At today's assembly, the management of the ICEHL league decided that HK SŽ Olimpija meets the conditions for participation in the league, as well as HC Orli Znojmi and HC Pustertal. The club has thus fulfilled one of its greatest goals.
Re-engagement in higher level competition has been the goal for the past four years. The leadership of the ICEHL league is at today's virtual assembly, where the candidacy of HK SŽ Olimpija was presented by the president Miha Butara, concluded that the conditions for participation in the league are met by three candidates, in addition to Olimpia, the Czech Orli Znojmo, who temporarily withdrew from the 2019/2020 season due to financial problems, and the South Tyrolean Pustertal, our great rival in the Alpine Hockey League. Three new members will thus join the other 11 teams, namely Austrian Dornbirn, VSV, Red Bull Salzburg, KAC, Innsbruck, Graz99ers, Vienna Capitals and Black Wings 1992 Linz, Italian Bolzano, Hungarian Fehervar and Slovak Bratislava Capitals.
In the past months, the league's management has carefully reviewed the operations of our hockey club, our balance sheet, the hall… ” They were very pleased. Today's admission to the league confirmed that we worked well, thanks to everyone in the club and we can be very, very satisfied. Apparently we have now convinced them that we are a trustworthy candidate, that we have the right relationships, that we are doing well, ”Said the president of HK SŽ Olimpija Miha Butara. "This is a great compliment for our club, the players, the coaches, for all the co-workers and volunteers. Thanks to everyone who helped us along the way. Special thanks to our sponsors and the City of Ljubljana for their support."
Over the next ten days, the club must send the bank guarantee required by the league and pay the entrance fee, which we negotiated last year. € 150.000 is the fee and € 100.000 is the deposit, which is valid for four years. The league has carefully worked out criteria for who can get involved, the process is very clear.
"The fact is that we are a stable club, that we have solid sponsors and I believe we will add something to the league, something new, good, ”He says Miha Butara. "I am proud, but I am aware that we are not a big club and we will have to continue to act rationally. The budget will definitely be higher, we are working on that and we expect the budget to be higher next year."
He takes care of the sports and business part of the club Jože Kovač, who pointed out that we in the club started preparing the team for the step higher already in August last year. ”We go into this league with a desire to play and win, not just to participate. Our goal next season is the playoffs. We are looking for the best combinations of character, knowledge and team spirit in the players, so we also decided to bring coach Summanen. However, we are aware that we will have to strengthen the existing team. We are in contact with Slovenian national team players who play abroad. The basic idea is that we have the majority of Slovenian players with foreigners, but it will not be a foreign legion, ”He told media representatives Jože Kovač.
The club is therefore waiting for the league's requirements to be met in the coming days. Above all, there are still many challenges ahead of us, which we are very much looking forward to. And we can’t wait for the grandstands to open.
