HC Lev in Hradec Králové and Poprad A team named
HC Lev Hradec Králové was founded in 2010 and based in
Hradec Králové,
Bohemia,
Czech Republic, with the intention to join the KHL for the
2010–11 season. However, the
Czech Ice Hockey Association refused to give permission to the club. Therefore, the team was moved to
Poprad,
Slovakia and was finally able to join the KHL for the
2011–12 season. But after only one KHL season, the team was disbanded.
New team in Prague (2012) Late in Lev Poprad's 2011–12 season, a change of owners renewed speculation about a move to
Prague,
Czech Republic. In March 2012, the Czech Ice Hockey Association (ČSLH) granted permission for a KHL team to play in the Czech Republic, and at the end of April, a newly found team with the same name, HC Lev, but as a different organization, officially applied to the KHL to play in Prague. Lev Praha had a working agreement with local
Extraliga club
HC Sparta Praha and the two teams shared
Tipsport Arena. During their two seasons, Lev also played a total of 11 home games at the larger and newer
O2 Arena.
Seasons Lev signed Czech
Josef Jandač as their head coach for the first KHL season, who named
Jiří Novotný as the first team captain. They started the season on 6 September 2012 at home with a 2–1 win against
Dinamo Riga. Lev started strong, and by winning six of their first seven games, they were even leading the Western conference for a while. After the
NHL lockout came into effect in September, they signed
Jakub Voráček,
Jiří Hudler and
Zdeno Chára for the duration of the lockout. Jandač was removed as head coach on 27 October and replaced shortly afterward by
Václav Sýkora.
Achievements Gagarin Cup (1):
2013–14 KHL Western Conference (1):
2013–14 Prague Hockey Cup (1): 2013 ==Season-by-season record==