Czech winger Adam Raška, 23, has signed a two-year contract with Sparta Prague, the Czech Extraliga club announced on Tuesday. Raška has spent most of the last six seasons in North America playing junior hockey, and in the AHL [http://thn.com/ahl] and NHL. “I’ve played for four years in America on teams that were mostly losing,” Raška was quoted in the club’s announcement [https://www.hcsparta.cz/clanek.asp?id=Ofenzivu-posili-durazny-utocnik-Adam-Raska-17035]. “Sparta is chasing the title and I want to win again.” Indeed, over the past six seasons, Sparta has never finished worse than third in the regular season, including two first-place finishes, but only has made the finals once in that time and has not won an Extraliga title since 2006-07. Last season, Sparta finished first in the regular season but lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Kometa Brno [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/kometa-brno-returns-to-top-of-czech-extraliga]. This off-season, however, has seen the departure of high-profile veterans Vladim [https://thehockeynews.com/international/vladimir-sobotka-changes-czech-teams]ír Sobotka [https://thehockeynews.com/international/vladimir-sobotka-changes-czech-teams], Michal Kempný [https://thehockeynews.com/international/ex-nhl-d-man-moves-from-czechia-to-sweden] and Miikka Salomäki [https://thehockeynews.com/international/finnish-former-predator-returns-home]. Despite these players leaving, Raška joins a Sparta team that includes ex-NHLers Mark Pysyk [https://thehockeynews.com/international/former-sabres-first-rounder-signs-with-sparta-prague], Devin Shore, Roman Horák, Michal Řepík, Filip Chlapík, Tomáš Hýka and goaltender Josef Kořenář. Kometa Brno Returns To Top Of Czech Extraliga [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/f3ee7905-7c0f-45ee-ad89-370b68a4e998.jpeg] Kometa Brno Returns To Top Of Czech Extraliga Kometa Brno is once again the champion of the Czech Extraliga, defeating Dynamo Pardubice 3-0 in the seventh and decisive game of the finals on Tuesday night in Pardubice. It was the second series in a row that the team won a seventh game on the road. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/latest-news/kometa-brno-returns-to-top-of-czech-extraliga] “We’ve been building a new, younger team since the end of the season,” said Sparta sports director Tomáš Divíšek. “We’ve been in close contact with Adam for over a month – we were very interested in him.” Born in Kopřivnice in the northeastern part of the Czech Republic close to the Polish border, Raška developed in the Oceláři Třinec club, playing 11 Extraliga games with the club. He went overseas to play junior hockey for the QMJHL [http://thn.com/qmjhl]’s Rimouski Océanic in 2019-20 and was drafted the following summer by the San Jose Sharks [http://thn.com/sanjose] in the seventh round, 201st overall. Between 2021 and 2024, Raška played 13 NHL games for the Sharks and Minnesota Wild [http://thn.com/wild], recording no points and seven penalty minutes – a minor and a fighting major. Last season, he had 14 points and 83 penalty minutes in 56 AHL games for the Iowa Wild. Describing his game, the 5-foot-10, 178-pound Raška said, “My biggest advantage is being such a pest on the ice – making the opponent’s game uncomfortable and making room for our guys to play better.” Former Sabres First-Rounder Signs With Sparta Prague [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/b030c8ae-d135-417b-85fa-0f9f60c2a71e.jpeg] Former Sabres First-Rounder Signs With Sparta Prague Canadian defenseman Mark Pysyk, 33, has signed a one-year contract with Sparta Prague, the Czech Extraliga club announced on Thursday. The former NHLer is coming off a season where he helped SaiPa to the Finnish Liiga finals. [https://thehockeynews.com/international/former-sabres-first-rounder-signs-with-sparta-prague]
