Since the emergence of the Continental Hockey League (KHL), several fairly prominent European clubs have replenished it. Now the Croatian “Medvazhchak”, the Riga “Dynamo”, and even the Chinese “Kunlun” are playing in the KHL. Among all that splendor, Slovan (Bratislava) was not lost.
Czechoslovak and Slovak stages
HC Slovan (Bratislava) was founded back in 1921. However, then the name of the team was different - it was called "CSK Bratislava". The current name appeared only eighteen years later - in 1939.
In the championship of Czechoslovakia, the Slovan (Bratislava) achieved serious success far from immediately. The team sat " dry soldered" without titles right up to 1979 - almost sixty years. Prior to this, the club from Bratislava could only boast of the title of champions of the Slovak Hockey League in 1941 and 1942.
The first big trophies came to Slovan only in the early seventies. The team has won three consecutive (1972–1974) annual international tournaments (Spengler Cup), which has been held in the Swiss city of Davos since 1921.
Championship in the domestic championship “Slovan” (Bratislava) received only in the late seventies (season 1978/1979). After the division of Czechoslovakia into two sovereign states, the “hawks” became real hegemons of the Slovak Extra-League - eight victories in the tournament speak for themselves. It became clear that “Slovan” in Slovakia was bored and cramped, so the management decided that the club should try its hand at a more status hockey project, which was the Continental Hockey League.
Modern stage
In 2012, Slovan (Bratislava) made its debut in the KHL championship. CSKA, Minsk Dynamo, Spartak and Dynamo (Riga) became rivals in the division at the Slovak club. Later, the Croatian “Bear Bear” and the Finnish “Jokerit” were added. Surprisingly, the first pancake did not come out lumpy. The team immediately got to the playoffs, taking sixth place in the Western Conference.
In the next seasons, Slovan (Bratislava)
hockey showed far from convincing. In the end, it came to the point that the leader of the Slovak Extra League Richard Linter urged the club to return home, saying that playing the majority of matches in a country where they do not even know the names of Slovan hockey players is pointless. In response to this statement, the KHL functionary Alexander Medvedev replied that Slovan’s withdrawal from the KHL could destroy Slovak hockey.
In the 2016/17 regular season, Slovan could not get into the playoffs, eight points behind the West team - the last team in the playoffs.
Main coach
Now Slovan is led by Czech Milos Rziga. He had a rather intense hockey career: he played both for domestic clubs and for the American team of Minnesota Nord Stars.
The career of the trainer Rzhiga also began in the Czech Republic. His track record includes such clubs as: Brno, Pardubice, Karlovy Vary. He worked for a certain time in Russia, coaching Chemist, Spartak, Atlant, SKA (St. Petersburg) and Avangard (Omsk).
Milos Riha joined the Slovan in 2015, but under his leadership the team has not yet achieved significant success. The Czech can only record his eighth place in the West and enter the playoffs in the season 2015/2016.