Slovenian hockey (WORLD.OHF.CZ)

"The championship is closed" - were the last words of IIHF representative, Mr. Kurt Berglund, and all before that is in the past. The future is dreamy: SLOVENIA in the Elite division of world hockey. We are going to Sweden next year.

Slovenia are the phenomenen of the hockey world. We have 935 registered players from seniors to hockey schools. In Slovenia are 8 teams (only 2 professional) in the senior championship, 5 teams in the womens' championship, 7 teams in the Junior U18 championship and 7 teams in the midget championship. We have only 7 covered ice rinks, until now one of them was in the open.

All those years since independence we dreamt about group A of world hockey and always missed a little bit. In 1998 we had a great chance but we missed out on qualifing for group A and then Slovenian hockey collapsed. Internal fights between the two best teams (Olimpija and Jesenice) resulted in the exclusion of Jesenice from the championship. Hockey in Slovenia after that decision fell into an abyss. A lack of spectators resulted in a lack of money which brought us to the point of necessary rebuilding. Teams started to play with their own junior players and no longer with expensive imports. This season interest in hockey is bigger than two years ago. We could see a lot of good young players play and some excellent matches. The work with young players is resulting in both Juniors national teams U18 and U20 able to win promotion to a higher level of the world championships (Div.1). A lot of young players also played for the Slovenian seniors.

This season the head coach of team Slovenia is Matjaz Sekelj, former HK Olimpija player and head coach. He implemented an extensive national team program. Team Slovenia played 15 friendly games this season against Russia, Poland, France, Austria, Italy, Netherlands and Hungary. Most of the national team players came from the Slovenian championship. Eight players played in Europe, Canada and the USA. Unfortunately 2 very good players missed the competition as they played in the ECHL Play-Offs. The one and only Team Slovenia goal for this season was winning the World Championship - Div.1.

The World Championship came. During Slovenian games the audience were apprehensive. Three national teams fought for first place in this group - Kazakhstan, Great Britain and Slovenia. First two days all three teams played against weaker opponents and won. In the third day of competition Slovenia played against Great Britain. This was the first big game for both teams. Spectacular hockey was played in front of 5500 people without a winner being decided. Score was 3-3. After a day break Slovenia played against Kazakhstan. What a game - it's been a long time since such excellent hockey has been seen. Slovenia won 3-1 in front of 5500 people. Final day brought a decision about first place. Great Britain beat Kazakstan 11-2, which many regarded as suspicious, so it was down to Slovenia to win by 12 goals if they wanted to win the gold medal. In front of a full Hala Tivoli Slovenia played outstanding hockey and beat Estonia 16-0. Joy and happiness was felt in the whole of Slovenia. I was the first time in our hockey history we´d play in group A.

Team Slovenia Roster was:

REDDICK Stan    GK 12.06.1969 WICHITA THUNDER (CHL, Usa)
GLAVIC Gaber    GK 11.03.1978 HK ACRONI Jesenice 
MOHORIC Klemen  GK 25.05.1975 HK OLIMPIJA 

1st line
BRODNIK Andrej  LD 04.05.1970 HK OLIMPIJA 
SAHRAJ Valerij  RD 20.05.1965 HK OLIMPIJA
TISLAR Toni     LW 09.05.1967 HK ACRONI Jesenice
VNUK Tomaz       C 11.04.1970 HK OLIMPIJA
POLONCIC Gregor RW 05.02.1981 HK OLIMPIJA

2nd line 
BERIBAK Igor      LD 18.05.1964 HK OLIMPIJA 
CIGLENECKI Robert RD 17.07.1974 HK OLIMPIJA
ZUPANCIC Nik      LW 03.10.1968 HK OLIMPIJA
JAN Ivo            C 03.04.1975 HK ACRONI Jesenice
KONTREC Dejan     RW 23.01.1970 HK OLIMPIJA

3rd line
VUKCEVIC Borut    LD 19.01.1973 HK ACRONI Jesenice
REBOLJ Miha       RD 22.09.1977 KARLOVY VARY (Extraliga, Cze)
RODMAN Marcel     LW 25.09.1981 PETERBOROUGH PETES (OHL, Can)
KRAJNC Gregor      C 27.01.1976 MIAMI OHIO Univ. (CCHA, Usa)
EMERSIC Blaz      RW 10.10.1980 HK OLIMPIJA

4th line
ZAJC Bojan        LD 07.11.1965 HK OLIMPIJA
DURAKOVIC Davor   RD 31.07.1981 FLIN FLON BOMBERS (SJHL, Can)
POR Grega         LW 03.10.1977 HK ACRONI Jesenice
CERAR Matevz       C 24.09.1974 HK SLAVIJA M OPTIMA
ROZIC Peter       RW 17.02.1974 HK OLIMPIJA

Head Coach:     SEKELJ Matjaz
Assist. Coach:  VIDMAR Andrej
Assist. Coach:  PRUSNIK Darko

Slovenian Hockey

(29-07-00 ada) We want the WORLD(.OHF) and we want it now! :- ) You can get the information about ice hockey all over the world. Today another new country is posted at this site - Slovenia. 1998 was a very successful year for Slovenia, but then things went downhill. However, Slovenia has some good prospects for the future. What about Miha Rebolj playing for Sparta Prague, Czech league champion 2000? The article below will give you a better clue.

Author: © Waxus
Date: 29-07-00
Corrected by: Emma
Other languages: Czech (by Vykuk), French (by Jack Barron)

Slovenia is a young country. It was formed in 1991 and before that it was part of the former Yugoslavia. In the former Yugoslavia Slovenia was the home of ice hockey. Slovenian teams and players were dominant in the former Yugoslavian Hockey League. They also represented about 90% of the former Yugoslavian national team (in all selections). In fact it is probably easier to say that Slovenia was the former Yugoslavian national team.

