Orli Znojmo

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Orli Znojmo
Greatest successes
Club information
history TJ Sokol Znojmo (1933–1993)
SK Agropodnik Znojmog (1993–1997)
HC Excalibur Znojemnští ​​orli (1997–2001)
HC JME Znojemnští ​​orli (2001–2004)
HC Znojemští Orli (2005–2009)
Orli Znojmo (since 2009)
Location Znojmo , Czech Republic
Nickname Eagle
Club colors red, white, black
league 2. česká hokejová league
Venue Nevoga Arena
capacity 5,500 seats
executive Director Petr Veselý
Head coach Miroslav Fryčer
captain Radim Matuš
Season 2019/20 8th place (main round)
3rd place (qualifying round)

The Orli Znojmo ( Adler Znojmo , formerly HC Znojemští Orli ) are a Czech ice hockey team from Znojmo that belonged to the Extraliga , the top division in the Czech Republic, between 1999 and 2009 . Between 2011 the club played in the Austria- centered supranational Erste Bank Ice Hockey League , with the runner-up title in the 2015/16 season being the greatest success so far. Since 2020 the club has been participating in the 2nd česká hokejová liga again. The club's home games are played in the 5500-seat Nevoga Arena .

history

The club was founded in 1933 as TJ Sokol Znojmo and until the beginning of the 1990s played only on a regional level in "krajský přebor" . After the Czech-Austrian company RONJA under Jaroslav Vlasák found a solvent sponsor for the club, the club changed from a purely amateur to a professional club. In 1994 the club, now renamed SK Agropodnik Znojmo , was promoted to the 2nd division . In the following three seasons, the first team from Znojmo occupied middle places in this division. From 1996 the club cooperated with the two extra league clubs HC Pardubice and HC Dukla Jihlava , so that junior players from the three clubs could gain experience and match practice in the other league.

At the end of the 1996/97 season, they were promoted to the first division when they could beat HC Sokolov 4-0 in relegation . After this success, the club was renamed again, as the company RONJA was renamed Excalibur , and from that point on was called HC Excalibur Znojemští orli . For the first season in the second division of the Czech Republic, a competitive team was put together, which won the championship of the first division in 1998. In the relegation to the Extraliga, however, the team failed 3: 4 at HC Bohemex Trade Opava , although Znojmo had already led 3: 0 in the Best of Seven series.

The Nevoga Arena , home of the club

A year later, the team around Petr Kaňkovský and Jiří Heš managed to move up to the extra league, when they first became champions of the first division and defeated HC Dukla Jihlava 4: 3 in relegation . In the following years the club was able to assert itself in the midfield of the Extraliga, but never made it past the playoff semifinals. In 2001 the club renamed itself to HC JME Znojemští orli after the new sponsor and also included the sponsor's logo in the club's coat of arms. Since January 1st, 2005 the club has been called HC Znojemští orli .

The club's greatest success so far was reaching the play-off semi-finals of the Extraliga in the 2005/06 season . The club has been sponsored by the energy company E.ON since the 2006/07 season and also bears its logo in the club's coat of arms. At the end of the preliminary round of the 2006/07 season, the club finished 9th and thus qualified for the pre-playoffs. There they scored 3: 0 (3: 2, 2: 1, 3: 2) in the best-of-five mode against HC Rabat Kladno for the quarter-finals, but there the team failed in seven games at HC Moeller Pardubice ( 2: 5, 0: 2, 0: 3, 3: 1, 2: 0, 2: 1, 0: 5). In the 2007/08 season Znojmo reached only tenth place after the preliminary round and was eliminated in the pre-playoffs against HC Oceláři Třinec 3-0.

In the summer of 2008 there was speculation that the club wanted to sell its Extraliga license, but ultimately the club's board of directors decided to continue operating the professional team in the Extraliga. In the 2008/09 season, HC Znojmo was one of the oldest teams in the Extraliga with an average age of over 29, with Jiří Dopita and Jaroslav Kameš, two players who were born before 1970. After the end of the 2008/09 season, the club sold its Extraliga license to HC Kometa Brno for 25 million kroner (approx. 900,000 euros ) due to the departure of the main sponsor EON , thus relegating voluntarily to the first division. In addition, a player exchange between the clubs was agreed. In the course of the restructuring, the name of the team was changed to Orli Znojmo .

Participation in the Erste Bank Ice Hockey League

In spring 2011, the club applied for admission to the Austrian ice hockey league . One of the reasons for this was that they wanted to give the team a new perspective without having to take the financial risk of promotion to the extra league. The EBEL granted the application on May 31, 2011, after the Czech Ice Hockey Federation had given its approval. However, the prerequisite was that the club continued to take part in the first division with a team. However, this requirement was not upheld.

In the first season, the Czechs only reached the penultimate place in the main round, but were able to buy a play-off ticket with first place in the qualifying round. In the quarterfinals, however, was against KHL Medveščak Zagreb terminus. In the 2012/13 season, the club just missed the direct play-off entry in the main round, but was able to win the qualifying round again. In the quarterfinals, however, another defeat had to be accepted, this time against the eventual finalist Vienna Capitals .

In 2013/14 Znojmo was able to qualify directly for the play-off for the first time after finishing the main round in fifth place. As in the previous two seasons, this time the quarter-finals were over after the Czechs lost to EHC Linz . In 2014/15, the fifth place in the main round and thus the direct play-off entry could be achieved again. However, the quarter-final bad luck of the Czechs followed this time with a defeat against EC KAC .

