Regional league: Černošice, Poděbrady and Rakovník spent Christmas at the top of the groups
The Central Bohemian Regional Hockey League took a short nap over Christmas and will not start again until Saturday, January 7. However, individual teams have only seven or eight regular season games ahead of them. So what is the current state of affairs in all the storylines and who is closest to a direct quarter-final?
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Regional league, 14th round: HK Kralupy – HC Hvězda Praha (4:3), played on December 10, 2022.
| Photo: Klára Spěšná / HokejoveKralupy.cz
At the outset, it will be good to quickly recall the system of the regional league. Eighteen teams are divided into three groups of six and each team will play twenty-two duels in the regular season. The winners of the groups and the best team from the second place will then advance directly to the quarter-finals. The remaining teams in second place, as well as the third, fourth and fifth teams, will form a mini-table, from which the first eight will compete against each other in the preliminary round of the playoffs. The last teams of the groups will fight each other in the play down group, the last of which will play a playoff to stay in the regional league.
In the East group, Poděbrady is currently profiled as a clear contender for direct advancement to the quarterfinals. They have already managed to collect thirty points in fifteen games, and they have a seven-point lead over the second-placed Čáslaví. But the next one is exactly the same in the east. Both Béčka Kolín and Mladá Boleslav lose only one point to Čáslav, and the fifth Kutná Hora is only two more points behind. The Žabonosy are clearly last in the East, having collected only nine points and have two victories at their end.
Group East
1. HC Podebrady (30 points)
2. HC Čáslav (23 points)
3. SC Kolín B (22 points)
4. BK Mladá Boleslav B (22 points)
5. SK Sršni Kutná Hora (20 points)
6. HC Žabonosy (9 points)
In the North group, Rakovník and Kralupy nad Vltavou will probably fight for the top spot until the end. Rakovník won eleven games in the regular season and has 33 points at the end. However, the second Kralupy only loses a point. Slaný is second with 24 points and Mělník is fourth with 17 points, struggling for third place. Hvězda Praha collected three less points and the last Venátky nad Jizerou B have eight points on their account.
Group North
1. HC Rakovník (33 points)
2. HK Kralupy nad Vltavou (32 points)
3. HK Lev Slaný (24 points)
4. HC Junior Mělník (17 points)
5. HC Hvězda Prague (14 points)
6. HC Benátky nad Jizerou B (8 points)
The overall leader of the Central Bohemian regional league comes from the South group. Černošice have already won twelve times and have 36 points on their account! Thanks to this, they also have a five-point difference over second-placed Benešov, who in turn have three points ahead of Velké Popovice. Fourth place is held in the south by Králův Dvůr with nineteen points, and Vlašim also has the same points record. Žebrák remains the last team that does not have a point yet and is the main contender for the fight for retention.
Group South
1. SK Černošice (36 points)
2. HC Lev Benešov (31 points)
3. HC Slavoj Velké Popovice (28 points)
4. HK Králův Dvůr (19 points)
5. HC Rytíri Vlašim (19 points)
6. HC Spartak Žebrák (0 points)
As for individual statistics, Lukáš Rindoš from Poděbrady managed to collect the most points before the Christmas break (15+22). The best scorer is Tomáš Jobek from Cernošić (16+19) and Dominik Florián (12+21) from Vlašimi managed to get over the thirty-point mark. The most penalized player in the competition is Tomáš Brejcha (10+14) from Černošice, who has already registered 49 penalty minutes.
Regional league: Benešov scored thirteen goals, a tight duel for Černošice and Hvězda