Oceláři Třinec’s run to the Champions Hockey League Semi-Finals is no accident, as the club from Czech Silesia is one of the best in the Extraliga. Two of the biggest reasons for their success are goaltender Šimon Hrubec and forward Martin Růžička.

Hrubec’s CHL numbers are just phenomenal. He has played in nine of Třinec’s 10 CHL games and won eight of them. In those nine games he has surrendered but nine goals and made 246 saves for a goals-against average of 0.99 and a save percentage of 96.47. Those eye-popping numbers have made him one the five finalists for the NordicBet MVP Trophy.

The 26-year-old netminder is now in his fifth pro season in the “Steelers” net and fourth as the team’s starter. He came into prominence in the 2014/15 season and started it in fine fashion when he recorded the CHL’s first shutout on 21 August in a 7-0 win over SC Bern. That season, he went on to record a goals-against average of 2.00 – the best in the Extraliga – in 37 games, and then backstopped Třinec to a berth in the finals. In 2016-17, he had an even better 1.97 average in 41 games and posted an Extraliga-leading seven shutouts.

As prominent as Hrubec has been in the Třinec net, 32-year-old right winger Martin Růžička has been the face of the club for most of the past decade, apart from a couple of stints in the KHL. When the Steelers won their first, and so far only, championship in 2011, Růžička was their offensive catalyst, scoring a record 17 goals in 18 playoff games. Two years later he made the record books again with 40 goals and 83 points in 52 regular-season games. He’s showing no signs of slowing down this season with 40 points in his first 34 Extraliga games and seven points in nine Extraliga contests. Internationally, he won a gold medal with the Czech Republic at the 2010 World Championship.

Another notable name in the Třinec lineup is captain Lukáš Krajíček, who played 362 NHL games on the defence of the Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers and played in the 2014 Winter Olympics for the Czech Republic. Otherwise, Canadian-born defenceman David Musil is the son of former NHL and Czechoslovak national team d-man František Musil and forwards Vladimír Dravecký and Aron Chmielewski have played in World Championships for Slovakia and Poland, respectively.