HK Acroni Jesenice
| HK Acroni Jesenice | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| City | Jesenice, Slovenia |
| Founded | 6 January 1948 |
| Operated | 1948–2012 |
| Home arena | Podmežakla Hall |
| Colours | Red, black, white |
| Championships | |
| Slovenian Champions | 1992, 1993, 1994, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 |
| Yugoslav Champions | 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988 |
Hokejski Klub Acroni Jesenice (English: Acroni Jesenice Hockey Club), commonly referred to as HK Acroni Jesenice or simply Jesenice, was a Slovenian ice hockey team that last played in the Austrian Erste Bank Hockey League and the Slovenian Ice Hockey League. They played their home games at the Podmežakla Hall in Jesenice. Throughout its history Jesenice was regarded as one of the most successful clubs in Slovenian and Yugoslav ice hockey until September 2012, when the club filed for bankruptcy and was dissolved.
The club's roots go back to pre-World War II, when enthusiasts started skating on a natural ice surface (these days it's a soccer field very near the hockey arena). The name of Karlo Vergles is being mentioned most often with regards to these ice hockey beginnings. In the season of 1940–41 the first amateur team was assembled with simple equipment mostly made in the local steel and iron factory (which is still the main sponsor today). Despite that Jesenice team lost their first game to Zagreb with only one goal.
After the World War II, ice hockey returned to the sports park Podmežakla. And the start wasn't easy. Other clubs had years of tradition to count on and the Jesenice team had a hard time getting matches. Therefore, in 1948 an ice-hockey/skating section was formed in the local sport society under the leadership of Drago Cerar. Other people involved included: France Božič, Mitja Verovšek, Vinko Čižman, Pavle Hafner, Milan Marolt and others. This year was also important for the fact that it was the first time Jesenice played in a real tournament against Maribor, Brežice and Celje. Somewhat surprisingly (although not by score) Jesenice team won the tournament.
Development of hockey continued in Jesenice in the following years with the opening of the artificial ice-hockey surface in 1954 which was the first in former Yugoslavia. This also included a spectator area.
In 1956 Jesenice team hired a hockey coach from former Czechoslovakia Zdenek Blaha. This started the jesenice ice-hockey rise. In the 1956–57 season Jesenice won the Yugoslav championship against far more known teams from Ljubljana and Belgrade.
After winning the 1957 championship Jesenice completely dominated the Yugoslav ice-hockey winning 15 consecutive championship titles. Most coaches in this period were foreign coming from former Czechoslovakia. Notable players in this period include: Albin Felc, Dušan Brun, Bogo Jan, Ciril Klinar, Viktor Tišler, Vlado Jug, Gorazd Hiti, Franc Smolej, Rudi Knez and others.
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