Release from 02.05.2022

HK SŽ Olimpija receives CHL wildcard

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HK SŽ Olimpija has received a wildcard from the Champions Hockey League to participate in the top European competition for the 2022/23 season. The Slovenian team of the win2day ICE Hockey League replaces HC Donbass from Ukraine in the 32-team field, woh are forced to withdraw from the upcoming CHL season due to the ongoing situation in their country. HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana is the fourth participant of the win2day ICE Hockey League besides EC Red Bull Salzburg, EC VSV and Hydro Fehérvár AV19.

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“The act of war against Ukraine is a tragedy, and it is unimaginable what suffering it is causing to the people of Ukraine. It is of course comprehensible that HC Donbass Donetsk are unable to participate in the 2022/23 CHL season under such circumstances and we would like to thank the club for their commitment and the huge amount of effort they put into their first CHL appearance last season,” a CHL Board statement read.

“It is the CHL’s objective via the Wild Card system to appoint deserving clubs and to contribute to the development of European club ice hockey by having a participation field as internationally diverse as possible. The nomination of Olimpija Ljubljana offers us the opportunity to add a new country to the CHL map. The club is on the rise and just concluded its first season in the ICE Hockey League in a decent manner. For this reason, it was decided to allocate a Wild Card and the 32nd place in the 2022/23 CHL season line-up to them,” the CHL Board concluded.

Ljubljana convinces in ICE premiere season
HK SŽ Olimpija shone from the top of the win2day ICE Hockey League table for weeks in the 2021/22 season and stunned the competition with strong performances. The Slovenians also overcame setbacks and were only narrowly defeated in the quarterfinals.