HC Lev Poprad
| HC Lev Poprad | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Nickname | Lions |
| City | Poprad, Slovakia |
| League |
Kontinental Hockey League (2011–12) |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Folded | 2012 |
| Home arena |
Tatravagonka Arena (Capacity: 4,500) |
| Colours | |
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| Franchise history | |
| Hockey Club Lev Poprad | |
 Current season
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This article is about the previous KHL team that existed from 2010 to 2012. For the current KHL franchise see HC Lev Praha.
Hockey Club Lev Poprad (Lion), was a professional ice hockey team and a former member of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) based in Poprad, Slovakia. The Lev existed for only one year, playing in the 2011–12 KHL season.
The team was originally called HC Lev Hradec Kralove and was based in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. It had been intended to join the KHL for the 2010–11 season, for which it fulfilled all necessary conditions except that the Czech Ice Hockey Association refused to give permission to the club. Because of that, Lev's management decided to move the club to Slovakia, whereupon it has been accepted by the KHL's administration to participate in the league in the 2010–11 season. However, later the KHL excluded the team from the league for the 2010–11 season because the team was not part of any national ice hockey governing body.
After further efforts, including joining the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation, Lev Poprad was officially admitted to the KHL in May 2011. During the 2011–12 season, they played in the Bobrov division of the KHL, while HK Poprad continued playing their Slovak Extraliga matches in the same arena.
Almost two months after being officially admitted to the KHL, Lev announced the signings of the first five players on 30 June 2011. In the final roster, the majority of the players were from Slovakia and Czech Republic. Head coach was Radim Rulík and the team captain was Ľuboš Bartečko. Lev's regular season was planned to start on 10 September 2011 with a match at home against Avangard Omsk, but because of the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster, the start of the season was postponed and Lev had their first game on 12 September against Metallurg Magnitogorsk. However, for their first win they had to wait until the sixth game, a 2–0 away win against Dinamo Riga on 26 September. Lev also failed to qualify for the play-offs and ended the season as 21st overall, with 54 points from 54 games. The team's top scorer was Ľuboš Bartečko with 30 points (16 goals and 14 assists).
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