While Americans were stuffing themselves with bland turkey, it was life-as-usual for the rest of the world and the Czech/Slovak Extraleagues.

1. Jiri Fischer made his long-awaited debut for the Liberec White Tigers and the wait was worth it as he scored the winning goal in a 3-0 pounding of Plzen. Ales Kotalik returned after a 6-week hiatus due to a knee injury, but was forced to leave in the 3rd period after experiencing even more pain in the same knee.


2. UBC (University of British Columbia) grad Robert Filc (son of Slovakian national team head coach Jan Filc) played his first ever game in the Czech Extraliga and let in 4 goals in 46 minutes of relief work. I believe Filc is the first ever Canadian University player to ever play a game in the Extraliga, but don't hold me to that. It's amazing to think anyone that came out of UBC could make it to any decent level of pro hockey in Europe or North America.

3. In case you were worried about those poor NHL players during the lockout, it seems the Canadians won't have to pay taxes on their lockout pay, according to this Sportsnet article. PHEW! For a minute, I thought these guys were just regular guys like you and me :)

4. Poor Lukas Mensator got shelled for 9 goals in a 9-2 loss to Vsetin. Karlovy Vary scored the first 2 goals, then let in the next 9! Mensator was left in net for the entire game, and didn't pull a Patrick-Roy "I'll never play for you again" rant.

5. After an initial spike in attendance, it looks like the Slovak Extraliga isn't really benefitting from the lockout as much as I expected. 4 of the 5 games from yesterday had attendance figures under 2,000! At least the Czech Extraliga has strong attendance with the long list of NHLers in their borders.

6. Andrew Ference to Budweiser City? There are some rumours that Ceske Budejovice (1st division team where Prospal, Dvorak, and Martinek are playing) wants to sign Andrew Ference to start with the team in December. I'll keep an eye on this.

Now, to the stats...

CZECHIA:
Btw, Somik had 2 assists and +1 in that 9-2 shelling of Mensator. I forgot to include his stats in the spreadsheet. D'oh!


SLOVAKIA: