HC Slovan Bratislava

History

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.

KHL

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.

2012–13 season

In May, Slovan signed Rostislav Čada as the new head coach for the first KHL season, who had had a KHL experience from working at Avangard Omsk. After playing two friendly matches against KHL teams and the European Trophy during the summer months, Slovan opened the 2012–13 season with a home game against Ukrainian HC Donbass on 6 September 2012, losing 2–4 in front of a capacity crowd. The first win was achieved 4 days later by defeating Spartak Moscow 2–1 after shootout. During the NHL lockout between September 2012 and January 2013, the two defenders Ľubomír Višňovský and Andrej Sekera enhanced the team. Slovan ended the season with 78 points as 6th of the Western conference and thus clinched the play-off in their first KHL season. In the first play-off round Slovan played against Dynamo Moscow and lost all four matches.

During the regular season, Slovan had sold out 25 out of its 26 home games with an average attendance of 9,977 spectators which is the 7th highest average attendance in Europe.

Mascot

Before the start of 2013–14 season it was announced that the franchise will have a new mascot called Harvy. The mascot's name was determined by fans and its appearance will be of a bald eagle, which is also on HC Slovan's logo.

Czechoslovak era

While competing in Cechoslovak liga Slovan had the main rival Dukla Trenčín.

Slovak era

While competing in Slovak Extraliga Slovan had various rivals around the country, most notably HC Košice and HK Dukla Trenčín.

KHL era

In 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. However, Lev Praha folded after the 2013–14 season.

Season-by-season record

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by HC Slovan Bratislava. For the full season-by-season history, see List of HC Slovan Bratislava seasons.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, OTW = Overtime/Shootout Wins, OTL = Overtime/Shootout Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Domestic

Slovak Extraliga

Czechoslovak Extraliga

Slovak Hockey League

1st. Slovak National Hockey League

International

IIHF European Champions Cup

IIHF Continental Cup

Spengler Cup

Basel Summer Ice Hockey

Steel Cup

Current roster

Source: hcslovan.skSource: eliteprospects.comSource: khl.ruAs of February 16, 2017

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten-point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game;

     = current Slovan player

Head coaches

These are the head coaches of HC Slovan Bratislava since they joined the Czechoslovak Extraliga:

Hall of Fame

The following players associated with HC Slovan Bratislava have been inducted in various Halls of Fame:

Hockey Hall of Fame

Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

IIHF Hall of Fame

The IIHF Hall of Fame is intended to honor individuals who have made valuable contributions both internationally and in their home countries.