Piráti Chomutov is a Czech

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

team from

Chomutov Chomutov (; german: Komotau) is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 46,000 inhabitants. There are almost 80,000 inhabitants in the city's wider metropolitan area. The city centre is well preserved and is prote ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. Established as ČSK Chomutov in 1945, the team has played in Chomutov through numerous team name changes and elevations/relegations in the Czechoslovak and Czech hockey leagues. They currently playing in the third level

2nd Czech Republic Hockey League The 2nd Czech Republic Hockey League (or Czech 2.liga) is the third-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic under the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League. It began in 1993. Format From 1993 to 2001 the league was divided into the Western ...

. Their home arena is the Rocknet aréna located in

History

The club was established in 1945 as ČSK Chomutov. In the 1950/1951 season, playing as Sokol Hutě, the team was promoted to the

Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1936 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split. History ...

, where they played until the 1963/1964 season. In 1967, as VTŽ Chomutov, the team was promoted to the highest league again but was relegated the very next year. In 1984 the club was demoted to the third level of hockey in Czechoslovak hockey, the Second National Hockey League. In 1997, as KLH Chomutov, the club bought the license in the First National Hockey League (FNHL) from HC Slovan Ústečtí Lvi. After winning the league in the 2011–12 FNHL season, Piráti Chomutov returned to the top-level league

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga ( cs, Extraliga ledního hokeje, ELH) is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created by the 1993 split of the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League following the breakup of Czechoslovakia. The le ...

. During the play-outs in the 2013-14 season Piráti Chomutov lost and returned to the First National Hockey League. Season 2014/2015 in FNHL was one of the most successful in history. Pirati Chomutov became a winner and after play off returned to the top-level league (season 2015/2016).

1956 airplane disaster

On 24 November 1956, while the team was operating under the name TJ Baník Chomutov ZJF, some members of the team were involved in a fatal airplane accident. A

Czechoslovak Airlines Czech Airlines j.s.c. (abbreviation: ČSA, cz, České Aerolinie, a.s.) is the flag carrier of the Czech Republic. Its head office is located in the Vokovice area of Prague's 6th district and its hub is Václav Havel Airport Prague. The co ...

flight, on an

Ilyushin Il-12 The Ilyushin Il-12 (NATO reporting name: Coach) was a Soviet twin-engine cargo aircraft, developed in the mid-1940s for small and medium-haul airline routes and as a military transport. Design and development The Il-12 was developed as a priva ...

B aircraft, crashed near Eglisau,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Three players, two top club officials and a reporter were among others on board the scheduled flight from Zurich to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, which crashed in fields after an engine failure. All on board perished.Aviation Safety Network Report
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Roster

Updated April 25, 2018

Club names

* 1945 - ČSK Chomutov * 1949 - ZJS spojené ocelárny * 1951 - Sokol Hutě * 1953 - TJ Baník Chomutov ZJF * 1958 - Baník VTŽ Chomutov * 1960 - VTŽ Chomutov * 1991 - Klub ledního hokeje VT VTJ Chomutov * 1996 - KLH Chomutov * 2011 - Piráti Chomutov

References

External links