Report: Ference to play for Czech team

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Andrew Ference mentioned to CSNNE.com following Tuesdays practice at Harvards Bright Hockey Center that the Czech League was a possibility for him if the lockout dragged on.
Well, it looks like the Czech League is a lot more than a possibility for Ference. According to the team website for HC Mountfield Ceske Budejovice in the Czech League, Ference has already agreed to play for his former Czech Extra League team and will be reporting to Europe at some point in October. Ference will join Radek Martinek as a pair of NHL imports playing for the Czech club while the lockout plays out in North America.
Andrew still needs to deal with some personal issues, so he should arrive around Oct. 7, said Ceske Budejovice Peter Sailer with the assistance of Google translator. We are in personal contact. We were very pleasantly surprised with the fact that the Czech Budejovice for it was a clear priority. In the last phone call he just said that he had forgotten a lot of Czech words which he learned at the last lockout, so they will have a tutor.
Ference skated for Ceske Budejovice in 2004-05 when the NHL lost an entire season to labor issues, and the Bruins defenseman played 31 games for HC Ceske Budejovice and finished with 20 points in a productive offensive role for the Czech Republic club.
He explained his reasoning behind moving to Europe to CSNNE.com on Tuesday.
During the last lockout you saw some guys that stayed behind when others went to Europe or played in the AHL. Those guys fell a step behind the other players when the NHL got started again, and they had a really difficult time catching up to the pace, said Ference. Im in the last year of my deal and I cant afford to just sit around and allow the intensity to dial down in my workouts.
Ference has played portions of the last six seasons with the Bruins after he was dealt to Boston from Calgary, and was Bostons alternate captain along with center Chris Kelly last season.
Like fellow NHL players, Ference will have an 'out clause' in his contract that allows him to return to Boston once the CBA is resolved and the NHL begins the 2012-13 regular season.

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