KHL Medveščak

KHL Medveščak Zagreb

Full name	Klub Hokeja na Ledu Medveščak Zagreb
Nickname(s)	The Bears
Founded	1961
Based In	Zagreb, Croatia
Arena	Dom Športova (capacity: 6,400) Arena Zagreb (capacity: 15,024)
League	Erste Bank Eishockey Liga 2009-present Croatian Ice Hockey League 1991-present Yugoslav Hockey League 1961-1991 Slohokej Liga 2007-2009
Team Colors
Owner(s)	Damir Gojanović
GM	Markoantonio Belinić
Head Coach	Marty Raymond
Captain	Alan Letang
Website	medvescak.com

KHL Medveščak Zagreb is a Croatian ice hockey team. It is by far the most successful and the most popular ice hockey team in Croatia. Currently the team plays in the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, and is the only Croatian team in the league. Last season club attracted over 200,000 spectators on live matches in Dom Športova that increased the League audience by 15%. Club also plays annual (usually in January) series of games in 15,024 capacity Arena Zagreb.

History

The team was established in 1961, from the team SD Zagreb. In its first 10 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 Športova, 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.^[1]

The team in Dom Športova 2009

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.^[2] 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 famed North American coach, Ted Sator from fellow EBEL team Alba Volán Székesfehérvár.^[3] 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 Športova in a 6-5 victory against Slovenian member HK Acroni Jesenice on September 11, 2009.^[1] The Bears enjoyed 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.

UNICEF Partnership

Dom Športova, KHL Medveščak Zagreb - KAC Klagenfurt, January 15, 2010

On August 24, 2010, KHL Medveščak formed an official partnership with UNICEF to become the first and only European Hockey team to cooperate with UNICEF, joining prestigious sporting clubs in FC Barcelona, Manchester United F.C. and Boca Juniors from Argentina. The Bears were selected after success in its inaugural season in the EBEL from hosting more than 200,000 spectators watching live matches without a single incident and its support to the campaign organised for emergency relief in Haiti. Under the co-operation between Medveščak and the UNICEF, the Bears will actively work on the campaign to Stop Violence Among Children and will wear an UNICEF sleeve logo and change the club's blue logo color to that of UNICEF's cyan at joint events.^[4]

Sponsors

Medvescak sponsors include companies such as: Citroen, Generali, Siemens, Vindija, Pliva, American Express and others.

Honours

• Yugoslav Ice Hockey League: 3
  • 1989, 1990, 1991

• Yugoslav Ice Hockey Cup: 4
  • 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991

• Croatian Ice Hockey Championship: 15
  • 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005,
    2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011