The first hockey game in Slovenia was played in 1929 between Ilirija and Kamnik. The first international game was played in Ljubljana (the Slovenia's capital) in 1932, between Ilirija and an Austrian team, KAC from Klagenfurt. Two years later Ilirija played the Romanian national team.
1990 was the year when Slovenian players played for the Yugoslavian national team for the last time. During this time the Yugoslavian national team won Pool C of the World Championships. A year later Slovenia became a sovereign country but was unable to compete in Pool B of 1991's World Championships because it was not yet a member of the IIHF. Slovenia was accepted into the IIHF on May 6th 1992.
Slovenia started out in pool C and made 2nd place in 1997. 1998 was an outstanding year for Slovenian Hockey; we won 2nd place in Pool B and made 3rd place in a qualifier for the 1999 IIHF Pool A World Championships. In 1999's Pool B, Slovenia took 5th place, and a year later they took 7th.

In Slovenia there are 957 registered players between 10 teams. Slovenia has six ice hockey arenas and one outside rink. Between 1991 and 1998 ice hockey was the top sport in Slovenia, but in just two years it fell from 1st down to 5th place. The Championship is no longer deemed interesting. Throughout all these years (in the former Yugoslavia as well) the play-off final has always been between HK Acroni Jesenice and HK Olimpija! The main reason however is the lack of financial support. Between 1991 and 1998 there was a lot of money around for hockey. Olimpija and Acroni Jesenice iced good foreign and home players, which made games interesting for the spectators (about 5000 per game), but our mistake was allowing 6 foreign players to play in each team. Consequently the young players were forgotten and lot of them left the game. Some of the young players went to the USA or Canada and some of the older players went to other European teams.

The upcoming season will be crucial for Slovenian hockey. The teams don´t have a lot of money so they'll be forced to play the younger players and there'll be no more imports.
Olimpija, Jesenice, Bled, Triglav and Slavija are all teams with good young players and I hope that the upcoming season will be as more interesting than the previous two.

SLOVENIAN TEAMS

HK ACRONI JESENICE (Jesenice): the team with the longest and most successful history of all Slovenian and former Yugoslavian ice hockey clubs. With over 50 years of history they have won 28 national championships and contributed around 50% of all national team players that competed for the former Yugoslavia and now Slovenia. They're based in Jesenice. They've played in the Continental Cup and Alpine League since 1991. This year they'll play in the IEL. They have 124 registered players.
HK OLIMPIJA (Ljubljana): Last year's most successful Slovenian team in home and international championships. They've won 6 Slovenian championships and 8 national championships in the former Yugoslavia. They contributed around 50% of all national team players that competed for the former Yugoslavia and now Slovenia. They are based in Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana. They've played in the Continental Cup and Alpine League since 1991. This year they'll play in the IEL. They have 197 registered players. HK SLAVIJA MERCATOR OPTIMA (Ljubljana): They also come from Ljubljana and are the only team in Slovenia to have an outside ice rink. They have 99 registered players.
HK BLED (Bled): They come from Bled and have 139 registered players. Between 1991 and 1997 they played in the Alpine league.
HK TRIGLAV (Kranj): They come from Kranj and have 118 registered players.
HK JESENICE (Jesenice): The farm team of HK ACRONI JESENICE. They have 64 registered players.
HK TIVOLI (Ljubljana): The farm team of HK OLIMPIJA.
HK CELJE (Celje): They come from Celje. The Club has a lot of financial problems. They have 82 registered players.
HK MARIBOR (Maribor): Last season's HK OLIMPIJA farm team, they now play only in the junior leagues.

SLOVENIAN PLAYERS IN EUROPE

 1. ANDREJ BRODNIK  D  IK OLOFSTROMS (Sweden)
 2. ELVIS BESLAGIC  D  RATINGER ICE ALIENS (Germany)
 3. LUKA SIMSIC     G  RATINGER ICE ALIENS (Germany)
 4. IVO JAN         F  HERMES KOKKOLA (Finland) - probably
 5. MIHA REBOLJ     D  HC SPARTA (Czech Republic)
 6. GABER GLAVIC    G  not decided yet
 7. NIK ZUPANCIC    F  not decided yet

SLOVENIAN PLAYERS IN USA AND CANADA

1. BLAZ EMERSIC     F  BORDER CITY BANDITS (USA - CHL)
2. MARCEL RODMAN    F  PETERBOROUGH PETES (CAN - OHL)
3. TOMAZ RAZINGAR   F  PEORIA RIVERMEN (USA - ECHL)
4. EDO TERGLAV      F  MONTREAL ROCKETS (CAN - QMJHL)
5. JURE PENKO       G  GREEN BAY GAMBLERS (USA - USHL)
6. PETER ROZIC      F  ARKANSAS RIVERBLADES (USA - ECHL)
7. DEJAN VARL       F  PHOENIX MUSTANGS (USA - WCHL)
8. ZIGA PETAC       F  NEWMARKET HURRICANES (CAN - OPJAHL)
9. MATIC KRALJ      F  SARNIA STEEPLEJACK BEES (CAN - WJBHL)
10. DAVOR DURAKOVIC D  FLIN FLON BOMBERS (CAN - SJHL)
11. ALES DOLINAR    F  BOSTON COLLEGE (USA - NCAA)
12. GREGOR KRAJNC   F  MIAMI - OHIO (USA - NCAA)
13. KLEMEN KELGAR   D  LAKE SUPERIOR STATE (USA - NCAA)
14. BOSTJAN KOLARIC F  BERKSHIRE (USA - Prep School League)

Waxus, Ljubljana, 19.07.2000

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