HC Slovan Bratislava explained

Team:HC Slovan Bratislava
Colour:background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#052054 5px solid; border-bottom:#c41424 5px solid;
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  1. 000000
Logosize:195px
Nickname:Belasí (the Sky Blues),
Orli (the Eagles)
City:Bratislava, Slovakia
Arena:Ondrej Nepela Arena
(capacity 10,055)
League:Slovak Extraliga
(1993–2012, 2019–present)
Colours:Dark blue, white, red
Gm:Rostislav Dočekal
Coach:Peter Oremus
Captain:Michal Sersen
Farmclub:Modré Krídla Slovan
Website:www.hcslovan.sk

Hockey Club Slovan Bratislava (Slovak: Hokejový klub Slovan Bratislava) is a professional ice hockey club based in Bratislava, Slovakia. In 2012, it left the Slovak Extraliga and joined the international Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). In 2019, it returned to the Tipos Extraliga. The club has won nine Slovak championships (most recently in 2022), one Czechoslovak championship (1979) and one IIHF Continental Cup (2004), making it the second most successful hockey club in Slovak history after their biggest rival HC Košice. The team plays its home games at Ondrej Nepela Arena, also known as Slovnaft Arena. The team is nicknamed Belasí, which means the "sky blues" in English.

History

The sports club Slovan Bratislava was founded in 1919 as a football club, then called 1.CsSK Bratislava. In 1921, a hockey section was founded as "CsSK hockey". It played its first game in December 1924 against Wiener EV from Vienna, losing 6–1. In 1948, the name of the club was changed to Slovan Bratislava, which has been kept until today.[1]

For many years following World War II, Slovan was the only Slovak representative in the highest Czechoslovak league, and achieved several second-place finishes in the championship. The only title in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was achieved under coach Ladislav Horsky in the 1978–79 season. Additionally, the youth teams won several championships.

After the separation of Slovakia and the Czech Republic in 1993, Slovan played in the Slovak Extraliga and won eight championship titles over 19 years.

In addition to the success achieved in Slovakia, Slovan also performed well internationally, with three Spengler Cup wins in a row in 1972, 1973 and 1974. It is also one of only four clubs to play all four seasons of the European Hockey League, progressing to the playoff stage each year. Another highlight was winning the IIHF Continental Cup in the 2003–04 season. From 2011 to 2013, Slovan participated in the European Trophy international pre-season tournament.

KHL

In March 2012, Slovan filed an application to play in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).[2] On 21 June 2012, Slovan Bratislava was officially admitted to the KHL, after they fulfilled all necessary conditions. Founded in 1921, they were the oldest KHL team by a large margin, as there were no ice hockey leagues in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics prior to 1946.[3]

2012–13 season

See also: 2012–13 HC Slovan Bratislava season. In May, Slovan signed Rostislav Čada as the new head coach for the first KHL season, who had had a KHL experience from working at Avangard Omsk.[4] After playing two friendly matches against KHL teams and the European Trophy during the summer months, Slovan opened the 2012–13 season with a home game against Ukrainian HC Donbass on 6 September 2012, losing 2–4 in front of a capacity crowd. The first win was achieved 4 days later by defeating Spartak Moscow 2–1 after a shootout. During the NHL lockout between September 2012 and January 2013, the two defenders Ľubomír Višňovský and Andrej Sekera enhanced the team. Slovan ended the season with 78 points as 6th of the Western conference and thus clinched a play-off spot in their first KHL season.[5] In the first play-off round, Slovan played against then-defending champion Dynamo Moscow and lost all four matches.

During the regular season, Slovan had sold out 25 out of its 26 home games with an average attendance of 9,977 spectators, which was the seventh-highest average attendance in Europe that season.[6]

Mascot

Before the start of 2013–14 season, it was announced that the franchise will have a new mascot called Harvy. The mascot's name was determined by fans and its appearance will be of a bald eagle, which is also on HC Slovan's logo.[7]

Rivalries

While competing in the Czechoslovak league, Slovan's main rival was HK Dukla Trenčín. While competing in the Slovak Extraliga, Slovan had various rivals around the country, most notably HC Košice and Trenčin

In Slovan's first two seasons in the KHL, its biggest rival was Lev Prague. The rivalry started when, in their first game, HC Lev's Zdeno Chára body-checked Slovan's team captain Miroslav Šatan, after which Šatan was out of the lineup for the rest of the season.[8] The fairness of this hit was the centre of many discussions. The games between Slovan and Lev were among the most anticipated of the season for both teams.[9] However, Lev Praha folded after the 2013–14 season.

