Sport/Ice hockey in Pardubice

Ice hockey in Pardubice

Ice hockey started to be played in Pardubice on frozen natural water surfaces at the beginning of the 20th century, but at that time it was still the so-called “bandy hockey” with a ball, which copied eleven players, goals and even the playground size from football. The first match in ice hockey, then called “Canadian hockey”, took place in 1913, but this kind of sport did not gain many supporters at the beginning. In spite of that, a few enthusiasts went in for it in Pardubice and in 1925 Vilém Weiss founded the LTC (Lawn Tennis Club) Pardubice ice hockey club, which – as it was usual then – built up the ice rink on tennis courts. Five years later the team from Pardubice started to play regular regional competitions, later became the champion of East Bohemia and still later it won through to the first national league qualifications. But when the team managed to appear there in the 1937-38 season at last, the competition was cancelled due to unfavourable weather conditions and the very short league premiere ended for Pardubice ice hockey ingloriously – three matches played and lost – in the last position in the group.

In the 1930s and 1940s, a few other ice hockey clubs were established in Pardubice and a stadium with artificial ice – one of the first in Czechoslovakia – was opened here in December 1947. The LTC Pardubice team, clearly the best one in the region, won the division without being defeated in the 1948-49 season and moved up to the league qualifications, which it won as well. This was, however, after the communist reorganisation of physical education which joined LTC with Rapid from Pardubice.

Ice hockey in Pardubice entered the first-league competition under the name of Slavia Pardubice in 1950, and starting from 1950 the team acted as Dynamo Pardubice for seven years (this is why Pardubice fans still support their team crying “Dynamo, Dynamo”), and as Tesla Pardubice for another thirty years. No matter what name they played under Pardubice ice hockey players have achieved a unique primacy – they are the only Czechoslovak team that has never left the top domestic ice hockey competition since 1950 and has been playing there continuously until now.

During that period the Pardubice team has become the national champion three times (1973, 1987 and 1989), and in 1994 and 2002 ended in second place after having been defeated in the finals. Thus Pardubice waited to see the fourth title only in 2005 under management of captain Jiří Dopita and after Ján Lašák, goalie from the Slovak representation, came to the team. Due to the cancellation of NHL for a year, three forward players – Jan Bulis, Michal Mikeska (21 goals + 34 assists) and Milan Hejduk appeared in the Pardubice kit; they astonished fans by occupation of the first three positions in the total points scheme. Another returnee – Aleš Hemský – was awarded the title of the best play-off player. In 1958, the winter stadium underwent a thorough reconstruction and now it is a sport arena meeting modern parameters, whose auditorium is often sold out in the case of extra-league matches. Well, ice hockey is something in Pardubice and an integral part of town life. The standing area for Pardubice fans known as the “boiler” is well-known throughout the whole of the country.

Hundreds of players have participated in the more than half-century long existence of ice hockey in Pardubice; many of them were supporters of the national team in their periods and showed their abilities abroad as well, also overseas after 1989. By way of example, let us name at least a few of the most well known: Dvořáček, Nadrchal, Danda, Dolana, Kobranov, Prýl, Jiroutek, Lacký, Martinec, Novák, Šťastný, Crha, Paleček, Veith, Koďousek, Šejba, Hašek, Janecký, Michal Sýkora, Petr Sýkora, Salfický, Hejduk, Bulis, Hemský or Průcha.