Though the club is in a region of the Czech Republic that is not historically thought of as a hockey hotbed, Ocelari Trinec has rose through the ranks of the Czech leagues playing an entertaining brand of offensive hockey that has made the club hugely popular in its blue-collar town.

by Daniel Jezek

HC Ocelari Trinec is the easternmost hockey club in the Czech Extraliga. Trinec is a town of 40 000 inhabitants, located only two kilometres from the Polish border and 20 kilometres from the Slovakian border. The town is famous for its connection to the steel industry, and the word oceláři means "steelworkers" in English. The hockey club was founded in 1929 and has been playing in the top Czech league the 1995-96 season. So far, Trinec has managed to win one national title and has missed the playoffs only twice in the past 19 seasons.

85 years of tradition

In the late 1920s, the achievements of the Czechoslovakian national ice hockey team started receiving greater attention as the sport grew from one of regional support to one of great popularity throughout the republic. Interest exploded in the Moravia-Silesia region with four hockey clubs popping up in a two-year span, including SK Trinec in 1929.

Despite this early curiosity, there was not much knowledge about this "new" sport and these new clubs lagged far behind the more developed ones, located mostly in Bohemia. However, in a very short time Canadian hockey, as it was then called, became the second-most popular Czechoslovakian sport and put down firm roots even in the small town near the Polish border.

After decades of having to play outdoors in poor conditions, a proper ice rink finally opened on 17 February 1967, and the time was finally right for the rise of the hockey in Trinec. Eleven years later, in 1976. However, the roof only did not protect the spectators from the freezing winds that blew in from the sides, so it was necessary for players to wear a couple of sweaters in order to prevent from freezing on the bench. Hockey at that time was only for genuine fans, but the ice rink was very often filled with a lot of people.

The main characteristic of the Trinec club was an entertaining style of offensive hockey, which continues today. In the 1984-85 season a young graduate of the local faculty of physical education, Alois Hadamczik, took over as the team's head coach. He would play a significant role in the subsequent rise of the club and eventually lead the Czech national team.

Extraliga and national title

A monumental change in club's history was its separation from the TJ Trinec club and the establishment of a professional hockey club called HC Zelezarny Trinec on 1 July 1994. The following season, the club won the Czech first league title and gained promotion to the Extraliga in 1995, where they have remained ever since.

The first major success came in the 1997-98 season when the club battled its way to the Extraliga finals. Hadamczik's team stood its ground against the powerhouse from Vsetin, which won the Czech title six times in seven years. Though they were close games, Trinec was swept 3-0 in the series and took the silver medal. The next season Trinec showed their 1998 playoff run was no fluke, as they got back to the semi-finals and earned the bronze medal.

Finally, in the 2010-11 season, the club won its first national championship. The club coached by Pavel Marek dominated the Extraliga all season long, finishing first during the regular season, then eliminating Litvinov and Slavia Prague to get to the finals, where they beat regional rival Vitkovice Ostrava 4 games to 1. Martin Ruzicka managed to score 33 points in 18 playoff games on 17 goals and 16 assists, setting a new Czech record.

2014: New logo, new team, new arena

In 2013-14, Trinec finished second place in the regular season, then were eliminated by PSG Zlin in the semi-finals. In 2014, Ocelari Trinec celebrated the 85th anniversary of their founding and the start of their 20th Extraliga season. This occasion was being recognised by making slight alterations to its uniform design and updating its famous dragon logo.

2014 was also the year that Ocelari moved into a brand-new arena. The new Werk Arena is a state-of-the-art facility that can accommodate 5118 spectators, and provides all the modern technology and comforts for the fans and players

The team also started to rebuild with the departure of some if its veteran stars. Jan Peterek, a 1998 silver medalist and 2011 champion, and captain Radek Bonk retired, while top scorer Ruzicka headed back to the KHL.However, the club has managed to fill those gaps by signing new players, such as defenceman Rostislav Klesla from the NHL, forward Zbynek Irgl from the KHL, Kamil Kreps and Tomas Plihal from the Finnish Liiga, and young players Lukas Zejdl from Slavia and Aaron Chmielewski, one of the top scorers of the Polish Extraklasa.

Thanks to these players, Trinec finished first place in the Czech Extraliga standings and went to game seven of the league finals, where they lost to HC Litvinov.

Team facts

NOTE: This article has been updated since its original publication.
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