After a dramatic 6th finale, HC Karlovy Vary won the Czech hockey championship 2008-09, their first championship title in the more than 75 year history of the club.

Karlovy Vary took a commanding lead in the series when they beat Slavia Praha twice on the road and extended their lead to 3:1. But the outcome was far from certain. In the quarterfinal series, Slavia Praha had also been down 1:3 to Vitkovice but won three games straight and proceeded to the next round. The reigning Czech champions were determined to repeat that feat against Karlovy Vary, the same opponent they had beaten in the finals last year.

Slavia Praha took the first step on Friday when they beat Karlovy Vary 3-2. And when the series returned to the old Winter Arena at Karlovy Vary, Slavia Praha roared out of the gates with three unanswered goals in less than four minutes in the first half of the 1st period--three powerplay goals on three opportunities.

After having cooled off in the dressing room, Karlovy Vary staged a comeback in the 2nd period. Marek Melenovsky converted on the powerplay in the 25. minute. In the 33. minute Peter Mudroch received a penalty, and Slavia got their next opportunity to prove their amazing efficiency on the powerplay. Perhaps they had little too much confidence this time. As the powerplay drawed to an end, Lukas Pech grabbed the puck and passed it to Frantisek Skladany who scored short-handed to 2:3.

This goal gave Karlovy Vary a huge moral boost. And in the 3rd, the players came out with even more energy and added a lot of rubber on Slavia's junior goalender, Dominik Furch who had replaced Stanislav Naruda that was injured in the fifth finale. Karlovy Vary were rewarded in the 47. minute when Ondrej Nemec tied the game on the powerplay, the sixth special team goal out of six. And five minutes later, the old arena nearly collapsed when Lukas Pech completed the fantastic comeback. In the reminding minutes, Slavia pressured hard to tie the game and take the finale back to Prague to game 7. But they couldn't unlock Lukas Mensator who stood tall as a wall.

Like last season, Karlovy Vary started slow in the regular season, but once again they proved to be a great play-off team. Lukas Mensator was excellent in the playoffs; he was always there when his team needed him most. But unlike most other playoff teams, Karlovy Vary also profited from four balanced and healthy lines centred around strong defence but could also all score.

Brief history of HC Karlovy Vary
HC Karlovy Vary was established in 1932 under the name SK Slavia Karlovy Vary. Until after the war, hockey was played on natural ice near the local football stadium. In 1948, the construction of an artificial rink improved the conditions dramatically, and Karlovy Vary quickly began its ascend to the elite.

In the 1950s, Karlovy Vary played five season (1951-56) in the Czechoslovakian top league. Hockey was tremendously popular in the old spa town. In that period, Karlovy Vary also played many international games, in particular against Swedish and Russian teams. The biggest name the club produced in this era was perhaps Jiri Kolouch (goaltender of the Czechoslovakian team).

In the late 50s  Karlovy Vary rapidly declined. For several decades, the club played in the Czechoslovakian II. Liga (third tier).

After the fall of the Berlin wall, HC Karlovy Vary had its own small revolution when the old management was replaced with younger and more dynamic one. With financial help from Jan Becher, a wealthy local businessman, HC Karlovy Vary (at the time named HC Beckerovka) immediately started its climb back to the elite.

In 1994/95, the club made the leap to liga I (second tier), and two seasons later it won the leaguebut failed to qualify for the Extraliga. During the summer of 1997, the club then bought the extraliga license from HC Olomouc, and thus entred the Extraliga in 1997/98. The most wellknown player the club developed in those years was also a goaltender, namely Tomas Vokoun.

HC Karlovy Vary never reached the playoffs until 2007/08 - a season that coincided with the club's 75th anniversary. In the end, Karlovy Vary had to settle for silver in a tense finale series vs. Slavia Praha that went to seven games. This season, Karlovy Vary made the final step and dethroned their rivals from Prague.

The future - Karlovy Vary in the KHL?
One year ago, Karlovy Vary became the first club outside former Soviet Union to sign a letter of intent to join the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

The primary reason for this interest is that Karlovy Vary, a famous spa town, has a seizable Russian community and many Russian spa guests.

Karlovy Vary  has the infrastructure needed to join the KHL. The town has an international airport and plenty of hotel faciliites, and a brand new hockey arena is being constructed (capacity 6,000). This arena will be inaugurated next season.  HC Karlovy Vary has also informed the KHL that it would be able to raise the US$15 mio. neeeded to enter the KHL But then came the financial crisis and ruined the roadmap. In early 2009, Karlovy Vary announced that he plans for joining the KHL has been put on hold.

GAME 6, 12 April 2009

HC KARLOVY VARY - SLAVIA PRAHA 4-3 (0-3, 2-0, 2-0)
12 April 2009, Zimni Stadion, Karlovy Vary, Att: 4,450 (F)
0-1 06:53 David Hruska (Kolarik, Beranek) PP1, 0-2 08:51 Roman Cervenka (V. Ruzicka, Kadlec) PP2, 0-3 10:17 Jozef Beranek (Bednar) PP1, 1-2 24:44 Marek Melenovsky (M. Prochazka, Skladeny) PP1, 2-3 33:51 Frantisek Skladany (Pech) SH1, 3-3 46:23 Ondrej Nemec (Kumstat, Sailer) PP1, 4-3 52:39 Lukas Pech (Dej).
Karlovy Vary 5x2, Slavia 7x2, SOG:48:36.
Goaltenders: Lukas Mensator (33/36 - 91.67) - Dominik Furch (44/48, 91.67)

CZECH PLAYOFFS 2008-09

PLAY-INS
HC Vitkovice - HC Liberec 3:0 (3-1, 3-0, 3-1,
HC Plzen - HC Trinec 3:2 (4-2, 6-1, 0-3, 3-4 OT, 3-0)

QUARTERFINALS
HC Slavia Praha - HC Vitkovicce 4:3 (1-5, 3-2, 1-2, 2-7, 5-3, 7-3, 2-1)
HC Pardubice- HC Plzen 3:4 (1-2 SO, 3-1, 1-2, 3-0, 1-3, 3-4 OT)
HC Litvinov - HC Karlovy Vary 0:4 (2-3 SO, 1-2 SO, 1-3, 2-4)
Sparta Praha - HC Zlin 4:1 (4-2, 4-0, 4-1, 2-4, 6-1)

SEMIFINALS
HC Slavia Praha - HC Plzen 4:1 (0-6, 6-5, 3-1, 6-1, 6-5 SO)
Sparta Praha - HC Karlovy Vary 2:4 (5-2, 2-3 OT, 3-5, 2-5, 2-1 OT, 1-4)

FINALS
HC Slavia Praha - HC Karlovy Vary 2:4 (1-4, 5-1, 1-2 SO, 4-6, 3-2, 3-4)

PLAYOUTS
BK Mlada Boleslav - HC Slovan Ustecti Lvi 4:0 (3-0, 2-1 OT, 3-1, 2-0)

BK Mlada Boleslav thus stay in the Extraliga. Kometa Brno has bought Znojmo's extraliga license and will enter the league next season.