| HC Lev Praha | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname | Lions, Pride |
| City | Prague,Czech Republic |
| League | Kontinental Hockey League |
| Conference | Western |
| Division | Bobrov |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Folded | 2014 |
| Home arena | Tipsport Arena (capacity: 13,150) O2 Arena (capacity: 17,360) |
| Colours | |
| Owner(s) | Sportovní holding Praha |
| President | Evgeni Myshkovskyi |
| General manager | Rashid Khabibulin |
| Affiliates | Sparta Praha (Czech Extraliga),HC Stadion Litoměřice (Czech 1. Liga) |
 | |
| Franchise history | |
| Hockey Club Lev Praha | |
Hockey Club Lev Praha (stylized asHC LEV Praha) was a professionalice hockey team located inPrague,Czech Republic, which played in theKontinental Hockey League (KHL) in the2012–13 and2013–14 seasons.
In their two seasons played, Lev made theGagarin Cup playoffs both times. In 2012–13, they finished 7th in the Western Conference and were swept in four straight games byHC CSKA Moscow in the first round. In 2013–14, they finished 3rd in the West, then they sweptKHL Medveščak Zagreb in four, outlastedHC Donbass in six and beatLokomotiv Yaroslavl in five to becomeWestern Conference Champions. In the Gagarin Cup Finals, they facedEastern Conference ChampionsMetallurg Magnitogorsk. The series went to a seventh and decisive game before Metallurg prevailed and won the Gagarin Cup on home ice 7–4.
Lev's home attendance in the 2012–13 regular season averaged 7,161 spectators per game, making it the highest-attended Prague hockey club and the sixth highest in the KHL.[1] Lev holds the record for the five largest indoor home crowds in KHL history, with a record of 17,073 attending Game 4 of the Gagarin Cup Finals atO2 Arena on April 24, 2014.[2] However, after two seasons, because of financial problems caused by the withdrawing of two major sponsors, Lev did not play in the2014–15 KHL season.[3] According to shareholders, this decision did not rule out the possibility of the KHL returning to Prague in the future.[4] However, the team never returned to the ice.
A team namedHC Lev Hradec Králové was founded in 2010 and based inHradec Králové,Bohemia,Czech Republic, with the intention to join the KHL for the2010–11 season. However, theCzech Ice Hockey Association refused to give permission to the club.[5] Therefore, the team was moved toPoprad,Slovakia and was finally able to join the KHL for the2011–12 season. But after only one KHL season, the team was disbanded.
Late in Lev Poprad's 2011–12 season, a change of owners renewed speculation about a move toPrague,Czech Republic. In March 2012, the Czech Ice Hockey Association (ČSLH) granted permission for a KHL team to play in the Czech Republic,[6] and at the end of April, a newly found team with the same name, HC Lev, but as a different organization, officially applied to the KHL to play in Prague.[7]
Lev Praha had a working agreement with localExtraliga clubHC Sparta Praha and the two teams sharedTipsport Arena. During their two seasons, Lev also played a total of 11 home games at the larger and newerO2 Arena.
Lev signed CzechJosef Jandač as their head coach for the first KHL season, who namedJiří Novotný as the first team captain. They started the season on 6 September 2012 at home with a 2–1 win againstDinamo Riga.[8] Lev started strong, and by winning six of their first seven games, they were even leading the Western conference for a while.[9] After theNHL lockout came into effect in September, they signedJakub Voráček,Jiří Hudler andZdeno Chára for the duration of the lockout.[10] Jandač was removed as head coach on 27 October and replaced shortly afterward byVáclav Sýkora.
KHL Western Conference(1):2013–14
Prague Hockey Cup(1): 2013[11][12]
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTW = Overtime/shootout wins, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against
| Season | GP | W | OTW | OTL | L | Pts | GF | GA | Finish | Playoffs |
| 2012–13 | 52 | 23 | 1 | 5 | 23 | 76 | 132 | 133 | 4th, Bobrov | Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0–4 (CSKA Moscow) |
| 2013–14 | 54 | 23 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 99 | 149 | 107 | 2nd, Bobrov | Lost inGagarin Cup Finals, 3–4 (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) |
Note: This list does not include captains from the HC Lev Poprad.
Note: This list does not include head coaches from the HC Lev Poprad.
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