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Slovenia
Hokejska Zveza Slovenije
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  • Incorporated  1991
  • Joined the IIHF  May 6, 1992
  • 943  registered players
  • 8  registered clubs
  • President:  Matjaz Rakovec
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History
Hockey in Slovenia
The history of hockey in Slovenia officially began on February 7, 1929 when the new hockey section of the Ilirija Sports Club in Ljubljana played against a team from the nearby town of Kamnik. Ilirija won the game 15-1 as the Kamnik team had only been thrown together for this one match.

Credit for introducing hockey to Slovenia is given to Stanko Bloudek, who brought the first hockey equipment to Ljubljana from Vienna in 1928 and founded the Ilirija hockey club with Viktor Vodisek. After the demise of Kamnik, the Ilirija team sought opponents in Austria where they played games against KAC of Klagenfurt and VSV of Villach. During the 1930s, new hockey teams were formed in Croatia and Serbia but this still provided little competition for Ilirija. The team was considered so strong that it was proclaimed the national champion of Yugoslavia by the Skating and Ice Hockey Federation in both 1937 and 1938 without playing a single game. In 1939, Irilija was again the national champion after winning a tournament in Zagreb. The development of hockey continued in Yugoslavia after World War II, with Slovenia figuring prominently. The Slovenian club Jesenice was the champion of Yugoslavia 15 years in a row from 1957 to 1971 while Slovenian players made up the majority of the Yugoslav National Team.

Hokejska Zveza Slovenije (the Ice Hockey Federation of Slovenia) was founded in 1991 and the newly independent nation of Slovenia joined the International Ice Hockey Federation on May 6, 1992. Slovenia had held its first national championship (won by Acroni Jesenice) that year and the Slovenian National Team had played its first international game on March 20, 1992, losing to Austria 1-0 in Klagenfurt. The country's debut in the "C" Pool of the World Championships took place on home ice in Ljubljana and Bled in 1993. After winning the silver medal at the 1997 "C" Pool competition, Slovenia did the same as hosts of the "B" Pool tournament in 1998.


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