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HK Acroni Jesenice
Full name Hokejski Klub Jesenice
Founded 1948
Based In Jesenice, Slovenia
Arena Dvorana Podmežakla
(Capacity: 4,000)
League Erste Bank Eishockey Liga
2006-present

Slovenian Ice Hockey Championship
1991-present

Team Colors                    
GM Flag of Slovenia Zvone Šuvak
Head Coach Flag of the United States Mike Posma
Affiliates HD mladi Jesenice
Website http://www.hkjesenice.si/


HK Acroni Jesenice is a Slovenian ice hockey team that currently plays in the Austrian Erste Bank Hockey League. They play their home games at Dvorana Podmežakla in Jesenice.

History[]

Before World War 2[]

Roots of hockey in Jesenice go back to pre World War 2 when enthusiasts started skating on a natural ice surface (these days it's a soccer field very near the hockey arena). The name of Karlo Vergles is being mentioned most often with regards to these ice hockey beginnings. In the season of 1940/41 the first amateur team was assembled with simple equipment mostly made in the local steel and iron factory (which is still the main sponsor today). Despite that Jesenice team lost their first game to Zagreb with only one goal.

After World War 2[]

After World War 2 ice hockey returned to the sports park Podmežakla. And the start wasn't easy. Other clubs had years of tradition to count on and the Jesenice team had a hard time getting matches. Therefore in 1948 an ice-hockey/skating section was formed in the local sport society under the leadership of Drago Cerar. Other people involved included: France Božič, Mitja Verovšek, Vinko Čižman, Pavle Hafner, Milan Marolt and others. This year was also important for the fact that it was the first time Jesenice played in a real tournament against Maribor, Brežice and Celje. Somewhat surprisingly (although not by score) Jesenice team won the tournament.

Development of hockey continued in Jesenice in the following years with the opening of the artificial ice-hockey surface in 1954 which was the first in former Yugoslavia. This also included a spectator area.

In 1956 Jesenice team hired a hockey coach from former Czechoslovakia Zdenek Blaha. This started the jesenice ice-hockey rise. In the 1956/57 season Jesenice won the Yugoslav championship against far more known teams from Ljubljana and Belgrade.

The Golden Age[]

After winning the 1957 championship Jesenice completely dominated the Yugoslav ice-hockey winning 15 consecutive championship titles. Most coaches in this period were foreign coming from former Czechoslovakia. Notable players in this period include: Albin Felc, Dušan Brun, Bogo Jan, Ciril Klinar, Viktor Tišler, Vlado Jug, Gorazd Hiti, Franc Smolej, Rudi Knez and others.

Before Slovenian Independence[]

After 1971 season the Yugoslav championship was more or less divided equally between Jesenice and Ljubljana. Jesenice won in 73, 77, 78, 81, 82, 85, 87 and for the last time in former Yugoslavia in 1988. Jesenice also won the 1974 championship but this was later taken away from them by the ice-hockey federation. Notable about this period is that the majority of players came from Jesenice or neighboring cities, a trait for which the Jesenice team is still known today.

After Slovenian Independence[]

First years after the Slovenian independence were again dominated by the Jesenice team. Alongside good local players the team was reinforced by some excellent players from former Soviet Union under the coaching of Vladimir Krikunov. This resulted in three consecutive championship titles. However financial and staff problems brought the team to the brink of collapse. The peak of these troubles was the exclusion of Jesenice team from the Slovenian championships in 1988/89 season.

It took a couple of years for Jesenice to bounce back and in 2004/05 season with the arrival of four players from Olimpija (Ljubljana) and most local players once again playing for their home team Jesenice won the championship once again. This was continued with further good play in one of the International Hockey Leagues (including one championship title) and one more national championship title.

As a recognition of their quality in 2006 Jesenice was invited as first non-Austrian team to play in the (now) expanded Austrian ice-hockey championships.

Currently Jesenice still plays in this league, but has also won three more Slovenian titles in 2008, 2009, and 2010.

Honours[]

  • Yugoslav Ice Hockey League: (until 1991)
    • Winners (23) : 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988
    • Runners-up (13) : 1954, 1956, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1989, 1990

Coaches[]

Players[]

Notable Players[]

Flag of Slovenia

Current Roster[]

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Hometown Former Club
1 Flag of the United States Dov Grumet-Morris L Evanston, Illinois, USA Utah Grizzlies
30 Flag of Slovenia Gaber Glavič L Jesenice, Slovenia
Defencemen
# Player Shoots Hometown Former Club
21 Flag of Slovenia Klemen Pretnar L Bled, Slovenia
23 Flag of Slovenia Gašpr Sušanj L Jesenice, Slovenia
27 Flag of Slovenia Miha Rebolj L Jesenice, Slovenia
36 Flag of Slovenia David Slivnik L Hrušica, Slovenia EC VSV
38 Flag of Russia Yan Golubovsky R Novosibirsk, Russia Yunost Minsk
51 Flag of Slovenia Mitja Robar L Maribor, Slovenia
52 Flag of Germany Flag of Kazakhstan Alexander Dück L Karaganda, Kazakhstan Iserlohn Roosters
86 Flag of Slovenia Sabahudin Kovačevič R Jesenice, Slovenia
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Hometown Former Club
6 Flag of Canada Todd Elik F L Brampton, Ontario, Canada HC Thurgau
9 Flag of Slovenia Tomaž Razingar F L Jesenice, Slovenia
11 Flag of Estonia Andrei Makrov F L Talinn, Estonia HK Gomel
14 Flag of Slovenia Žiga Jeglič F L Bled, Slovenia
16 Flag of Slovenia Miha Brus F L Jesenice, Slovenia
18 Flag of Slovenia Marjan Manfreda RW L Bohinjska Bela, Slovenia
19 Flag of Slovenia Aleš Remar F L Kranj, Slovenia HC Milano Rossoblu
24 Flag of Slovenia Anžè Terlikar W L Kropa, Slovenia
25 Flag of the United States Robert Raymond Robins W L Peshtigo, Wisconsin, USA Belfast Giants
31 Flag of Slovenia Rok Jakopič F L Jesenice, Slovenia
84 Flag of Slovenia Andrej Hebar F L Ljubljana, Slovenia
89 Flag of Slovenia Rok Tičar F L Jesenice, Slovenia Timrå IK
91 Flag of Slovenia Tomo Hafner F L Jesenice, Slovenia

Links[]

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at HK Acroni Jesenice. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA).


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