Tomáš Vlasák will receive the highest ovation from rival fans when he arrives as an opponent on Friday, sport.cz reported.
No, the ceremony takes place when HC Škoda Plzeň hosts BK Mladá Boleslav at the Logspeed CZ arena, where Plzeň will raise Vlasák’s jersey to the rafters before puck drop. Vlasák currently serves as the sports director for Mladá Boleslav.
“Sometime in early October, Martin Straka called me and told me. It’s a great honor for me,” Vlasák told sport.cz.
“This is the first and last time I’ll experience something like this. I don’t know what to expect from it. To tell you the truth, I’m not really looking for attention. But it will be something special and I’m looking forward to it,” said Vlasák.
Seven Seasons in Pilsen
The Prague-born forward arrived in western Bohemia in 2007 with a resume boasting a hat-trick of gold medals from the IIHF World Championships. Plzeň scouts spotted the productive winger playing for Linköping in Sweden and convinced him to return to the Czech Republic.
“It was a pretty easy decision. At that time, the Plzeň management came to see me in Sweden, and that made a big impression on me. I wanted to return to the Czech Republic because the children were already of school age. The offer made sense to me,” Vlasák told sport.cz.
What started as a two-year contract turned into a seven-year stay as a player. Vlasák skated in 384 matches for Plzeň and accumulated 360 points, split into 148 goals and 212 assists. In the 2010-11 campaign, he earned the league scoring title and finished as the top producer in the extraliga.
Chemistry with Martin Straka
Vlasák initially struggled to find his footing upon arriving in Plzeň. Everything clicked when Martin Straka returned to the club a year later to form an elite offensive pairing.
“I didn’t do very well at the beginning. But a year later Martin Straka came back and we’ve been playing together ever since. That was an amazing time,” Vlasák told sport.cz.
The two veterans enjoyed a rare telepathic understanding on the ice despite only crossing paths briefly with the national team at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.
“We played the first match in preparation for Slavia. I said to myself that I felt as if we had played together our entire careers. I knew where he would be, where I could score and what to expect from him. It was something incredible,” said Vlasák.
Historic Extraliga Title
The partnership culminated in the 2013 postseason when Plzeň captured its first and only extraliga championship in club history. Straka, acting as captain and majority owner, scored the decisive goal in the second overtime of Game 7 against Zlín.
“Mentally, it was the hardest match of my career. I already felt that I probably wouldn’t experience another final, so I had my last chance to win the extra league title,” Vlasák told sport.cz.
“I value the success even more because it was the club’s first and still only title. During the season, no one could have thought about it. We had already won the regular season three years earlier, but then were eliminated in the quarterfinals. We remained humble and respectful,” he added.
Transition to Management
Straka hung up his skates in 2014 to run the club from the front office. Vlasák spent one final playing season with his boyhood club, HC Slavia Praha, before returning to Plzeň to partner with Straka off the ice.
“We agreed on a completely fair deal. Martin wanted to quit, I wanted one more season. So he waited for me for a year and then we started working together in new positions,” Vlasák told sport.cz regarding his hire as sports manager.
He spent nine seasons managing the Plzeň roster on a modest budget, securing three bronze medals before moving to Mladá Boleslav in 2024. Despite changing clubs, his bond with Plzeň and Martin Straka remains strong.
“It was and still is a second home for me. I still have a lot of friends there, both inside and outside the club,” Vlasák told sport.cz.