Czech Extraliga 2018/2019 Betting Odds: Who Will Lead the Race at the End of the Season?

With the Summer approaching in the northern hemisphere, the ice hockey season is coming to an end. By the beginning of May, there will be a new champion in the Czech Republic. Our Czech Extraliga 2018/2019 betting odds show that HC Oceláři Třinec will be the next champions.

Ice Hockey is probably more popular than football in the Czech Republic, having strong historical importance. The sport began to be part of Bohemians’ life at the turn to the 20th Century.

However, online sportsbook news sites in the Czech Republic describe their style as very different and peculiar. They played with a golf-like swing, balls, and weren’t quite aware of how the actual hockey rink looked like. It is without any surprise, then, that when the national team was invited for the first edition of the Coupe de Chamonix in 1909, they lost all games. But they soon learned the rules and won their first European title in 1911 in Berlin. And in 1947, they became World Champions for the first time (as Czechoslovakia).

During the U.S.S.R., the national team suffered from unexpected events. In 1950, the team was on the way to play against England but was stopped at the airport. The authorities arrested the players for treason and espionage. Their release occurred in 1955 under an amnesty. Yet some players died shortly after due to the forced labor in uranium mines.

As ice hockey is so important in Russia as well, a victory against the socialist state meant a lot to the smaller nations subjugated to their power during the Communist regime. This is why that beating them in 1972 and 1976 in the World Championship was very important.

This way, it is easy to understand how the Extraliga is one of the best in Europe. And just like the Finnish Liiga, a lot of players who are in the NHL started in the Central European country.

This year, HC Kometa Brno – historically the most successful team in the country – is the favorite at online sportsbooks in the Czech Republic. In fact, they were the winners in the past two editions. However, they fell short during the regular season and subsequently, on the playoffs as well. And as there are only two matches of the final left to be disputed, we already know the teams that were relegated and promoted this year: Piráti Chomutov and Rytíři Kladno, respectively.

The best bet at our Czech Extraliga 2018/2019 betting odds is HC Oceláři Třinec

Oceláři Třinec is one of the leading teams in the Extraliga for 10 years now. They won the title in the 2010/2011 season for the first time in their history. Since then that the team has always reached the playoffs and two finals: in 2015, when they also won the regular season, and again last year.

Since 2016, that the team has Lukáš Krajíček as their captain. A very experienced player, he has helped the team to get stronger each year. In addition, they also have the Czech rising-star David Cienciala who had an incredible season last year. He became the second player to score seven points in an Extraliga’s game and broke the record of more assists scored (7). Now, he has scored in the home matches already of the final and will certainly help the team to succeed in the next meetings against HC Bílí Tygři Liberec.

At Unibet Sportsbook, their odds (2.25) are lower, but they are showing a more consistent game in the final matches. This is why our betting preview is favoring them.

HC Bílí Tygři Liberec want to show why they finished first in the regular season

Bílí Tygři Liberec won the regular season, winning the Presidential Cup. Besides, they defeated champions Kometa Brno in the semifinals of the playoffs. They have many reasons to believe they can now win their second title.   

They won their first title in the 2015/2016 season. The team was also runner-up the following year and now wants to keep on making history and put the small town of Liberec on the map of European Ice Hockey. They only became one of the leading teams in recent years, mainly due to the efforts of head coach Filip Pesan. But their goaltender Roman Will has also been essential for the team’s growth.

Bílí Tygři Liberec is surely making things hard for Třinec. They won the last match – with a decisive goal by Tomáš Havlín – showing that this final will be more balanced than initially thought. Three years ago, they also started by losing the first match against Sparta Prague and quickly turned things around. So this is why their odds are 1.60 at Unibet Sportsbook.