HK Olimpija explained

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Team:Olimpija Ljubljana
City:Ljubljana, Slovenia
Founded:[1]
Arena:Tivoli Hall
Colours:Green, black
Name1:HK Olimpija
Dates1:2004–present
Coach:Antti Karhula
Captain:Žiga Pavlin
Website:hkolimpija.si
Championships1 Type:Slovenian League
Championships1:4 (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Championships2 Type:Alps Hockey League
Championships2:2 (2019, 2021)

Hokejski klub Olimpija Ljubljana (English: Olimpija Ljubljana Hockey Club) is a professional ice hockey club from Ljubljana, Slovenia. The club competes in the ICE Hockey League and the Slovenian Championship. Founded in 2004 as a farm team of HDD Olimpija, the club turned professional in 2017 after HDD Olimpija folded. Olimpija won the Slovenian Championship four times, in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024, and the Alps Hockey League twice, in 2019 and 2021. They play their home games at Tivoli Hall.

History

HK Olimpija was founded in 2004 with the primary task of educating young players and promoting ice hockey in Ljubljana and its surroundings.[2]

The history of ice hockey in Ljubljana dates back to 1928, when SK Ilirija was founded. In 1932, they played the first official ice hockey match in Slovenia. The club changed its name several times before becoming Olimpija in 1962.[3] HDD Olimpija was dissolved in 2017.[4] After the dissolution, HK Olimpija reassembled the professional team.

In addition to the men's professional team, the club also has a women's team. They won six consecutive national titles between 2016–17 and 2021–22.[5]

Early years (2004–2017)

Initially, the club focused on developing young players. As a farm team of HDD Olimpija, they played in the Slovenian League for several seasons, finishing third as their best result in the 2010–11 season.[6]

Successes with a professional team (2017–2021)

In the 2017–18 season, the newly established professional team played its inaugural season in the Alps Hockey League and finished as runners-up in the Slovenian League and the Slovenian Cup. In 2018–19, Olimpija won the "treble" after winning all three competitions in which they participated: the Alps Hockey League, the Slovenian League and the Slovenian Cup.[7] The following season they won the Cup again, while the other two competitions were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the 2020–21 season, Olimpija defended the AHL title and became the first club to win the competition multiple times.[8] However, they failed to defend the national title, narrowly losing 3–2 in the final against their rivals HDD Jesenice.[9]

Return of ICE Hockey League to Ljubljana (2021–present)

In the 2021–22 season, Olimpija joined the international ICE Hockey League, where HDD Olimpija previously played until 2017.[10]

Club identity

Colours and badge

Olimpija's traditional colours in all sports are green and white. These two colours are consistent with the colours of the flag of Ljubljana. The club plays home matches in mostly green uniforms, while the away kits are predominantly white. The badge represents a dragon, holding an ice hockey stick. The dragon is also the city's symbol, representing power, courage and wisdom.[11] Derived from the city symbols, Olimpija's nicknames are Zmaji (The Dragons) and Zeleno-beli (The Green and Whites).[12] [13]

Supporters and rivalries

In addition to fans from Central Slovenia and other parts of the country, Olimpija has two official supporters groups. Ledeni zmaji (The Ice Dragons) are exclusively fans of the ice hockey club, while the Green Dragons mostly attend football matches of NK Olimpija and attend the most important matches and derbies of HK Olimpija.

HK Olimpija's main rivals are HDD Jesenice. The matches between the two sides are referred to as the "Eternal Derby" (Slovenian: Večni derbi). Both clubs and their predecessors from the same cities have contested over 500 matches against each other.[14]

Arena

The team play their home matches at Tivoli Hall, a 7,000 all-seated ice hall in Ljubljana.[15] The hall opened in 1965 and was most recently renovated in 2020.[16]

Players

Current roster

Updated on 8 February 2023[17] [18]

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Honours

Winners (4): 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23, 2023–24

Runners-up (2): 2017–18, 2020–21

Winners (2): 2018–19, 2020–21

Winners (4): 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23

Runners-up (1): 2017–18

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: HK Slovenske železnice Olimpija . . 3 March 2016 . sl .
  2. Web site: About the club . HK Olimpija . 15 February 2021 . en .
  3. Web site: HDD Olimpija Ljubljana . . https://web.archive.org/web/20190808082952/http://hokej.si/hdd-telemach-olimpija/ . 15 February 2021 . 8 August 2019 . sl .
  4. Web site: Začel se je stečajni postopek stare hokejske Olimpije . . 25 November 2021 . sl . 7 May 2020.
  5. Web site: Državno prvenstvo . . sl-SI. 25 November 2021.
  6. Web site: Sezona 2010/2011, tekmovanje DP Člani 10/11 . . 25 November 2021 . sl-SI.
  7. Web site: Novosti v in pred Tivolijem, kjer se bodo držali lanskega načela . . 25 November 2021 . sl . 3 September 2019.
  8. Web site: D. S. . SŽ Olimpija novi stari prvak Alpske lige . . 25 November 2021 . sl . 24 April 2021.
  9. Web site: Izjemen preobrat Jeseničanov, mož odločitve 18-letnik . . 25 November 2021 . sl . 10 May 2021.
  10. Web site: Golob . Aleš . Olimpija z uspešnim domačim uvodom dokazala, da ne bo topovska hrana . . 25 November 2021 . sl . 20 September 2021.
  11. Web site: Ljubljana, city of dragons . . 5 March 2021 . en .
  12. Web site: Zmaji na rdeče bike pozabili z zmago nad rdečimi železarji . . 25 November 2021 . sl-si . 23 November 2021.
  13. Web site: Zeleno-beli v zmagovalnem ritmu, Jeseničani končali črni niz. . 25 November 2021 . sl-si . 31 October 2019.
  14. Web site: Olimpija po loteriji dobila 500. derbi z Jesenicami . . 5 March 2021 . sl . 26 October 2019.
  15. Web site: Hala Tivoli (dvorana in drsališče Tivoli) – Šport Ljubljana . sport-ljubljana.si . 19 October 2020 . sl.
  16. Web site: Hala Tivoli dobiva končno podobo #video #foto . . 25 November 2021 . sl . 22 April 2020.
  17. Web site: Člani 2022/23 – HK SŽ Olimpija . HK Olimpija . 2 September 2022. sl-SI.
  18. Web site: HK SZ Olimpija – Roster . ICE Hockey League . 25 November 2021.

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