Alps Hockey League
Jesenice is a quiet town in Slovenia . This is a good thing for me as my schedule has been hectic to say the least so there is no urge to go out and see things or do things or experience things . It’s just chill out and catch up on my blog and go for a stroll kinda day .
The local pro club is well renowned for being a hockey powerhouse in the region for decades but as of late it’s been on a decline . They won their championships 15 years in a row and when this was Yugoslavia this city was the center of the hockey universe in this part of the world and to this day they are producing hockey greats but unfortunately it’s not through the local club anymore .
Over the years hockey went from having national leagues to joining other nations to strengthen the game and I’m not sure how well that has worked out to be honest . There is a former Austrian league that stronger teams join called ICE Hockey League with clubs from Italy , Slovenia and Austrian teams and then there is the Alps Hockey League which is kinda like a second division that teams aspire to leave and join the other league and this is all speculation based on what I’ve been told by some locals . The Alps league also has Slovenian and Italian clubs and the game I went to was between HDD Jesenice vs HC Gherdeina from Italy …. Jesenice is in a higher position then their visiting opponents .
I had to meet Rok Sarlohar who is or was the national team goalie for North Macedonia and organized everything here for me . Nobody really knows what’s happening with their national team since they have not been competing in the IIHF Development Cup but that’s not what I’m writing about today . In true Balkan fashion he was late but not crazy late :) he got us tickets from one of the players and we sat with a couple of players wives/girlfriends during the game which was nice but sucked to actually feel their pain when the game started it was not good at all .
The home team just wasn’t mentally there and played as though they had won before the puck dropped but the visitors wanted the win . There were some colossal mistakes with passes at their own blue line intercepted for breakaway goals . Bad deflections leading to goals and soon as you know it the score was 0-4 by the end of the first period :(
The goalie was pulled during the intermission and the very young backup stepped in to do his best . Honestly the starter wasn’t at fault from my experience this was a move to intimidate the bench into waking up but that didn’t happen . On this big Olympic ice cycling the puck down low will open the defense a bit more which Gherdeina did but the home side just squared up made passes without one timers and letting the goalie square up to stop pucks . It was like a warmup for him . Too much overthinking when there were chances lead to a dull offense and the club from Gherdeina had a comfortable night at the rink . The score and play was reflected in the stands also as there was not much of a crowd . On the way in there was a bit of a buzz but even the ultras decided not to show up for this one .
You can see how empty the stands are in the photos and from what I was told the only packed house now would be against Olympic Ljubljana who plays in the ICE league so not sure when or how that will happen . Overall the best part of the night was chatting with Rok and catching up about how things are . I had a couple beers but nothing serious as I’m winding down before I head to Birmingham which will be a bit crazier then this . I hope they find some form form of resurgence here for the club as people do love hockey here and they do deserve a team kinda like how Leafs fans deserve to see a cup someday :)
The backup goalie that came in is apparently the coaches son and he is possibly 17 or 18 years old and he played really well . The team played a bit better in front of him but still made some costly errors . By the time the dust had settled the final score was 1-6 for the visiting side . Tough loss to a team much lower in the standings . At least they did score in the third period to give the fans a mere glimpse of hope and even I looked up at the clock and thought 5 goals in 10 minutes is not impossible but I highly doubt it will happen . It didn’t ….
After the game I said my goodbyes to Dejan and his wife and son and got a ride down the road from Rok and his wife who had to make the near 2 hour trek back home . The hospitality here has been through the roof and if you’re ever in Slovenia pop into Jesenice if you need a quiet place to rest and catch a game . This is a town filled with good people and as a traveller you will be safe here . Time to get some rest !