Release from 25.09.2025

Ljubljana forward Alex Petan as a guest on the ICE podcast

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Alex Petan and Olimpija Ljubljana have made a strong start to the new win2day ICE Hockey League season. The 33-year-old is the guest in the latest episode of the “nICE to hear you” podcast. He talks not only about his new adventure in Slovenia, memories of winning the championship with Bolzano, and a possible Olympic appearance, but also about life off the ice – from mental health to his role as a father.

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The "nICE to hear you" podcast is available here:

>> Spotify
>> Apple Podcasts
>> Amazon Music

Listen now:

 











Excerpt Statements

Alex Petan about …
… the successful start to the season:
"Well, as you can imagine, everyone is is quite happy - from from the staff, from the players all the way up top in management. Obviously when you win at any point in the season, it's always nice to come to the rink and things are feeling pretty good. To start a season the way we have, it's a great feeling. I mean it just shows how much work we put in the first month, month and a half of training camp that we did and it really shows it really paid."

… working with Coach Ben Cooper:
"It's been fantastic so far, right from the getgo. Even before actually signing with the club, had a couple conversations with Ben. He is very clear in what he wants, he has a system that is very demanding, but as you can see we're really buying in and we're getting better and better at working towards this system. It's working and I believe it's going to work throughout the whole season. The relationship that he's built with our group already just very clear in what he demands, and also being able to have a conversation with him, not only about hockey but other sports and life. It's just been an open book so far and I think it made guys a lot more comfortable right away and it's been a great start."

… the championship title with Bolzano in the 2017/18 season:
"Honestly, too many memories that I I sometimes forget some of the key ones. It's kind of cool like they made a movie about our our team that year and just watching that back is all you kind of got to do. Obviously the big memories stick out and that's like being last place in December,firing our coach, getting a new one and kind of not really having any expectations at that point. And then, the culture took over and the relationships and the group came together. We ended up believing that we could do anything. One of my first memories is the last game of the regular season, we needed to get one point to make the playoffs and we went down three nothing after the first period and I thought we were done in February. We ended up battling back and getting into overtime and eventually getting our point to get into the the eighth spot. So just little things like that were the big memories. The feeling that after winning any championship is, it's one of the best feelings in sports and that will live forever. I want to keep going and try to get that feeling again."

… the opportunity to play for Italy at the Olympic Games:
"I think the Italian national team has done such a great job in preparing the players and giving everyone every opportunity to be able to make the team and I'm really looking forward to our first national break and it's you get a couple opportunities to show that you want to be there and I'm really looking forward to it. The league has started and it's our job and you want to put all your focus in that. But it's always at the back of your mind and it's just an opportunity that would be a dream come true and I'm really looking forward to it."

… the challenges of a long regular season:
"I think consistency and following the process. We have a game plan each and every day. We have to stick to the process and trust that our plan works. I think that's the key to a successful season beginning to end. Any team I've ever been on, there's never been a perfect season. There's always ups and downs at different times whether there's injuries that happen or you go on a bit of a slide and it's all about how you bounce back from that and I think we have the culture and the character already. Once times get a little bit more tough, I have no worries with our group."