In 2015/16, Orli Znojmo achieved his best result to date with third place in the main round and was equal on points with champions EC Red Bull Salzburg in the placement round . This is the first time they have secured one of the four EBEL CHL starting places for the 2016/17 season. In addition, the Czechs were able to defeat a quarter-final opponent for the first time with the Dornbirn EC and move into the semi-finals. There they met again at EHC Linz and won 4-2. The Znojmo striker Colton Yellow Horn advanced to become the most valuable player in the league and was awarded the Ron Kennedy Trophy as the most valuable player of the season. With the departure of Linz, Salzburg automatically became Austrian champions. In the final against the Red Bulls, Znojmo lost 4-2 in the series.

After some of the top players like Colton Yellow Horn, Martin Bača and Jan Lukáš made a league change, the Czechs strengthened themselves with ex-NHL goalie Marek Schwarz , the Canadian Sean McMonagle , the Italian points leader of 2015/16 Adam Hughesman , the Dutch national team captain Kevin Bruijsten and the Pole Patryk Wronka . Nevertheless, Znojmo started the new 2016/17 season with devastating sporting defeats. In the 2016/17 Champions Hockey League , the club lost all four Group F games and was eliminated without points. In the last game the Czechs even conceded a 7-0 win against EHC Red Bull Munich . In the EBEL, the Czechs lost their first game 6-0 against EC VSV , followed by a 5-2 win against Salzburg and a 5-1 win against EC KAC .

In May 2020, the club withdrew its participation in the EBEL because, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic, many sponsors could not keep their promises and the budget had shrunk by 60%. The club plans to take part in the third-class 2nd česká hokejová liga in the 2020/21 season and to participate in the EBEL again in the future.

Placements since 1993

season Preliminary round Pt Platzg. captain comment
1993/94 krajský přebor - 2. Promotion to the 2nd division
1994/95 2nd league 34 4th -
1995/96 2nd league 38 4th -
1996/97 2nd league 38 4th Promotion to the 1st division
1997/98 1st League 66 1. Relegation against HC Bohemex Trade Opava
1998/99 1st League 80 1. Milan Kastner Relegation against HC Dukla Jihlava 4: 3 and promotion to the extra league
1999/2000 9. 43 9. Milan Kastner Missed playoffs by two points
2000/01 2. 82 5. 3: 4 in the quarter-finals against HC Slavia Prague
2001/02 7th 83 7th 3: 4 in the quarterfinals against HC Continental Zlín
2002/03 8th. 77 8th. 2-4 in the quarterfinals against HC IPB Pojišťovna Pardubice
2003/04 4th 86 6th 3: 4 in the quarter-finals against HC Slavia Prague
2004/05 11. 66 11. -
2005/06 5. 84 3. Peter Pucher 1: 4 in the semifinals against HC Sparta Prague
2006/07 9. 76 7th Peter Pucher 3: 4 in the quarterfinals against HC Moeller Pardubice
2007/08 10. 76 10. Radim Bičánek 0: 3 in the pre-playoffs against HC Oceláři Třinec
2008/09 12. 68 13. Radim Bičánek Sale of the license to HC Kometa Brno , relegation to the first division
2009/10 1st league - 7th place 68 7th Radek Haman Quarter-finals, 0-4 against KLH Chomutov
2010/11 1st league - 6th place 66 6th Radek Haman Quarter-finals, 2-4 against HC Dukla Jihlava
2011/12 EBEL - 10th place 34 7th Jiří Beroun Quarter-finals, 0-4 against Medveščak Zagreb
2012/13 EBEL - 7th place 52 7th Jiří Beroun Quarter-finals, 1: 4 against Vienna Capitals
2013/14 EBEL - 5th place 56 4th Jiří Beroun Quarter-finals, 1: 4 against EHC Linz
2014/15 EBEL - 5th place 52 3. Jiří Beroun Quarter-finals, 1: 4 against EC KAC
2015/16 EBEL - 2nd place 2. Jiří Beroun Quarter-finals, 4: 2 against EC Dornbirn
semi-finals, 4: 2 against EHC Linz
final, 2: 4 against EC Red Bull Salzburg

Trainer

Well-known former players

HC Znojmo player in the NHL Entry Draft

With NHL commitment

Without NHL use

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.hcorli.cz/zobraz.asp?t=historie-hokeje-ve-znojme
  2. ↑ hcliberec.de, seasonal statistics ( Memento from March 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ puckfans.at, Znojmo says goodbye to the Extraliga http://alt.puckfans.at/index.php?id=1324 ( Memento from July 1, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
  4. ↑ Is the EBEL expanding to the Czech Republic? , Report on hockeyfans.at from May 20, 2011
  5. ↑ It's fixed: Znojmo will be the 11th team of the EBEL , report on hockeyfans.at from May 31, 2011
  6. ^ IIHF says yes to Znojmo switch to the EBEL , report on hockeyfans.at from June 14, 2011
  7. ↑ Orli Znojmo is "temporarily" withdrawing from the league. derstandard.at , accessed on May 25, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Ice hockey magazine: 60% less budget and uncertainty due to the pandemic: HC Orli Znojmo is withdrawing! In: eishockey-magazin.de. May 24, 2020, accessed May 25, 2020 .