PRAGUE – Next Tuesday, Sparta Prague will face defending champion Frolunda Gothenburg in the final of the Champions Hockey League in Gothenburg, Sweden. One of Sparta’s hottest players right now is right winger Michal Repik, who has three goals and three assists in the team's last four Czech Extraliga games.

The season didn’t start out well for Repik, playing only two games for the KHL’s Traktor Chelyabinsk, then not debuting with Sparta until late December. After being held pointless in his first two games, he has had 10 points in his last 11.

“It was pretty hard the first couple of games because first it was the shoulder and then hepatitis,” he said of the ailments that kept him on the sidelines for the first half of the season. “It was pretty hard for me, but now I’m getting back into shape and finding the net again. Lately I feel pretty good.”

Repik has fit right in on Sparta’s top line, playing with veteran captain Jaroslav Hlinka and Petr Vrana.

“I really enjoy playing with them. They are good, offensive players. They’ve played well together all season, so I’m just glad I’ve been able to fit in with them. Hlinka’s such a great passer – today he made a great pass to me that beat three guys. And Vrana, we know each other because we played together with (KHL team) Lev Prague, so I know a little bit what he’ll be doing on the ice, which maybe helps.”

On Friday night, the trio figured ino on both of Sparta’s goals in a 4-2 loss to HC Olomouc, ending the team’s three-game winning streak.

“It was a pretty hard game,” the 28-year-old said after the loss to Olomouc. “They came here to play defence – that’s what a lot of teams do when they come to this building, and we didn’t find a way to beat them. We turned over a lot of pucks at the blueline, so we have to play better defence.”

Sparta is currently in third place in the Extraliga standings. In their recent winning streak, they beat Bili Tygri Liberec, Ocelari Trinec and Mountfield Hradec Kralove – the teams ranked first, second and fourth. Olomouc is 12th in the 14-team league.

“Teams that play more of an up-and-down game we have less trouble with,” said Repik, trying to explain why his team has more success against better teams. “We’ve been playing pretty well. We just have some problems against these types of teams that sit back and play defence, and we need to find a way to beat them.”

That might explain why the team has had so much success in the Champions Hockey League this season. On their path to the final, they’ve dispatched of Karpat Oulu, HV71 Jonkoping, SC Bern and the Vaxjo Lakers. They’ve been especially successful in Sweden, winning in Karlstad, Jonkoping and Vaxjo. That record will really be put to the test on Tuesday, when they’ll try to beat perhaps the best team in Sweden and all of Europe.

“We know it’s coming quickly, but right now we’re not talking about it in the dressing room,” he said of the final. “On Monday we fly up to Sweden, and I think we’ll practise and go over some video on them. We’ll be ready when the time comes.”

Speaking about Frolunda, Repik said: “We have a huge amount of respect for that team because they’ve been in the final the last two years. We know they’re a good team, but at the same time we feel pretty confident. We’ve beaten some good teams, both in Europe and in our own league.”

Although Repik has not been a major contributor to Sparta’s CHL ride this season, only getting into the lineup for the two semi-final games against Vaxjo, he has a fair bit of experience playing in different countries.

He played junior hockey for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, where he won a Memorial Cup in 2007, then split four seasons between the Florida Panthers and AHL affiliates Rochester Americans and San Antonio Rampage. Since returning to Europe in 2012 he’s played in Finland, Switzerland and Russia, and at home in the Czech Republic.

Last season he played in his first IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship after winning a domestic title with Liberec. He had nine points in eight CHL games as the “White Tigers” advanced to the quarter-finals, where they lost to HC Davos.

“They’re great games, especially once you advance to the quarter-finals and semi-finals, you’re usually playing against great teams,” he stated. “The Champions League is great for us because it pushes us to another level and makes us a better team.”

The Frolunda Gothenburg vs. Sparta Prague final will be played on Tuesday at 19:05. For more information visit www.championshockeyleague.net.

DEREK O’BRIEN