STYLE

HC VÍTKOVICE RIDERA

Celebrates Seventy Years

Since the First Gold for Ostrava

It has recently been exactly seventy years since the moment all hockey fans of HC VÍTKOVICE

RIDERA like to remember. At that time, Sokol Vítkovické Železárny managed to dominate

the highest domestic competition for the first time and win one of the most valuable titles in its

rich history for Vítkovice. The original match was remembered in special retro jerseys worn by

RIDERA players in a match with Kometa Brno. ‘We wanted to pay tribute to our first champions.

In 1952, Vítkovice won the first gold from Ostrava in one of its great sports. It is a key date not

only for the club, but also for the city’, recalls Zdeněk Janiurek, a historian of hockey Vítkovice.

On Friday, 25 February 2022, Vítkovice hockey

experienced great fame. In replicas of historical

jerseys in the match with Kometa Brno, hockey

players HC VÍTKOVICE RIDERA paid tribute to

the first champions from 1952. The people of

Ostrava competed in the red-yellow jerseys of Sokol

VŽKG. In such a team, player-coach Vladimír Bouzek

and captain Ladislav Staňek won a historic triumph

in January 1952 for the Vítkovice club as well as for

Ostrava and the entire region.

‘Tribute to the 1952 champions’ ran the subtitle of

this ceremonial match HC VÍTKOVICE RIDERA – HC

Kometa Brno. Vítkovice won its first championship

title on 19 January 1952, so the celebration took place

seventy years and one month later. After almost two

years, the people of Ostrava returned to the home

ice and with them the fans went to the arena. After

the first wave of relaxation of the COVID measures,

the club was able to use about half of the maximum

capacity of the OSTRAVAR ARENA, 5,416 spectators.

The celebration of the seventieth anniversary of

the first championship title of the Vítkovice club

could thus have a dignified backdrop. ‘Originally,

we had a celebration scheduled for the January

date so that it would be based almost exactly on

the seventieth anniversary of winning the title. But

when new epidemic measures again significantly

reduced the number of spectators at public events in

November, we tried to move it to the end of February.

And we practically prayed that the fans would be able

to go back to the stands then. We were lucky that it

worked out that way for us’, notes Janiurek.

From the historical team that recorded this great

success, only one member, Zdeněk Návrat, was still

alive to witness this festive rematch. This ninety-yearold, six-time Czechoslovak champion, participant

in the 1956 Olympic Games and champion in

the Vítkovice jersey from 1952, however, was unable

to attend the match due to health reasons. Instead, he

sent a video greeting to the players and fans present

at a distance. ‘Unfortunately, my health did not allow

me to attend the celebration directly at the ice rink.

But at least I can greet everyone at such a distance

and I wish the celebration a success’, he said, his

message airing on the cube before the match.

The Vítkovice A-team had already donned

the historical form of jerseys during pre-match

training. The set included both jerseys and socks and

brown trouser covers, which were supposed to evoke

the leather look of hockey uniforms from more than

half a century ago. The original feature jerseys went

to a public auction after the match.

Kometa Brno, its direct predecessor Rudá Hvězda,

did not operate in the highest competition in 1952

(it was founded in 1953), however, Brno hockey was

represented in the 1951/1952 season in the form

of two teams: Králova Pole and Zbrojovka Brno.

Zbrojovka was one of Vítkovice's rivals in the final

group.

Overall, this special event was a success. HC

VÍTKOVICE RIDERA managed to beat their rival

from Brno 4:2 and the match was watched directly

in the arena by 5,325 enthusiastic spectators.

‘It simply came to our notice then. The celebration

was a great result on the ice as well. The fans enjoyed

the match and we are convinced that the members of

the championship party from 1952 would be proud

of us’, added Janiurek.

Text: redakce

Foto: Petr Kotala

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