Training of the Czech hockey team in the Daugava Arena, May 16, 2023, Riga. Forward Filip Chlapík.
Prague – After a year in the Swiss club Ambri-Piotta, hockey forward Filip Chlapík returns to Sparta, with whom he signed a three-year contract. The 25-year-old participant of the recent World Cup signed a two-year contract with Ambi-Piotta after leaving last year, but in the end chose to return earlier. With Sparta in the 2021/22 season, Chlapík won silver and in the regular season he was the most productive player, the best scorer and scorer.
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“I love Sparta and I always had thoughts of returning,” Chlapík told the club website. For Sparta, which finished third in the regular season last year, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals against champion Třinec, he is the third signing after striker Ondřej Najman from Mladá Boleslav and Canadian defender Aaron Irving from Davos.
“After the departure of David Tomášek, Filip Chlapík brings the necessary quality and creativity. He is one of the top Czechs and we believe that he will continue his great performances in Sparta,” said board member Tomáš Divíšek. The national team forward Tomášek also headed to Färjestad.
“Filip left only a year ago, but we were in frequent contact already in the past season. We know what we can expect from him. He himself has a great desire to experience success in Sparta ,” added sports manager Jaroslav Hlinka.
The guy scored 37 points for 24 goals and 13 assists in 50 games in the Swiss league last season, played 19 games for the national team and collected 13 points (5+8). At the World Cup, where he made his debut, he managed only three duels because he was struggling with the consequences of an injury after a tackle by Slovakian defender Patrik Koch at the beginning of the tournament.
In the 2021/22 season, Chlapík reigned supreme in the extra league with 70 points, 31 goals and 39 assists from 53 games in the regular season. In the playoffs, he had a record of 5+10 from 16 starts. Before that, he only played in the extra league in three games of the previous season and scored once. He also has 57 games and 11 points (5+6) in the NHL for Ottawa, who drafted him in the 2nd round in 2015 in the 48th position. But he mainly started in Belleville in the lower AHL. He finished the 2020/21 season in the Finnish Pelicans Lahti.
“Sparta is a big European club with the highest ambitions. I'm looking forward to being home again,” said Chlapík. He hopes to fulfill the highest goals with her. “The end in the final was very bitter. The title belongs to Sparta and it is one of the things I would very much like to achieve. I am very tempted to win the title for Sparta.”
Prague wanted his return at the end of last seasons. “We have a small baby and another one is on the way. We were dealing with a family situation, but I had a contract for two years and they were happy with me. We were fighting for the playoffs and any kind of release was out of the question,” said Chlapík.
Family and second child played a role in the earlier end of the engagement in Switzerland. “She will be born in about two weeks. I'm really looking forward to it. It will be a little harder than taking care of an only child, but in time it will definitely be great. We will have grandmothers at home and the children will grow up in an environment where we know it well ,” he noted.
In Sparta, he worked under coach Miloslav Hořava, who moved to the role of assistant to new coach Pavel Gross. “I have only heard good things about him so far. Hopefully it will work well and we will have good results. I have experienced Mr. Hořava before, he is a top coach,” added Chlapík. After his departure, Ambri-Piotta signed Swedish forward Jakob Lilja from Dynamo Moscow of the KHL.
