Plenty of Nothing

Garry Unger Beermat

Hockey ironman Garry Unger finished out his career playing for Peterborough Pirates of the British Hockey League. Source.

Mountfield

Mountfield captain Radek Smoleňák has also played for Kladno, Kingston Frontenacs, Johnstown Chiefs, Springfield Falcons, Norfolk Admirals, Mississippi Sea Wolves, Abbotsford Heat, Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks, Ässät, Pelicans and TPS, Medveščak Zagreb, Slovan Bratislava and Ugra, Timrå and Modo, and Rapperswil-Jona Lakers. Source.

Sparta Prague visit Mountfield HK at Zimní stadion Hradec Králové. Zimní means winter. Hradec Králové is a city on the river Elbe in eastern Bohemia.

Mountfield have been in the Extraliga ten years and have yet to win the Czech championship. They're currently 8th in the standings.

Results so far:

2022/10/18    Mountfield 3 - 2 Sparta Prague

2022/12/2      Sparta Prague 2 - 1 Mountfield

[2023/1/15     Mountfield 3 - 4 Sparta Prague]

Hockey in the first Czechoslovakian Republic:

I can find no record of organized hockey in Austria-Hungary during World War One. It looks like the only clubs that were playing at all in Europe were the Swiss ones.

Czechoslovakia was created in October 1918, comprised of Bohemia, Moravia plus a bit of Silesia, Slovakia and Ruthenia. Hockey quickly started up, but it took years to get to the point of organizing a national league. In the 1920s there were invitational tournaments and friendly matches, and a national championship if there was still ice when they got to it. By the 1930s there were regional championships for Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and a federation of German-speaking teams, and from 1930 the winners of these regional leagues met in a national championship.

In 1936 the top clubs from these groups combined into a national league. The member clubs that year were LTC Prague, AC Sparta Prague, AC Stadion České Budějovice, HC Tatry Poprad, SSK Vitkovice, Troppauer EV Opava, SK Slavia Prague and BK Mlada Boleslav. The league lasted only two seasons before the Germans disassembled the Czechoslovakia.

LTC Prague were the dominant club of the era.

If Every AHL Team Still Had Its Original Name and Location

Maine Mariners, 1979. Source.

Atlantic Division

Bridgeport Sound Tigers (Bridgeport CT)

Capital District Islanders (Troy NY)

Erie Blades (Eric PA)

Fredericton Express (Fredericton NB)

Philadelphia Phantoms (Philadelphia PA)

Providence Reds (Providence RI)

Hershey B'ars (Hershey PA)

Maine Mariners (II) (Portland ME)

North Division

Denver Grizzlies (Denver CO)

Hamilton Canucks (Hamilton ON)

Houston Apollos (Houston TX)

Lowell Lock Monsters (Lowell MA)

New Brunswick Hawks (Moncton NB)

New Haven Nighthawks (New Haven CT)

Rochester Americans (Rochester NY)

Central Division

Baltimore Bandits (Baltimore MD)

Chicago Wolves (Chicago IL)

Grand Rapids Griffins (Grand Rapids MI)

Houston Aeros (Houston TX)

Louisville Panthers (Louisville KY)

Milwaukee Wings (Milwaukee WI)

Minnesota Moose (Saint Paul MN)

Pacific Division

Coachella Valley Firebirds (Palm Desert CA)

Colorado Eagles (Loveland CO)

Hampton Roads Admirals (Norfolk VA)

Kentucky Thoroughblades (Lexington KY)

Maine Mariners (I) (Portland ME)

Manchester Monarchs (Manchester NH)

Nova Scotia Oilers (Halifax NS)

Springfield Falcons (Springfield MA)

Tidewater Wings (Norfolk VA)

Quebec Castors (Quebec QC)

Kladno

Tomáš Vokoun played for Kladno in 1994-95. Source.

Sparta Prague host Jaromir Jagr's team Rytíři Kladno. Sparta are currently sixth and Kladno fourteenth in the Extraliga.

