Lukáš Smítal (born 15 August 1974) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

who currently coaches the

Slough Jets The Slough Jets are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, England playing in the NIHL South Division 1. The team was founded in 1986 after the construction of the Slough Ice Arena in Montem Lane in Slough and joined the first division of t ...

in the

English Premier Ice Hockey League The English Premier Ice Hockey League (EPIHL) was an ice hockey league of 10 teams, all of which were based in England. Headquartered in Blackpool, the EPIHL was one of two professional ice hockey leagues in the United Kingdom (the other being ...

. Smítal rejoined the Bracknell Bees after four seasons with local rival club, the

Guildford Flames The Guildford Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Guildford, Surrey and they play their home games in the Guildford Spectrum. They compete in the top-tier of hockey in the United Kingdom, the Elite Ice Hockey League. Founded in ...

Playing career

Amateur

Smítal played for the Czech Republic U-20 (under 20 years old) team in 1994, where he scored two points in six games.

Professional

Smítal spent most of his career (1996–99, 2000–04) in North America playing in the

ECHL The ECHL (formerly the East Coast Hockey League) is a minor professional ice hockey league based in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, with teams across the United States and Canada. Competitively, it is a tier below the American Hockey League (AHL). The ...

and the AHL. Smítal holds the record for most goals scored as a member of the former

Johnstown Chiefs The Johnstown Chiefs were a minor league ice hockey team located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, that played in the ECHL. The team was founded in 1987 in the All-American Hockey League, and moved to the East Coast Hockey League (now ECHL) when th ...

. Smítal scored 107 goals over two different stints with the Chiefs (1996–99, 2001–03). Smital broke the record formerly held by Bruce Coles, who had scored 106 goals during his time with the Chiefs. Smital was signed and brought to the UK by the

Bracknell Bees The Berkshire Bees are an ice hockey team from Slough, Berkshire, UK. They compete in the National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) National League, the second tier of English Ice Hockey. History Early years The Bracknell Bees were formed in 1987, un ...

hockey team, where he made a formidable partnership with Martin Masa, helping to bring silverware to Bracknell. Smital stayed for 3 seasons before leaving for local rivals

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

. Smítal spent the majority of four seasons with the

, leaving the squad shortly before the end of the 2010-11 season. For the 2011-12 season, Smítal rejoined the

hockey team with longtime teammate

Martin Máša Martin Máša (born August 10, 1973) is a Czech Republic, Czech ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger who plays for Bracknell Bees in the English Premier Ice Hockey League. He has previously played for teams in France, England, Czech Repub ...

. Fellow countryman and current teammate Máša has skated on six different teams with Smítal: 1996-99

; 1997–98 Saint John Flames; 2000-01

Greensboro Generals The Greensboro Generals were an East Coast Hockey League team based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and played at the Greensboro Coliseum from 1999 to 2004. The name was originally used by the Greensboro Generals in the Eastern Hockey League. Th ...

; 2003–04

Texas Wildcatters The Texas Wildcatters, who took their name from Texas wildcatters, were a professional minor league ice hockey team in the ECHL based in Beaumont, Texas. They played their home games at the Ford Arena. The franchise previously played in Hunting ...

; 2004-05 Bracknell Bees; 2009–2011 Guildford Flames. Smítal is also the current head coach of the Bracknell Hornets of the

ENIHL The National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) is a set of semi-professional ice hockey leagues administered by the English Ice Hockey Association. It is currently the second tier of British ice hockey, below the Elite Ice Hockey League. Formerly calle ...

and is a camp coach at Black And Gold Conditioning Camp, located in

Bracknell Bracknell () is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the borough of Bracknell Forest. It lies to the east of Re ...

Awards and honours

* Winter Cup winner, 2004–05 Bracknell Bees * British National League All Star Team, 2004–05 * British Ice Hockey Writer's Association Player of the Year, 2004–05 *

English Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

winner, 2005–06; 2008–09; 2009–10

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smital, Lukas 1974 births Bracknell Bees players Cleveland Barons (2001–2006) players Czech ice hockey right wingers Czech expatriate sportspeople in England HC Varese players Greensboro Generals players Guildford Flames players Jacksonville Lizard Kings players Johnstown Chiefs players Living people Monroe Moccasins players Ice hockey people from Brno Saint John Flames players San Antonio Rampage players Texas Wildcatters players Czech expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Italy Expatriate ice hockey players in England Czech expatriate ice hockey players in Canada Czech ice hockey coaches