Current roster

view · # Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace 38 Canada ! Banham, FrankFrank Banham 7.0 !RW R 36 2010 Calahoo, Alberta, Canada 66 Croatia ! Blagus, MislavMislav Blagus 4.0 !C L 20 2009 Zagreb, Croatia 45 Canada ! Brine, DavidDavid Brine 4.0 !C L 26 2011 Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada 49 Canada ! Day, GregGreg Day 4.0 !C R 34 2010 Tecumseh, Ontario, Canada 5 Canada ! Delmore, AndyAndy Delmore (A) 2.0 !D R 34 2011 Windsor, Ontario, Canada 92 Switzerland ! Gombar, DinoDino Gombar 6.0 !LW L 19 2011 Basel, Switzerland 69 Croatia ! Kanaet, DominikDominik Kanaet 5.0 !W L 20 2010 Zagreb, Croatia 19 Canada ! Kinasewich, RyanRyan Kinasewich 6.0 !LW L 28 2010 St. Albert, Alberta, Canada 20 Slovenia ! Koren, GalGal Koren 4.0 !C L 19 2011 Domžale, Slovenia 88 Croatia ! Kostovic, DarioDario Kostovic 6.0 !LW R 31 2011 Split, Croatia 33 Slovenia ! Kristan, RobertRobert Kristan 1.0 !G L 28 2009 Jesenice, Slovenia 90 Croatia ! Krpes, IvanIvan Krpes 1.0 !G L 21 2011 Zagreb, Croatia 28 Canada ! Letang, AlanAlan Letang (C) 2.0 !D L 36 2009 Renfrew, Ontario, Canada 48 Canada ! MacAulay, KennyKenny MacAulay 2.0 !D L 27 2010 Baddeck, Nova Scotia, Canada 23 Germany ! Martinović, SašaSaša Martinović 2.0 !D L 27 2011 Füssen, Germany 55 Canada ! Morency, PascalPascal Morency 7.0 !RW R 29 2011 Montréal, Québec, Canada 7 USA ! Naglich, AdamAdam Naglich 7.0 !RW R 27 2011 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA 40 Canada ! Ouzas, MichaelMichael Ouzas  1.0 !G R 26 2011 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada 4 Canada ! Pokulok, SashaSasha Pokulok 2.0 !D L 25 2011 Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec, Canada 29 Croatia ! Prpic, JoelJoel Prpic  4.0 !C L 37 2009 Sudbury, Ontario, Canada 22 Croatia ! Rajsar, SašoSašo Rajsar 3.0 !F L 23 2009 Jesenice, Slovenia 6 Canada ! Sandrock, RobbyRobby Sandrock  2.0 !D R 33 2009 Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada 96 Croatia ! Senzel, NikolaNikola Senzel 2.0 !D L 19 2009 80 Croatia ! Sertić, MarioMario Sertić 2.0 !D R 23 2008 Zagreb, Croatia 15 Croatia ! Sertich, AndyAndy Sertich 2.0 !D L 28 2009 Coleraine, Minnesota, USA 77 Croatia ! Šijan, IvanIvan Šijan 2.0 !D R 21 Zagreb, Croatia 41 Croatia ! Tomljenović, Mate KrešimirMate Krešimir Tomljenović 1.0 !G R 18 2011 Zagreb, Croatia 11 Russia ! Trukhno, VyacheslavVyacheslav Trukhno 4.0 !C L 24 2011 Voskresensk, Russia 1 Croatia ! Vasiljević, AndrejAndrej Vasiljević 1.0 !G L 18 Zagreb, Croatia 44 Canada ! Waugh, GeoffGeoff Waugh 2.0 !D R 28 2011 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 10 Croatia ! Zanoski, TomTom Zanoski 6.0 !LW L 27 2011 Zagreb, Croatia

Team Staff

General Manager: Markoantonio Belinić
Sports Director: Dragutin Ljubić
Equipment Manager: Željko Lončar
Team Doctor: Dr. Igor Borić
Masseur/Physiotherapist: Dario Grgic

Coaches

Head Coach: Marty Raymond
Assistant Coach: Don MacLean
Assistant Coach: Ivo Ratej Jr.
Goalie Coach: Dave Marlin

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Across the pond: Pro Hockey returns to Zagreb". National Hockey League. 2009-09-16. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=498744. Retrieved 2010-09-14. 
2. ^ "Croation Hockey: The low-down". prohockeynews.com. 2010-02-27. http://www.prohockeynews.com/hockey/publish/hockeyeurope/Croatian_Hockey_The_low-down.shtml. Retrieved 2010-02-29. 
3. ^ "Croatian club Medvescak calls on well-traveled Sator". National Hockey League. 2010-08-11. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=535851. Retrieved 2010-09-14. 
4. ^ "Friendship between UNICEF and KHL Medveščak Zagreb for children". UNICEF. 2010-08-24. http://www.unicef.hr/show.jsp?newscontainer=168870&page=151871&singlenewsid=169058#news169058. Retrieved 2010-08-24. 
5. ^ "KHL Medveščak - Team -Roster". KHL Medveščak. 2011-10-18. http://www.medvescak.com/hrv/selekcije.html. Retrieved 2011-10-18. 

External links

• Sektor B - most loyal fans of KHL Medveščak Zagreb
• Croatian Ice Hockey Federation
• Medveščak at Elite Prospects
• Ice Hockey Fights Its Way Back in Croatia (The Wall Street Journal)
• Erste Bank Eishockey Liga