[Sparta Prague 4 - 0 Kladno]

Earlier results:

2022/11/27    Sparta Prague 5 - 1 Kladno

2022/10/14    Kladno 2 - 5 Sparta Prague

Hokejový odbor sportovního klubu Kladno was founded in 1924 and has gone through multiple name-changes in subsequent years. In 2011 the club took on its current name Rytíři Kladno (Kladno Knights), but for a long time it was known as Poldi Kladno after the town's big steel mill, which was founded in 1889 by Karl Wittgenstein and named after his wife Leopoldine.

Kladno won the Czechoslovak Extraliga six times but have never won the Czech Extraliga.

Zdeněk Miler, creator of Krtek the mole, was from Kladno.

Hockey in the Kingdom of Bohemia

Sparta Prague was founded in 1903, but played bandy until 1909 when the club switched to "Canadian hockey". So even if you count 1909 as their start date they're just as old as the Montreal Canadiens.

The Kingdom of Bohemia was one of the constituent parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and maintained its own national identity, at least in regard to international sporting events. Bohemia participated in the European Hockey Championship from 1910 to 1914 and won it in 1911 and 1914.

There was also a Bohemian hockey championship from 1909 on. Two championships were played in February 1909. (In the early years of the Stanley Cup there could be multiple championships in a season, too.) In the second championship Slavia beat Sparta 4 - 0 in the final. Slavia were the top Czech club in this era. (See Hockey Archives.)

Leopoldine Wittgenstein's profile served as the Kladno team logo for many years.

2022 Spengler Cup

Alexandre Daigle played for Davos against Team Canada in the 2006 Spengler Cup. Source.

It's the 2022 Spengler Cup. This year's teams are HC Davos, IFK Helsinki, Örebro HK, Sparta Prague, Team Canada and HC Ambri-Piotta.

Host Davos are currently sixth in the Swiss league, and Ambri-Piotta are tenth. Örebro are fourth in Sweden. Sparta are fifth in Czechia. IFK are tenth in Finland.

Team Canada has 14 players who play in the Swiss league, 8 who play in the AHL, and one who plays in Finland. SC Bern has four players on Team Canada, Lugano three, and Ajoie two.

12/26    Game 1: Ambri-Piotta [5 - 2] Örebro

12/26    Game 2: Sparta Prague [3 - 2] Team Canada

12/27    Game 3: IFK [2 - 5 Örebro]

12/27    Game 4: Davos [2 - 1 Team Canada]

12/28    Game 5: [Ambri-Piotta 7 - 3] IFK

12/28    Game 6: [Sparta Prague 9 - 2] Davos

12/29    Game 7: [Örebro 3 - 1 Team Canada]

[This is the first time Team Canada have come to the Spengler Cup and not won a game.]

12/29    Game 8: [Davos 3 - 2 IFK]

12/30    Game 9: [Sparta Prague 4 - 3 Örebro]

12/30    Game 10: [Ambri-Piotta 5 - 0 Davos]

12/31    Game 11: [Sparta Prague 2 - 2 Ambri-Piotta] [Ambri-Piotta win in the shootout.]

Sparta Prague vs Team Canada in past Spengler Cups:

2010/12/29    Team Canada 4 - 3 Sparta Prague

2005/12/30    Sparta Prague 2 - 8 Team Canada

2004/12/29    Team Canada 2 - 4 Sparta Prague

2002/12/28    Sparta Prague 1 - 4 Team Canada

2001/12/28    Sparta Prague 1 - 4 Team Canada

2000/12/30    Team Canada 5 - 4 Sparta Prague

[Pension Plan Puppets asks what Team Canada would look like if it were made up of former Leafs playing in Europe.]

Plenty of Nothing coverage of previous Spengler Cups:

2021 was not played.

2020 was not played.

2019 when Team Canada won.

2018 when KalPa won.

2017 when Team Canada won.

2016 when Team Canada won.

2015 when Team Canada won.

