Czechia

The Czech Republic (IPA: /ˈtʃɛk riˈpʌblɨk/) (Czech: Česká republika) also known as Czechia (IPA: /ˈtʃɛkɪə/) (Czech: Česko, IPA: [ʧɛsko]) is a landlocked country in Central Europe and a member state of the European Union. The country has borders with Poland to the north, Germany to the northwest and west, Austria to the south, and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague (Czech: Praha), a major tourist destination.

History of hockey in Czechia
Ice hockey was first introduced in Prague in 1905. Three years later, the first hockey clubs were formed in Prague, and the national Hockey Union was created. The same year, Bohemia (later Czechoslovakia) joined the IIHF becoming the second member. When Bohemia became a part of Czechoslovakia after World War I, it was readmitted to the IIHF under its new name in 1920.



International
The Czech men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of the Czech Republic. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world, currently ranked sixth by the IIHF, behind Finland. It is controlled by the Czech Ice Hockey Association. Czech U20, U18, Womens, and Womens U18 teams have also participated in the world championships.

The Czechs won the gold medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics and won three straight gold medals at the world championships from 1999 to 2001. In the next three years, the team did not get a medal at the world championships — not even home at the 2004 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships held in Prague and Ostrava, thus keeping the "world championship home ice curse" alive. But the following year, the Czechs won gold at the 2005 tournament, the only world championship where, due to the 2004–05 NHL lockout, all NHL players were available to participate.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics, the Czechs won a bronze medal, defeating Russia 3–0 (roster) in the bronze medal game. At the 2006 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships, the Czechs won silver, falling to Sweden in the final. The Czech Republic has 72,075 players officially enrolled in organized hockey (0.7% of its population). Czech Republic won the 2010 World Championships in Germany.

Notable players
Notable Czech players
 * Michal Rozsíval
 * Marek Malík
 * Petr Průcha
 * Martin Straka
 * Jaromir Jagr
 * Dominik Hasek
 * Ivan Hlinka
 * Robert Lang
 * Patrik Elias
 * Milan Hejduk
 * Vaclav Prospal
 * Bobby Holik
 * Tomas Kaberle
 * Michal Pivonka
 * Martin Erat
 * Petr Nedved
 * Jan Hrdina
 * Petr Sykora
 * Jiri Hrdina
 * Jiri Fischer
 * Tomas Plekanec
 * David Vyborny
 * Radek Dvorak
 * Roman Hamrlik
 * Filip Kuba
 * Miroslav Frycer
 * [[Pavel Kubina
 * Petr Svoboda
 * Jakub Voracek
 * Richard Smehlik
 * Frantisek Musil
 * Karel Pillar
 * Tomas Vincour
 * Tomas Vokoun
 * Michal Jordan

National Teams

 * Czech Republic men's national ice hockey team
 * Czech Republic men's national junior ice hockey team
 * Czech Republic men's national U-18 ice hockey team
 * Czech Republic women's national ice hockey team
 * Czech Republic women's national U-18 ice hockey team