Release from 01.03.2023

League newcomer Celje invited to a press conference

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With HK RST Pellet Celje a new club will participate in the upcoming Alps Hockey League season. The club from Slovenia invited to a press conference in the old castle of Celje on Tuesday. Among other things, more detailed plans of the club were presented, as well as a new main sponsor.

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"This is a historic day for ice hockey in Celje, which has a colorful history full of ups and downs. In recent years, some enthusiastic people decided to raise the club to a higher level. We built a whole pyramid of youth teams, the club won the third place in the national championship this year. Everything went in the direction that the logical consequence is the Alps Hockey League, we want to develop steadily," says club president Vid Valenčak about the reasons for joining the Alps Hockey League.

The club also finds support in the city of Celje. The mayor of Celje, Matija Kovač, emphasized that the entire region is happy that hockey, which has a long tradition in the city, will move up to a new level. The municipality of Slovenia's fourth-largest city will help mainly with infrastructure projects such as the renovation and energy refurbishment of the rink, while the new ice rink is in the spatial plans, but at the moment it is still in the very distant future.

"I am glad that this tectonic shift in Slovenian hockey is taking place in our city. It is time to return to its former glory. This team and management will lead us to that. As a city, we are happy about this development, because it means promotion of hockey not only in Celje. I expect that this is the beginning of a beautiful story, which the men and women of Celje will be happy to watch from the stands," said Mayor Kovač.

Alps Hockey League Managing Director Christian Feichtinger was also present at the press conference. He emphasized that it is always nice to welcome a new member: "We are happy to welcome a new club. We have been working with Slovenian hockey for a long time and I am sure that this will not be our last visit to Celje. The first impression is excellent! We are looking forward to a new venue and a new team from Slovenia."

The President of the Slovenian Ice Hockey Federation, Matjaž Rakovec was also happy about Celje joining the AHL: "I thank the Celje team and the AHL. When they told me that Celje is a serious candidate for inclusion, I was happy - but when it happened, I knew it was a big deal for Slovenian hockey. I put it to the mayor's heart that a new rink is needed. This is a new era for Slovenian hockey, which will also extend to the Štajerska part. It is moving, we hope that above all we will get the infrastructure, because hockey is undersupplied in this respect. You have the full support of the Slovenian Ice Hockey Federation."

At the press conference, the contract with a new main sponsor was also signed. The former main sponsor LedX will remain a partner of the club, but the new main sponsor is the company RST, which signed a two-year contract.