2014 when Genève-Servette won.

2013 when Genève-Servette won.

2012 when Team Canada won.

2011 when Davos won.

2010 when SKA won.

Plzeň

Jaroslav Špaček pushes the home brew at the Sochi Olympics. Source.

You may know Plzeň as Pilsen, the birthplace of pilsner beer. Plzeň is another one of those Czech towns with a central square crying out to be transformed into a rink for the Winter Classic.

Plzeň go back to 1929. They won the Czech championship in 2013.

Jaroslav Špaček started and finished his career with HC Plzeň.

Previous result:

2022/11/2      Plzeň 4 - 0 Sparta Prague

[2022/12/22    Sparta 3 - 0 Plzeň]

90th All Japan Ice Hockey Championship

How Nippon Steel Muroran look. Source.

It's the 90th All Japan Ice Hockey Championship, in which the five Japanese Asia League clubs and seven other teams compete for the crown of Japanese hockey. The preliminary round was held October 29th and 30th. The results were:

October 29:

Kagawa Ice Fellows 4 - 3 Tomakomai City Hall

Nippon Steel Muroran 6 - 2 Team Torspo

October 30:

Dynax 18 - 0 Tokyo Vanguards

Dentsu 1 - 3 Tadano IHC

Dentsu is the dominant ad agency in Japan.

Now comes the championship proper:

December 15:

Match No. 1: Meiji University [5 - 3] Kagawa Ice Fellows

Match No. 2: Yokohama Grits [11 - 4] Dynax

Match No. 3: Kansai University [3 - 4] Tadano IHC

Match No. 4: Toyo University [7 - 2] Nippon Steel Muroran

December 16:

Match No. 5: [Meiji Univerisity 3 - 6] Red Eagles Hokkaido

Match No. 6: East Hokkaido Cranes [4 - 3 Yokohama Grits]

Match No. 7: [Tadano 2 - 16] Tohoku Free Blades

Match No. 8: Nikko Ice Bucks [3 - 0 Toyo University]

December 17:

Match No. 9: [Cranes 2 - 1 Eagles]

Match No. 10: [Ice Bucks 4 - 5 Free Blades]

December 18:

Match No. 11 (for third place): [Eagles 4 - 3 Ice Bucks]

Match No. 12: [Cranes 3 - 4 Free Blades]

Plenty of Nothing coverage of past championships:

The 89th won by the Cranes.

The 88th won by the Cranes.

The 87th won by the Ice Bucks.

The 86th won by the Eagles.

The 85th won by the Free Blades.

The 84th won by the Eagles.

The 67th Korea National Ice Hockey Championship was held November 13th. HL Anyang beat High1 by the score of 3 - 2. Video. HL Anyang is the new name for Anyang Halla. Anyang are currently top of the standings in their first year back in Asia League Ice Hockey.

Mladá Boleslav

Sparta versus Mladá Boleslav, September 16th, 2022. Source.

HC Sparta Prague visit BK Mladá Boleslav. 

BK Mladá Boleslav go right back to 1908 but they have never won the  Czech championship. They most recently entered the Extraliga in 2014. BK stands for Bruslařský klub ("skating club") and the hockey team is prosaically nicknamed Bruslaři ("The Skaters"). Currently Sparta are 4th with 42 points and The Skaters are 8th with 36.

Sparta have hired Miloslav Hořava as head coach. And they have signed defenceman Michal Kempny, formerly of Chicago and Washington of the NHL. They're on a tear and have won their last seven games.

Games so far this season:

2022/10/23    Sparta Prague 3 - 2 Mladá Boleslav

2022/9/16     Mladá Boleslav 4 - 2 Sparta Prague

Mladá Boleslav is the hometown of the Škoda auto company.

[Mladá Boleslav 1 - 2 Sparta Prague]

North Sydney Forum

Source.

Prince's Rink, St. John's

Prince's Rink was opened in 1899 and burned down in 1941. Here it is at some point during WWI. Source.