Rytíři Kladno
Rytíři Kladno (English: Kladno Knights) is a Czech professional ice hockey team based in the city of Kladno. They are currently a member of the Czech Extraliga.[1] The team president and owner is Jaromír Jágr, a famous former NHL player, who is currently (2019–20)[2] playing in home games for the team in addition to his ownership and administrative roles.[3] The team plays its home games at ČEZ Stadion Kladno.
Rytíři Kladno | |
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City | Kladno, Czech Republic |
League | Czech Extraliga |
Founded | 1924 |
Home arena | ČEZ Stadion Kladno (Capacity: 5,200) |
Colours | white, blue |
Owner(s) | ![]() |
Head coach | ![]() |
Captain | ![]() |
Website | www.hc-kladno.cz |
History
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Kladno was a particularly strong team in the late 1970s, when it won four consecutive league titles (1975–1978), and again in 1980. The team's star, Milan Nový, was league MVP in 1977, 1981, and 1982, and won six scoring titles. František Pospíšil was league MVP in 1971 and 1972.
Before season 1997/1998 happened what everyone expected for some time, Kladno lost its longtime sponsor, ironworks Huť Poldi. After a long time the Poldi disappeared from Kladno hockey jerseys and the successes that this famous club has achieved in previous years have also disappeared and was de facto always last. Primarily the lack of funds did not allow to management improvement of club cadre and the main coach resigned.
Despite the departure of a number of players abroad, Kladno did not go bad after 2003 and celebrated return to the Czech highest-level league. However after the season 2012-13 Kladno performed poorly in the extraliga. Nor the withdrawal of coaches helped, and the co-sponsorship of Rene Burger the team reached the highest league again after the 12 years.
Jaromír Jágr played for his hometown Kladno for parts of four seasons, including during the NHL lockouts in 1994, 2004, and 2012. In January 2018, Jágr was assigned to HC Kladno after a partial season with the Calgary Flames.[4]
During the 2010–2011 season, the team was docked 6 points for having used players who were not correctly registered to the club, an affair which also involved the clubs BK Mladá Boleslav and HC Plzeň.[5]
Club names
- 1924 – HOSK Kladno
- 1948 – Sokol Kladno
- 1977 – Poldi SONP Kladno
- 1995 – HC Poldi Kladno
- 1997 – HC Velvana Kladno
- 2000 – HC Vagnerplast Kladno
- 2003 – HC Rabat Kladno
- 2007 – HC GEUS OKNA Kladno
- 2010 – HC Vagnerplast Kladno
- 2011 – Rytíři Kladno
Summary of league participations
- 1951–1953: First Ice Hockey League (highest-level league in Czechoslovakia)
- 1953–1955: Celostátní soutěž (second-level league in Czechoslovakia)
- 1955–1983: First Ice Hockey League (highest-level league in Czechoslovakia)
- 1983–1985: 1. ČNHL (second-level league in Czechoslovakia)
- 1985–1986: First Ice Hockey League (highest-level league in Czechoslovakia)
- 1986–1987: 1. ČNHL (second-level league in Czechoslovakia)
- 1987–1993: First Ice Hockey League (highest-level league in Czechoslovakia)
- 1993–2002: Czech Extraliga (highest-level league in the Czech Republic)
- 2002–2003: 1st Czech Republic Hockey League (second-level league in the Czech Republic)
- 2003–2014: Czech Extraliga (highest-level league in the Czech Republic)
- 2014–2019 : WSM Liga (second-level league in the Czech Republic)
- 2019– : Czech Extraliga (highest-level league in the Czech Republic)
Honours
Domestic
3rd place (1): 1993–94
Winners (6): 1958–59, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1979–80
Runners-up (1): 1981–82
3rd place (2): 1971–72, 1980–81
1st. Czech National Hockey League
Winners (3): 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87
2nd. Czechoslovak Hockey League
Winners (1): 1954–55
3rd place (1): 1953–54
International
NHL alumni
Patrik Eliáš
Michael Frolík
Milan Hnilička
Ivan Huml
Jaromír Jágr
František Kaberle
Tomáš Kaberle
Milan Nový
Pavel Patera
Michal Pivoňka
Tomáš Plekanec
Martin Procházka
Pavel Skrbek
Radek Smoleňák
Petr Tenkrát
Jiří Tlustý
Tomáš Vokoun
Marek Židlický
Radko Gudas
Ondřej Pavelec
Jakub Voráček
Jiří Sekáč
See also
- Category:HC Kladno players
References
- "Zápasy: Rytíři Kladno". Hokej.cz. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
- "TIPSPORT extraliga 2019/2020 - základní část". Rytíři Kladno (in Czech). 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2020-02-04.
- "Jágr bude stoprocentním vlastníkem kladenského hokejového klubu". iDNES.cz. 24 April 2017.
- "Jagr assigned to hometown team HC Kladno". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2018-01-30.
- "Rozhodnuto: Plzeň, Mladá Boleslav i Kladno přijdou o body". Česká televize (in Czech). 19 November 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to HC Kladno. |
- Official web site (in Czech)
- Kladno Sport
- Rytíři Kladno - Facebook
- Meltzer, Bill. "Kladno: Small Town, Big Draft Legacy" article at NHL.com Retrieved 06–27–06.