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last ten seasons completed by HC Slovan Bratislava. For the full season-by-season history, see List of HC Slovan Bratislava seasons.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, OTW = Overtime/shootout wins, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, L = Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season GP W OTW OTL L Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs
60 15 5 8 32 63 136 188 7th, Bobrov did not qualify
60 21 11 4 24 89 154 148 3rd, Bobrov Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 0–4 (CSKA Moscow)
60 22 7 5 26 85 144 166 4th, Bobrov did not qualify
56 15 3 7 31 58 119 187 5th, Bobrov did not qualify
62 10 5 3 44 33 101 213 6th, Tarasov did not qualify
55 29 8 5 13 108 191 118 2nd, Extraliga
50 26 6 4 14 94 146 115 4th, Extraliga Lost in Semifinals, 1–4 (HKM Zvolen)
50 32 3 5 10 104 189 118 1st, Extraliga Slovak Extraliga Champions, 4–2 (HK Nitra)
50 27 3 6 14 93 162 115 2nd, Extraliga Lost in Quarterfinals, 2–4 (Dukla Michalovce)
50 21 5 4 20 77 157 160 5th, Extraliga Lost in Quarterfinals, 0–4 (Košice)

Honours

Domestic

International

Pre-Season

Players

Current roster

See also: HC Slovan Bratislava all-time roster.

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten-point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed season.[10]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game

Points! Player! Pos! GP! G! A! Pts! P/G
C 583 194 305 499 0.86
C 327 277 157 434 1.33
LW 321 146 234 380 1.18
RW 420 187 184 371 0.88
C 429 180 179 359 0.84
RW 225 204 153 357 1.59
LW 354 153 195 348 0.98
LW 402 193 153 346 0.86
F 314 170 164 334 1.06
C 327 174 132 306 0.94
Goals! Player! Pos! G
C 277
RW 204
C 194
LW 193
RW 187
C 180
C 174
F 170
RW 159
LW 153
Assists
PlayerPosA
C 305
LW 234
LW 195
RW 184
C 179
D 175
F 164
C 157
RW 153
LW 153

Staff

Head coaches

These are the head coaches of HC Slovan Bratislava since they joined the Czechoslovak Extraliga:

Hall of Fame

The following players associated with HC Slovan Bratislava have been inducted in various Halls of Fame:

Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

IIHF Hall of Fame

The IIHF Hall of Fame is intended to honor individuals who have made valuable contributions both internationally and in their home countries.[11]

Name Category Inducted
Player 1997
Player 1998
Player 1998
Builder 1999
Player 2000

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: História klubu. sk. hcslovan.sk. 1 September 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120321185148/http://www.hcslovan.sk/klub/historia/historia-klubu.html. 21 March 2012. dmy-all.
  2. Web site: The Slovakian candidate. khl.ru. 29 March 2012. 30 March 2012. 12 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201112020159/https://en.khl.ru/news/2012/03/29/24546.html. dead.
  3. Web site: Slovan získal definitívny súhlas na štart v KHL. sk. hcslovan.sk. 21 June 2012.
  4. Web site: Rostislav Čada oficiálne novým hlavným trénerom. sk. HC Slovan. 2 May 2012. 2 May 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120625214423/http://www.hcslovan.sk/novinky/z-kuchyne-slovana/rostislav-cada-oficialne-novym-hlavnym-trenerom-hc-slovan-bratislava.html. 25 June 2012. dead.
  5. Web site: Slovan sa dočkal, postúpil do play-off. sk. SME. 13 January 2013.
  6. Web site: http://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/teilnahme/427177.html. ru:Континентальная Хоккейная Лига. Итоги сезона. ru. sports.ru. THE CALAMITY. 25 February 2013.
  7. Web site: Maskotom Slovana bude orliak Harvy . Sport.sk . 2 September 2013 . sk . 3 September 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130905015003/http://sport.aktuality.sk/c/154606/maskotom-slovana-bude-orliak-harvy/ . 5 September 2013 . dead .
  8. Web site: Slovan vyhral v derby nad Levom, Chára vyradil Šatana . WebNoviny.sk . 3 November 2012 . 15 July 2013 . sk.
  9. Web site: LEV and Slovan renew Czecho-Slovakian derby . HC Lev Praha . 14 October 2013 . 24 October 2013.
  10. Web site: HC Slovan Bratislava. EliteProspects.
  11. Web site: IIHF Hall of Fame inducts six new members . National Hockey League . 5 March 2010 .