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". They played their first game in December 1924 against Wiener EV from Vienna, losing 1-6. In 1939 the name of the club was changed to Slovan Bratislava, which has been kept until today. After World War II, Slovan was for a long time the only Slovak representative in the highest Czechoslovak league, and achieved several second places 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. Also the junior teams kept winning several Slovak championships. In addition to the successes achieved in Slovakia, Slovan also performed well internationally, with 3 Spengler Cup wins in a row in 1972–1974. It is also one of only four clubs, which played all 4 years of the European Hockey League and always progressed to the play-off stages. Another highlight was winning the IIHF Continental Cup in the 2003–04 season. Since 2011, Slovan is also participating in the European Trophy. In March 2012, Slovan filed an application to play in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). On 21 June 2012, Slovan Bratislava was officially admitted to the KHL, after they fulfilled all necessary conditions. Founded in 1921, they are 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.
The club has won eight Slovak championships (most recently in 2012) and one Czechoslovak championship (1979). They play their home games at the Ondrej Nepela Arena, also known as Slovnaft Arena. The team is nicknamed Belasí, which means the "sky blues" in English. While competing in Cechoslovak liga Slovan had the main rival Dukla Trenčín. While competing in Slovak Extraliga Slovan had various rivals around the country, most notably HC Košice, HKm Zvolen and HK Dukla Trenčín. In the KHL the biggest rival of Slovan was Lev Prague. The rivalry started when in their first game HC Lev's Zdeno Chára body-cheked Slovan's team captain Miroslav Šatan after which Šatan had been out of play until the end of the season. 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.
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Czechoslovakia:
Champions - 1979.
Slovakia:
Champions (8) - 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012.
KHL:
2012-13 - 13th
2013-14 - 21st
2014-15 - 26th
Continental Cup winners - 2004.
ArenaSlovnaft Arena - Odbojarov 9, Bratislava, Slovakia, 831 04
KHL Medveščak Zagreb
The team was established in 1961, from the team SD Zagreb. In its first ten seasons in the Yugoslav Hockey League, Medveščak solidified as the second most popular team in Zagreb to football team Dinamo, playing their games in an outdoor rink in the upper-class neighbourhood of Šalata, with a draw of around 5,000 spectators a game. In 1971 the team moved into an indoor rink in Zagreb called the Dom Sportova, with the capacity to hold up to 6,400 fans. Over the first two decades of their existence Medveščak middled in success however never won the Yugoslav championship and by the early 1980s was mired in a financial crisis to almost suffer relegation from the top league in 1985.
The following season in 1986 the club was sponsored by the Gortan Building company, owned by Zdenko Gradecki, to become the de facto owners. With much needed investment, Gradecki transformed the club and recruited heavily, leading with Russian Hall of Famer, Vyacheslav Anisin. By the late 1980s the team became the best in the Yugoslav Ice Hockey League, winning three consecutive championships from 1989, culminating with an appearance in the 1991 IIHF European Cup in which they progressed to the second round.
With the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991, Gortan Building company along with a host of sponsors plunged into financial crisis and pulled out of their backing of the team. Without funding, the club lost its best players and professional status left to compete as an amateur outfit in the Croatian Ice Hockey League. However, from the late 1990s to late 2000s the team would dominate the league, winning almost every championship. Medveščak strengthened its position in the 2000s in establishing a farm team, KHL Medveščak II. In search of more competitive play in the team also participated in the Slovenian Hockey League from 2007, finishing in second place in their inaugural season. The following season, Medvescak was by far the best team in the Slovenian league (without the best two Slovenian teams which joined Erste Bank Eishockey Liga a year earlier) during the regular season, losing only one game in regulation.
Starting in the 2009–10 season, Medveščak once again moved up in competitive level, joining the Austrian Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. In marking their moves up the professional ranks the Bears recruited North American coach, Ted Sator from fellow EBEL team Alba Volán Székesfehérvár. With a commitment to continue to participate in the Croatian Ice Hockey League playoffs, Medveščak made their Austrian debut in front of a sellout crowd at the Dom Sportova in a 6-5 victory against Slovenian member HK Acroni Jesenice on 11 September 2009. The Bears drew over 200,000 spectators throughout the season home games and were rewarded as the last team to qualify for a position in the Playoffs. In their inaugural season, they stunned top seeded Graz 99ers in the Quarterfinals in win in 6 games, before suffering elimination to eventual champions EC Red Bull Salzburg in the semi-finals. On 14 and 16 September 2012, Medveščak hosted its first two home games of the 2012–13 EBEL season at the Pula Arena. The first game in a 3-2 loss to HDD Olimpija Ljubljana and the second game against the Vienna Capitals which resulted in a 4-1 win. After the second game, KHL President Alexander Medvedev said that the club might join the KHL next season along with Hockey Milano Rossoblu from Italy.
On 29 April 2013, the club board has announced that Medveščak will join KHL in season 2013-14. On 6 September 2013, The Bears opened their premiere season in the KHL with a 7:1 victory against CSKA Moscow.
On 24 August 2010, KHL Medveščak formed an official partnership with UNICEF, becoming the first and only European hockey team to cooperate with UNICEF. The Bears were selected after success in its inaugural season in the EBEL, hosting more than 200,000 spectators watching live matches without a single incident, and its support for the campaign organised for emergency relief in Haiti. Under the co-operation between Medveščak and UNICEF, the Bears will actively work on the campaign to Stop Violence Among Children and will wear a UNICEF sleeve logo and change the club's blue logo color to that of UNICEF's cyan at joint events. Medvescak sponsors include companies such as: Podravka, Citroen, Generali, Lidl, Carlsberg Croatia and others. The team's namesake is derived from the location of its original arena in Gornji Grad – Medveščak.
KHL Record
2013-14 - 13th
2014-15 - 23rd
ArenaDom Sportove - 10 000, Croatia, Zagreb, Ilica, 82
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