Release from 04.07.2025

Alex Petan joins Ljubljana | Graz extends with Nick Bailen

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Alex Petan is moving within the league again. After playing for Bolzano, Fehérvár and most recently HC Pustertal, the 33-year-old forward has now joined Olimpija Ljubljana. In 385 appearances in the win2day ICE Hockey League to date, Petan has scored a total of 307 points. In addition, the Moser Medical Graz99ers are starting the new season with Nick Bailen. The 35-year-old moved to Graz last December and made 18 appearances in the 99ers jersey, scoring 15 points.

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Canadian-born Alex Petan moved to Europe for the first time in the 2017/18 season and joined HCB Südtirol Alperia. Petan celebrated the championship title with the “Foxes” in his very first season. After another season in Bolzano, the forward moved to the DEL for one season with the Iserlohn Roosters before returning to the win2day ICE Hockey League and playing for Hydro Fehérvár AV19 for three years. In the past two seasons, he was a member of the HC Pustertal squad. Now the 33-year-old is starting a new chapter - with Olimpija Ljubljana.

Anže Ulčar, CEO & General Manager of Olimpija Ljubljana, says: "Alex Petan is well known to everyone who follows the league closely. He is an extremely creative and consistently effective player who excels in a wide variety of roles. Another important detail: with him, we're getting a right-hand shooter, which helps us to better balance the team. The icing on the cake of this decision, however, was his great desire to play for Olimpija. Because of his passion and commitment to joining our club, we are convinced that we have gained more than just a good player - we have gained an energetic leader on and off the ice."

Graz extends with Nick Bailen
Last quarter of the regular season, seven playoff games, not enough time to accumulate a lot of statistics. Nick Bailen did record 15 scoring points. “But that's exactly why we're expecting so much from him now,” says 99ers sports director Philipp Pinter. “Because he wants to prove to us, and above all to himself, what he's made of.” Nick Bailen will remain a cornerstone of the defense that has grown around captain Korbinian Holzer with Anders Koch and Paul Stapelfeldt in 2025-26. With a brilliant CV that still speaks for Nick Bailen and his continued commitment: defenseman of the year in the Russian KHL (7 seasons, 78 goals, 255 points) and twice in their All-Star line-up. Before that, he was already on the All-Star team of the Finnish Liiga and later also Defenseman of the Year as well as the highest-scoring defenseman in the jersey of the Kölner Haie in the German DEL.