V nerentabilnej slovenskej extralige nastal čas prestať klamať o peniazoch

At the beginning (2000/01), there were ten Austrian teams. But Zell am See, Lustenau, Kapfenberg, and Zeltweg gradually dropped out because they economically ran out of steam. By 2003, the league had seven Austrian teams, and a strong sponsor, Erste Bank (one of the largest banks in Central Europe), joined the league. In the 2006/07 season, the league welcomed its first foreign club – HK Jesenice  “From the very beginning, it was exciting, and even today it remains thrilling. We are writing an exceptionally interesting international hockey story,” begins Christian Feichtinger, who has been the league’s CEO from the start. In Europe, only Gernot Tripcke, who also became CEO of Germany’s DEL in 2000, matches his longevity. “It hasn’t always been positive. We lost a few teams, like the Italian Asiago most recently. But otherwise, we have a stable structure of twelve teams. Plus, we recently welcomed a club from Hungary’s capital (Ferencvárosi TC). That gives us great joy,” says Feichtinger. Over the past two decades, nine Austrian teams have participated (Dornbirn is currently absent) and ten foreign clubs, five of which are no longer on the hockey map. “From a sporting perspective, they were all fine, but each had different challenges. Jesenice lacked enough local players because several were playing, for example, in Bremerhaven in the DEL. Zagreb had financial problems. Znojmo had issues with the city and the arena. Bratislava Capitals suffered two tragic events, which deeply affected everyone, and the owner decided to end the project. Traveling to Asiago was difficult, and the club’s performance was insufficient,” continues Oliver Pilloni, general manager of Klagenfurt, another heavyweight in the ICEHL. The newest member of the ICEHL is Hungary’s Ferencvarosi TC (FTC-Telekom). “It has provisional membership for two years. Before the 2027/28 season, the general assembly will decide whether this organization becomes a full member of the league,” explains Feichtinger.