy that they are so succesful this year.The first 3 teams will be 1. Slovan Bratislava 2. Dukla Trencin 3. MHC Martin

Check to the head would like to thanks Milan Ftorek for translating the interview from Slovak into English for us

What the...

'Чецк то тхе хеад' < - Check To The Head Russian Styleeeee

Thanks to the wonders of sopcast and myp2p.eu I have been extremely occupied with watching hockey from all over Europe and have completely forgotten about doing updates for the blog. If you don't have sopcast why they hell not? Get it and enjoy all the lovely sports :0)

In the last few weeks I have caught games from Slovakia, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Austria, Germany and tonight it looks like some French hockey is going to be broadcast too. So if you are sitting bored through the week looking for a hockey fix and think that their is nothing on other than the extremely boring and characterless NHL well THINK again!

Check it out, download sopcast and hit myp2p.eu, then send all the thanks to the CTTH team!