History

Basic historical facts

Established: 1903 as a bandy hockey club, 1909 as an ice hockey club

Name changes: 1903 - AC Sparta Praha, 1948 - Sokol Sparta Bubeneč, 1949 - ZSJ Bratrství Sparta Praha, 1951 - ZSJ Sparta ČKD Sokolovo Praha, 1952 - TJ Spartak Praha Sokolovo, 1965 - TJ Sparta ČKD Praha, 1990 - HC Sparta Praha

Achievements: league champions 1952-1953, 1953-1954, 1989-1990, 1992-93, 1999-2000, 2001-2002, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007, Spengler Cup 1st place 1962 and 1963, Spengler Cup 2nd place 2004, European league 2nd place 2000, Champions Hockey League 2nd place 2016/2017

Czechoslovak and czech top league: from league introduction in 1936 until 1950, since 1951

Club colors: blue, yellow, red

Brief club history

The Sparta Praha hockey club is one of the most successful and famous clubs in Czechoslovakian and later Czech ice hockey history. There is not many sports clubs in Czech republic whose history reached so far as history of the Prague ice hockey club SPARTA.

Sparta’s great successes were reached in the years following World War II as it won two national titles in a row - 1952/54 and 1953/54 - under the name Spartak Sokolovo. The next highly successful period came much more recently, when Sparta won the national league in 1989/90 and in 1992/93. Another recent achievement (along with two third place finishes in 1995/96 and 1996/97) was Sparta’s participation in the final group of the European League (EHL) in 1996/97.

After a few years of bad luck and less success, Sparta returned to the top of the Czech Extraliga in 1999/00 when they were crowned league champions. That victory was the first of four championships they would win over seven seasons, adding Extraliga titles in 2002, 2006 and 2007. In addition to those achievements, Sparta managed to be part of the Top Four in the European League (EHL) again in 1999/2000 and achieved the greatest result in Czech hockey history: second place.

Present

HC Sparta Praha has regularly been one of the best teams in the Czech Extraliga, making the playoffs almost every year. In 2013/2014 Sparta won regular season with 110 points and earned bronze medal in the play offs. HC Sparta Praha's home games are played at O₂ Arena since season 2015/2016.

Sparta broke several club records and ended in the regular season 2015/2016 on the second place with 110 points. Team led by coach Josef Jandač defeated Zlín with Plzeň and reached to the final of the Česká pojišťovna play off, where lost with Liberec 2-4 on games. In the 2016/2017 season Sparta ended 2nd in the Champions Hockey League and reached one of the biggest successes in the modern history of the club.

New era with new owner and GM

The structure of the club’s management changed significantly in May 2019, when Karel Pražák’s Kaprain, an investment group, became its new owner. New management lead by general manager Barbora Snopková Haberová set their aims and visions high for season 2019/2020, signed great players and brought the team back to the top of the league. Multiple records were broken – for example attendance records, dominated by the Open Air game in Dresden.

The team also experienced a change in the coaching staff, when Uwe Krupp and Jaroslav Nedvěd were replaced by Miloslav Hořava and Josef Jandač. With the season cut off prematurely due to the coronavirus outbreak, our team finished third after the regular season, which ensured the Spartans’ comeback to the Champions Hockey League.

World Champions from Sparta

• 1972 - Jiří Holeček and Jiří Kochta
• 1976 - Jiří Holeček
• 1977 - Jiří Holeček
• 1985 - Pavel Richter and Jiří Hrdina
• 1996 - Jiří Vykoukal and David Výborný
• 1999 - Milan Hnilička, František Kučera, Ladislav Benýšek, David Výborný and Jan Hlaváč
• 2000 - František Kučera, Michal Sýkora, Ladislav Benýšek, David Výborný and Michal Broš
• 2001 - Jaroslav Hlinka
• 2005 - David Výborný and Jan Hlaváč

Olympic Champions from Sparta

• 1998 - Milan Hnilička, František Kučera and coach Slavomír Lener

World Junior Champions from Sparta

• 2000 - Tomáš Duba, Martin Holý and Michal Sivek
• 2001 - Tomáš Duba, Michal Sivek and coach Pavel Hynek

In January 2004, Sparta marked the occasion of the club’s 100th anniversary by naming an all-time All-Star Team. It was voted on by hockey writers as well as many others in the sports business. Some players were clearly elected, while some other results were very close. Finally, the vote came following names:

Goalie	Jiří Holeček
Defensemen	Karel Gut František Tikal
Forwards	Jan Havel Jiří Hrdina Vladimír Zábrodský

It was very difficult to identify the best players over a period of time as long as 100 years. Every era has had its great players and it is difficult to compare them because they played in different conditions. By acknowledging these six players, the club would like to thank everyone who ever played for Sparta. In its 100 years of existence, the club has seen a myriad of great players, and these are its six representatives.

A pregame ceremony was held on January 10, 2004, prior to a home game against Znojmo, to honour the All-Star Team. Banners depicting the jersey numbers and names of all six players were raised to the rafters of Tipsport Arena.