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Player of the Month

The European Hockey.Net European Player of the Month is awarded to the player with the most oustanding performance over the course of the month

Nominations are collected at the end of each month, then a vote by the site's admin team decides the winner.

March 2007 - Petr Sykora

For 28-year old Petr Sykora it was soon clear he would become a hockey player. The Pardubice-born player, not to be confused with the current Edmonton Oilers forward, had a perfect role model in his brother Michal who is five years older than him. Together they played for the local HC Pardubice at the turn of the millenium.

So far for the comparisons.

At the time Michal was just about to crack the defensive line-up of the first team and was offered a chance to North-America, young Petr was scoring goals in bunches amongst the peers of his age. Whilst Michal Sykora quickly climbed up the ranks to register nearly 250 NHL games, Petr decided that there's no place like home. A single year across the pond in 1999-2000 had seen him play mostly in the AHL. Sykora didn't like what he was seeing and returned back home in Pardubice with a bag full of experiences. It didn't take him long to become a premier marksman in the Czech league. His return season saw him just bag seven goals, but the following season Sykora exploded for 26 goals in 47 games and his name was set.

Petr Sykora always focused on where to bury the puck
Photo: Jan Beneš - www.sporting-photo.com

Despite receiving several offers from abroad, Sykora pledged his future to Pardubice which had emerged as a strong force in the Czech league in the meantime. At the start of the 2005-06 season, Sykora was seduced for another North-American attempt though. Playing on a mediocre Washington Capitals team Sykora soon realized he had made a mistake and he decided to return home after just 10 games (4 points) where Sykora continued his point-per game scoring again.

The past season is one that will be marked with a red pencill in his book. Peter Sykora became Super Sykora as he broke all personal records. In 50 games, he scored 37 goals and notched 53 points. Enough to win him the Czech league scoring title.

In the post-season he got rid of another enigma. The playoff-funk. Until this season he scored just 13 goals in 61 playoff games for Pardubice. Although Pardubice was eliminated in the finals against Sparta Prague, Sykora was devastating. No less than 12 goals and 6 assists in 18 games earned him yet another scoring trophy as consolation for the missed cup. Furthermore he was awarded the League's MVP trophy.

Icing on the cake for Sykora was his invitation to the national team. Having played in his homeland the coaching staff has often overlooked him for World Championships with the heavy loaded forwards available in the country. Fnially being selected to play for him team in Russia, Sykora did not waste the opportunity and scored five points from 7 games to become one of the few highlights of a mediocre performing Czech team which finished just in seventh place.

In the month of March, Sykora was awarded the European Hockey.Net Player of the Month Award for his stellar post-season performance. He led his team to the final after almost single-handedly eliminating Pardubice's opponents in the Quarter-Finals (Znojmo Orli) and Semi-Finals (Ceské Budejovice). In 12 games he scored 10 goals and had 4 assists.

Although his heroics did not win him and his beloved home team the playoffs, Sykora is a worthy winner to join the previous set of winners of this award.

Related links

Petr Sykora's profile

Michal Sykora's profile

Czech regular season review.

Czech playoffs review.