Release from 18.09.2024

Žiga Pance: “We have opened a new chapter”

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Žiga Pance starts his fourth season in the win2day ICE Hockey League with Olimpija Ljubljana on Friday. After being eliminated in last season's pre-playoffs, the 35-year-old is already looking forward to the upcoming “new start”.

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Žiga Pance has already experienced a lot in today's win2day ICE Hockey League. In addition to Ljubljana, the 35-year-old has also played for Villach, Klagenfurt, Dornbirn and Bolzano. Pance has particularly fond memories of his time in South Tyrol. In the 2014 final, the Slovenian scored the game-winner in overtime in the all-important fifth game of the final. A moment that Pance always likes to think back to. “As motivation, I basically think about it every day, every training session and every game, but not specifically about the winning goal, the 2023/14 season was something special in general, we had great chemistry and that's motivation for every subsequent year and will be until the end of my career.”

Winning the title with Bolzano was the forward's only international success to date. Now he wants to start a new chapter with the “new” Olimpija Ljubljana: “The fans can expect a lot. We have a fundamentally new team and have started a new chapter. We will leave all our energy on the ice.”

Pance made his international league debut on September 19, 2008 and has since played in 718 league games, scoring 416 points (191G/ 235A). A lot has changed in the league since his early years, as Pance confirms: “It's been a while since I first played in the league. I think the league is developing from year to year. That's good for all the nations taking part in the league.”

Preseason interview with Žiga Pance: