David Krejci will arrive in the Czech Republic soon and begin playing as soon as possible. Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE
It’s official: David Krejci joins the ever-growing list of Boston Bruins to play overseas during the NHL lockout. He will go to HC Pardubice in his native Czech Republic once some administrative formalities are sorted out first.
Ondrej Sebek, Pardubice’s general manager, told hokej.cz that he will do everything he can to ensure Krejci can play as soon as possible. It sounds like HC Olomouc, a Czech junior league team, will be involved in this because that team reportedly still owns Krejci’s Czech Republic playing rights.
Krejci’s agent, Franz Tausch, said that his client should arrive in the Czech Republic on Oct. 4.
Pardubice could use the goal-scoring potential Krejci has. Among the 14 teams of the Czech Tipsport Extraliga, Pardubice sits at 13th place with just six points to their name. They have lost five of their eight games played so far this season. Only HC Sparta Praha is deeper in the basement with five points from eight games played. By contrast, the league-leading HC Kometa has played eight games and has 19 points.
Pardubice appears to be suffering a championship hangover since they are the 2011-12 Tipsport Extraliga champions. That’s certainly something Krejci has familiarity with–maybe he can provide some advice on how to overcome it. They also won recent championships in 2010 and 2005. Last year, the team also played an open-air game against Kometa–a sort of Czech Winter Classic.
Two NHL players are already on Pardubice’s roster: Ales Hemsky from the Edmonton Oilers and Jakub Kindl from the Detroit Red Wings. The team plays in the city of Pardubice in the eastern part of the country and has been around since 1923. Among its well-known alumni: Dominik Hasek, who spent much of the 1980s minding the net there.
