Ice hockey in Croatia

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The Croatian national ice hockey U20 team

Ice hockey isnot one of the “traditional” sportsin Croatia , such as soccer , handball , basketball or tennis , but fulfills a niche existence.

history

Beginnings of ice hockey in Croatia

On 9 December 1935, the associations of were figure skating and ice hockey from Zagreb founded. The sport of ice hockey was known in what is now Croatia 30 years earlier .

The first ice hockey games were played between the HAŠK (Croatian Sports Association of Academics) and the First Croatian Sports Friends (PHSD) in the winter of 1916 in Zagreb. In 1922, a winter sports association was founded in Zagreb by offering and promoting the sports of figure skating, ice hockey and skiing . The first ice hockey game under Canadian ice hockey rules took place on February 3, 1924 between HAŠK and the Zagreb figure skating community. The end result was 4: 1 for the Croatian Academic Sports Association (HAŠK). In 1930 four ice hockey clubs were founded in Croatia, but as subsections of the following Croatian sports communities: in the "Marathon" sports community, "Cocordia" sports community, the Karlovac sports association, in 1931 in the sports community "Slavija" from Sisak and in 1935 in the Sports club Varaždin . In 1938 the first ice hockey championship was held in the Croatian Banovina. Ice hockey clubs from Zagreb, Sisak, Karlovac and Varaždin took part.

In the times of Yugoslavia

The period after the Second World War is regarded as the heyday of Croatian ice hockey and is associated with Dragutin Fridrich . In 1946 Fridrich founded the Zagreb ice hockey club “Mladost” (youth). The club won the all- Yugoslav ice hockey championship in 1946 and 1949 . HK Zagreb was founded in Zagreb in 1947. This ice hockey club won the Croatian ice hockey championship in 1956 , which was held alongside the all-Yugoslav ice hockey championships.

In 1953 the first artificial ice was used in Belgrade for ice hockey games and was available for ice hockey games and other ice sports all year round, regardless of the winter time. As a result, high quality Croatian ice hockey players moved to Belgrade.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the financial means for ice hockey had become scarce in the Croatian part of Yugoslavia. As a result, the HK Zagreb ice hockey club, for example, merged with the newly founded ice hockey club Medveščaka from Zagreb. Under the new club name HK Medveščak Zagreb, this took part in ice hockey competitions. During this time, artificial ice was used for the first time in ice hockey games in Zagreb. This fact led to better and higher quality training and education conditions for ice hockey in Croatia.

In 1966, Zagreb was assigned the organization of the Ice Hockey World Championship of the B group. After the completion of the Dom sportova in Zagreb in 1971, the Croatian ice hockey sport also received another ice hockey training and education facility. In 1984 the Croatian Ice Hockey Association was founded.

Between 1988 and 1990 the re-established hockey club HK Zagreb was three times all-Yugoslav ice hockey champion and won a total of four all-Yugoslav ice hockey cup finals. In addition to this Croatian ice hockey club, HK Medveščak Zagreb played against the best Slovenian and Serbian ice hockey clubs: HK Jesenice and HDD Olimpija Ljubljana , HK Partizan Belgrade and HK Red Star Belgrade in the all-Yugoslav ice hockey league season games.

The second half of the 1980s is considered to be the “Golden Age” for all Yugoslav ice hockey in what was then the SFRY . During this time, players from the two best ice hockey clubs in Slovenia, HK Jesenice and HDD Olimpija Ljubljana, moved to the Serbian ice hockey clubs of Crvena Zvezda and Partizan Belgrade. In addition, players from the USA and Canada and other European ice hockey nations were signed to the former Yugoslavia.

Croatia's renewed sovereignty

After the disintegration of the Yugoslav Ice Hockey Federation, the Croatian Ice Hockey Federation separated in 1991, and it was also the country's year of independence. The Croatian national ice hockey team has been an official member of the World Ice Hockey Federation IIHF since May 6, 1992 . In 2005 the Croatian Ice Hockey Federation celebrated its 70th anniversary.

Teams

In Croatia, a total of seven professional teams take part in the ice hockey championship. These are KHL Medveščak Zagreb , KHL Mladost Zagreb , HK INA Sisak , HK Šalata Stars , SD HAŠK Zagreb , KHL Zagreb and HK Varaždin . The best known ice hockey clubs in Croatia are the Zagreb-based clubs KHL Medveščak, KHL Mladost and KHL. In addition, 15 ice hockey referees are commissioned to manage the ice hockey games.

Venues

Two ice hockey halls (one of which is the multifunctional hall Dom sportova ) and three playable ice hockey rinks without a roof are available in Croatia for hosting the Croatian ice hockey league games.

See also

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  1. ↑ a b c d e cf. Povijest hokeja na ledu - History of ice hockey in Croatia ( Memento of January 11, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 8, 2008, on the website of Hockey na ledu.net
  2. ^ Croatia as a member of the IIHF. In: IIHF. Retrieved November 30, 2009 .
  3. ^ Profile of all ice hockey clubs in Croatia. In: Hockeyarenas.net. Retrieved December 2, 2009 .

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