It’s not too rare in the NHL, second and only other sports league I manage to devoid much of my free time to, for an understudy to take over from his master while he moves upstairs to deal with the big picture stuff instead. Or at least for a veteran…

One and done? We will not see the satisfying picture of Martin Svědík taking questions from foreign journalists for at least a year — and maybe never again as long as he’s at Slovácko, where he’s now freshly signed through 2025 and tasked with slowing down the seemingly ongoing age-related…

Third time is supposed to be the lucky charm, right? I must admit it feels unnatural to even begin to think of Jindřich Trpišovský as a two-time failure in terms of bringing the title to Eden. But… it was perhaps not even a failure in the grand scheme of things…

Here’s one thing I didn’t realize until someone pointed it out on Twitter: Plzeň are in for their 14th — fourteenth — consecutive European campaign. It’s nothing compared to Sparta’s ridiculous 41-season string, of course, but still; when you consider Viktoria last sat out UEFA competitions in the same month…

Nine years of title drought? Enough, said AC Sparta Praha. Since the early 1980s when the club was still recovering from their shocking (and to date sole) 1975 relegation, the most successful Czech brand in history with 37 laurels to its name had topped out at three straight title-less campaigns…

Back-to-back finishes outside Top 10? Yikes. That hadn’t happened to Jablonec since finishing 12th, 13th and 12th again in 1998-2001, the sole period of sustained mediocrity in the club’s 31-year top flight history. Sounds familiar? …

Back-to-back finishes outside Top 6? Yikes. That not only hadn’t happened to Liberec since 2009-11, but it’s also only the second time in Slovan’s 30-year top flight history fullstop (the only other such period came in 1998-00). On the first count, it took Liberec two years to turn the prolonged…

27 May 2017. The last day the famous White Tower, housing the third largest bell in the country, oversaw top flight action. It may not seem that long, but believe me it is for Hradec Králové residents. František Čech, who scored his first (and to date last) top tier goal…

We are getting at least two Eastern Bohemia derbies played in actual Eastern Bohemia… well, isn’t that just lovely? On the top level, this hasn’t happened in over six decades — back when VTJ Dukla Pardubice were getting relegated as TJ Spartak Hradec Králové were celebrating their lone title in…