Hockey Club Banes Motor České Budějovice is a professional men's

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 ...

club based in

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

History

Bandy era in České Budějovice

The long history started in 1911, when group of young gymnasium students devised a plan to start a

bandy Bandy is a winter sport and ball sport played by two team sport, teams wearing Ice skates#Bandy skates, ice skates on a large ice surface (either indoors or outdoors) while using sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The playin ...

team. Their first hockey rinks were situated exactly where the

Malše The Malše () is a river in the Czech Republic and Austria, a right tributary of the Vltava River. It flows through Upper Austria and the South Bohemian Region. It is long. Etymology The name is derived from the personal name Malch. The land thro ...

river and

Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It runs southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, and Prague. It is com ...

river merge. Dr. Zdeněk Černý was the first coach, manager, as well as a player of the team. The bandy club lasted until

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Some of the first victims of the war were players from České Budějovice such as Áda Schrabal, Karel Selinka, Jan Vrkoč, and Leo Feigl.

Adaptation to ice hockey

On 3 December 1921 ''SK České Budějovice'' played its first amateur ice hockey match in

Strakonice Strakonice (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Strakonice consists of eight municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 2021 census): *Strakonice ...

. On 10 January 1928 a club known as ''AC Stadion České Budějovice'' was founded by the merging two clubs in České Budějovice - Viktoria and Slovan. The club joined

Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1936 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split. Histor ...

, the nation's top ice hockey league, in 1936. In their first season, they finished third behind LTC Praha and

AC Sparta Praha Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional association football, football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in cen ...

Lone championship & decades of failure

In the 1950–51 season, the club, now called ''SKP České Budějovice'', won its first and only championship in any top-tier league. The club has failed to finish higher than third place (1952–53) in the highest league ever since. After a disastrous 1962–63 season in which the team won none of the 32 games, the club was relegated to the Czechoslovak Second League until 1968. Overall, HC České Budějovice had been relegated to the second-tier league five other times since the 1958-59 season ; in each case the club re-earned promotion to the top league the following season. Although it lost in the semifinals of the 2007–08 Czech Extraliga season, HC České Budějovice qualified for the

2008–09 Champions Hockey League The 2008–09 Champions Hockey League was the only season of the Champions Hockey League (2008–09), an IIHF-organized ice hockey tournament for the best club teams in Europe. The season was played with 12 teams from seven countries (two teams ea ...

as the winner of the regular season. However, its success was short-lived, as it finished eleventh and survived a relegation round the following season.

War of the Beers

Following the 2012–13 season, the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...

reached a sponsorship deal with Radegast to sell its beer in all Extraliga arenas. This agreement conflicted with the deal České Budějovice already had with

Budweiser Budvar Brewery Budweiser Budvar ( ) is a brewery in the Czech Republic, Czech city of České Budějovice (), best known for its original Budweiser or Budweiser Budvar pale lager brewed using Artesian aquifer, artesian water, Moravian barley and Saaz hops. Bud ...

for their

arena An arena is a large enclosed venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

. Under the agreement, the club and the city of České Budějovice would face stiff penalties for selling any beer other than Radegast products. Unable to resolve the dispute, the club decided on 18 June 2013 that no new agreement could be reached between the parties involved and voted to immediately relocate to

Hradec Králové Hradec Králové (; ) is a city of the Czech Republic. It has about 94,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of the Hradec Králové Region. The historic centre of Hradec Králové is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech R ...

for the 2013-14 season. In July 2013, plans were unveiled to resume professional hockey in České Budějovice, with a club playing in the Czech First National League.

Honours

Domestic

* 3rd place (3): 1994–95, 2007–08, 2021–22

Czechoslovak Extraliga The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1936 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split. History ...

* Winners (1): 1950–51 * Runners-up (1): 1980–81 * 3rd place (2): 1936–37, 1952–53 Czechoslovak Second Ice Hockey League Championship ''(4)'': 1960, 1968, 1970, 1992

1st Czech Republic Hockey League The Maxa liga is the second-highest level of professional ice hockey in the Czech Republic, after the Czech Extraliga, Extraliga. It began in 1993 and is run and administered by Czech Ice Hockey Association. Until 2015, the league was known as t ...

Championship ''(4)'': 2005, 2017, 2019, 2020

Players

Current roster

As of 10 September 2024.

Alumni

*See :Motor České Budějovice players for a list of HC České Budějovice players past and present.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hc Ceske Budejovice Ceske Budejovice Ceske Budejovice Sport in České Budějovice Ice hockey clubs established in 1928 1928 establishments in Czechoslovakia