ČEZ Aréna - covered winter stadium

Prague, September 2007 Seeing the most promising upcoming world hockey stars in the flesh is hardly something most people can do every day. Sports fans and talent seekers will have this rare opportunity here in the Czech Republic later this year. The 2008 World U20 Hockey Championship, the most prestigious and popular sports event of its type, will take place from 26 December to 5 January 2008 in Pardubice and Liberec.

The best young hockey players from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Canada, Kazakhstan, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland and USA will appear on the ice rinks of ČEZ Arena Pardubice and Tipsport Arena Liberec. The group A and group B matches will start in Liberec and Pardubice stadiums on 26 December. The final match will take place in front of the Pardubice audience on 5 January 2008.

The use of words such as prodigy or upcoming star is not far-fetched. The World U20 Championships were attended by virtually all of the best hockey players in the world, including Wayne Gretzky, Dominik Hašek, Jaromír Jágr, Peter Forsberg, Sidney Prosby and Alexander Ovechkin. And the tradition continues this year. The Czech team is pinning its hopes on Jiří Tlustý and Michael Frolík, Alexei Cherepanov will lead the Russian forwards, the Canadians will rely on John Tavares, Kyle Turris and Angel Deposit and the American team will bring the number one from this year’s NHL draft – James Van Riemsdyke.

This is the third time the Czech Republic has hosted the championship since its beginning in 1977. The Czech team has won the gold twice – in 2000 and 2001. With a total count of 14 medals (including those won by the national team of Czechoslovakia) the Czech Republic ranks as the third most successful team in the history of the championship, surpassed only by Canada and Russia.

For a list of matches, detailed information about teams, statistics and interviews with players, please visit the official championship website at www.msj2008.cz. You can get your tickets for Pardubice matches by emailing tickets@msj2008.cz, or order tickets to the Liberec stadium at www.ticketpro.cz