Its name specifies that only champions should have the right to start. The exception that confirms the rule belongs to Slovakia.
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Photo: TASR, Pavel Neubauer
Brendan Ranford and Milan Kytnár in Slovan jersey.
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In the upcoming season of the Champions Hockey League (CHL), the championship Zvolen will not play, nor will silver Poprad or bronze Michalovce.
Slovan has chosen to lead a transnational competition that operates on a private basis and is not subject to the IIHF.
The people from Bratislava will perform in the E-group in the company of Friborg, Třinec and Leksand, where the national duo Peter Cehlárik and Marek Hrivík played last season.
Slovan in E-groups LM
August 27: Leksand – Slovan, August 29: Friborg-Gottéron – Slovan, September 2: Slovan – Leksand, September 4: Slovan – Friborg-Gottéron, October 6: Třinec – Slovan, October 13: Slovan – Trinec
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The competition will feature 32 teams from 13 different leagues and 14 European countries. It will start in early August and culminate in the final match on March 1.
Slovan got the so-called wild card. The seat became vacant after Junost Minsk was ordered due to the unstable political situation in Belarus. The CHL council also took into account the fact that the eight-time Slovak champion is celebrating the centenary of the club’s founding this year.
“The nomination of Slovan offers us the opportunity to welcome Slovakia, a country with a rich hockey tradition that has educated many top players. Slovan is a well-known and recognized hockey brand in Europe.
In addition, the club is celebrating its anniversary and has shown great interest in presenting itself on the European stage, “said CHL head Martin Baumann.
His decision provoked a storm of reluctance in Slovakia. Both Zvolen and Poprad called, who had a priority right to start in the competition.
“A few days ago we received a letter from the CHL that after bad experiences from the past, no Slovak club will start in this competition. Suddenly I will learn that Slovan received a free card instead of the Belarusian Junost Minsk.
And now I ask, why didn’t anyone address us? How is it possible? This is really something incredible and I don’t know what to think about it, “he said for šport24.sk
outraged general manager Zvolena Ladislav Čierny.
However, CHL is not interested in other clubs from the Tatras. In May, she took away a place for Slovakia for “bad experiences” with representatives from the extra league. The Swiss did not like the fact that last year it rejected the right to start Banská Bystrica.
The union also came to the aid of the despised finalists.
His boss, Miroslav Satan, telephoned Baumann and explained to him that the seat should be given to the roof body, which will then grant it, and not the club. But the federation is powerless.
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“The decision of the CHL to award a wild card to Slovan went outside SZĽH. The union did not have any decisive or recommended word in this matter, as CHL is a private foreign competition.
The Champions League has been played according to the current format since the 2014/15 season. The rope year did not take place due to a pandemic. So far, only three Slovak three clubs have started in it – Košice, Nitra and Bystrica.
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