Martin Straka wins his first career championship

[Tomas]

Straka's HC Pilsen 1929 (he also owns the team) just beat Slavia Prague (series 4:2). Straka will play the first finals series (in any league) of his life at the age of 40.

[relantel]

Go Marty!

[DudeMan2766]

That is pretty awesome. One of the good guys.

[JS©]

definitely a better pic than last year's pic of sad Straka

Spoiler:

[Rylan]

I can't believe he is only 40. I figured he would be much older than that.

[MRandall25]

He looks much older than that

[Gaucho]

Straka played in the 96 Cup Finals, no? I seem to remember him appearing in at least one game, but maybe my memory deceives me.

[relantel]

Straka played in the 96 Cup Finals, no? I seem to remember him appearing in at least one game, but maybe my memory deceives me.

Yes. He was on the Panthers team that upset the Pens in the conf finals.

[Tomas]

Straka played in the 96 Cup Finals, no? I seem to remember him appearing in at least one game, but maybe my memory deceives me.

Ooops... Completely forgot about that...

[Idoit40fans]

Oh I thought the contention was that he hadn't played in those finals. I know he didn't play the whole playoffs.

[relantel]

seems he played game 1 of the finals at least:
http://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscor ... 40COL.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[bh]

He looks much older than that

you ain't kiddin. He really has the Grizzled vet look going on.

[Desiato]

He looks much older than that

Only because he doesn't shave his head or dye his beard. More guys dye their beards than you may think. Gray comes early.

[FreeCandy44]

Hopefully he avoids the weight bench.

[Tomas]

Game 1:
No. 3 HC Skoda Pilsen (Straka, Hollweg,...) @ No. 1 PSG Zlin (Cajanek, Balastik,...)

Pilsen won 3:0. Straka with 2 assists. Game 2 on Wednesday.

Game summary:
http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... _hokej_bem" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Video highlights:
http://www.sport.cz/hokej/extraliga/cla ... aneni.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Tomas]

Game 2:

Pilsen at Zlin 2:3 (SO victory). Series tied 1:1

Straka 1 goal.

Straka looking really grizzled (the second half of the video clip):

http://hokej.idnes.cz/druhe-finale-extr ... 4_hokej_tp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RxBandit66]

He looks much older than that

He does, but I'd be willing to bet that he can still outskate the majority of forwards in the NHL. In terms of passing, he'd still be in the top 10%.

[Tomas]

Game 3 in Pilsen:

Zlin 3 - Pilsen 0.

Zlin leads the series 2:1

[IMFC]

Sign Straka 4 Life

[Tomas]

Game 4 (in Pilsen):

Zlin 2 - Pilsen 5

Straka 1+0.

Series (best of 7) tied 2:2

Game 5 will be played on Wednesday in Zlin

[Godric]

Straka was my favorite player when I was a kid. Just loved the way the guy played. I always tried to be like him.

[relantel]

thanks for the updates, Tomas! Greatly appreciated

[Tomas]

thanks for the updates, Tomas! Greatly appreciated

Sure, you are welcome. I am not a fan of either of the teams, but I am rooting for Straka to finally win one title to conclude his great career. Him and Jagr are pretty much the last active players I have known personally, and while I respect Jagr (especially lately), I really liked Straka. One reason was that he never waited for me to greet him, but if he noticed me first, he immediately said "hello" himself. That un-star, unassuming, polite behavior goes a long way in my book. (I like to think it was NOT because despite the same age, I got a good head start on Straka in terms of graying and balding - even in my 20's ).

[Incidentally, among the members of media, the similar level of politeness has always been expressed mainly by - none other than Mark Madden.]

[Tomas]

Game 5:

Pilsen at Zlin: 2:1

Straka with an assist

Pilsen leads the series 3:2 and can win the league title at home on Friday.

Interestingly, Pilsen had so many injured D-men that they suited their defense coach Jaroslav Spacek (who only played in some old-timer rec league during the last year). The tem told him to suit up yesterday, and Spacek said he felt so nervous that he could not sleep last night. He ended with the assist on the GWG.

[MRandall25]

Is that the same Jaroslav Spacek from the Montreal Canadiens?