HC Kometa Brno

HC Kometa Brno ("Comet" in English) is a professional ice hockey team based in Brno, Czech Republic. They play in the Czech Extraliga. Kometa is the most successful ice hockey club in the Czech Republic with 13 Czechoslovak (and Czech) league championship titles. Holding three European Cup titles, Kometa ranks as the most successful Czech club in international ice hockey. The team HC Kometa Brno has won two Czech championships seasons, capturing the title in both 2016–2017 and in 2017–2018.

HC Kometa Brno
CityBrno, Moravia
LeagueCzech Extraliga
Founded1953 (1953)
Home arenaDRFG Arena
(capacity: 7,700)
ColoursBlue, white
         
Owner(s) Libor Zábranský
Head coach Libor Zábranský
Captain Martin Zaťovič
Websitewww.hc-kometa.cz

History
Auditorium PSG Zlín match, 29 November 2011

The club was founded in 1953 as an army ice hockey club with the name Rudá hvězda Brno ("Red Star"). The majority of players were transferred from two hockey clubs in Brno (TJ Spartak Brno Zbrojovka and TJ Spartak GZ Královo Pole[1]). In 1962, the club changed its name to ZKL Brno (ZKL is an abbreviation of "Ball Bearing Factory")[2] and stopped being an army team. In 1976, the name was changed to Zetor Brno. Shortly after the revolution (1994), the club changed its name to HC Kometa Brno. "Kometa" was the team's nickname since the 1950s (as opposed to the official "Red Star") and the team was commonly referred to by this name since its beginning.

Players and fans of Kometa during 2011 post-season friendly match

In 1996, the team was relegated from Czech Extraliga to the second highest ice hockey league, the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League. For many years, the team struggled due to poor financing and multiple changes of owners, facing relegation again in 2001–2002. The club almost ceased to exist, playing in the East division of the third-highest Czech ice hockey league. By the 2003–2004 season, it returned to the first league. In 2004, Kometa played its first playoff series since 1997, reached the semifinals in 2008, and reached the finals in 2009.

On 1 April 2009, Kometa principal investor Rene Burger bought the licence for another South Moravian club, HC Znojemští Orli. This club began to serve as a farm team for Brno.[3]

In March 2012, the team managed to defeat HC Sparta Praha, the winner of the 2011–12 Czech Extraliga regular season, in six games, qualifying for the playoff semifinals.[4] In the semifinals, they defeated HC Plzeň 1929, the runner-up of the regular season, in five games. In the final, Kometa lost the Czech Extraliga championship final to HC Pardubice in six games.[5]

Honours

Domestic

Czech Extraliga

Czech 1. Liga

Czechoslovak Extraliga

1st. Czech National Hockey League

  • Winners (3): 1980–81, 1988–89, 1990–91
  • 3rd place (1): 1992–93

International

IIHF European Cup

Pre-season

Spengler Cup

  • Winners (1): 1955
  • Runners-up (1): 1957

Rona Cup

  • Winners (1): 2014

Tipsport Hockey Cup

  • Winners (1): 2008

History of the team name
  • 1953 – Rudá hvězda Brno
  • 1962 – TJ ZKL Brno
  • 1976 – TJ Zetor Brno
  • 1990 – HC Zetor Brno
  • 1993 – HC Královopolská Brno
  • 1994 – HC Kometa Brno
  • 1995 – HC Kometa Brno BVV
  • 1997 – HC Kometa Brno

Players
Legendary player František Vaněk 156 scoring

Current roster

As for the 2018/19 season.[6]

Position#NameAcquired
G1 Marek Čiliak2005
G33 Lukas Klimas2019
G50 Karel Vejmelka2015
D23 Ivan Baranka2019
D7 Tomáš Bartejs2016
D24 Michal Gulaši2016
D71 Tomáš Malec2010
F92 Petr Holík2018
F57 Jan Hruška2000
F15 Petr Kratochvíl---
F19 Silvester Kusko2009
F88 Peter Mueller2018
F27 Jakub Orsava2019
F20 Karel Plášek jr.2016
F14 Tomáš Plekanec2018
F29 Vojtěch Střondala2016
F8 Jan Süss---
F26 Martin Zaťovič2016
  • Playoff match against PSG Zlín 2011
  • PSG Zlín match
  • PSG ZLín full play
  • The old stadium behind Lužánky park
  • The closing of the season 2011
  • DRFG Arena - main entrance
  • The former logo

Notes
  1. "Historie » Info". www.hc-kometa.cz.
  2. Originally Závody kuličkových ložisek; this factory – now ZKL Group Brno Archived 21 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine – became the main sponsor of the club.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 April 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Kometa je v euforii a už mluví o titulu. Máme na to, tvrdí hráči". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). iDnes. 20 March 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  5. "Pardubice – Brno 5:6. Stav série 1:1. Drama pro kardiaky. Kometa přetlačila Pardubice, padlo 11 gólů!" (in Czech). Sport.cz. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  6. "Soupiska". hc-kometa.cz.
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