KHL Sisak

KHL Sisak is a Croatian professional ice hockey team that plays in the Croatian Ice Hockey League and the IHL. They play their home games at Ledena dvorana Zibel, which was renovated in 2018.

KHL Sisak
Nickname	The Knights
City	Sisak, Croatia
League	Croatian Ice Hockey League 1992–present International Hockey League 2021– present Yugoslav Hockey League 1938–1991
Founded	1930; 94 years ago (1930)
Home arena	Ledena dvorana Zibel (capacity: 1,960)
Colours
Head coach	Marko Šakić
Captain	Ivan Puzić
Website	www.khl-sisak.hr
Franchise history
Klub Hokeja na Ledu Sisak 2010–present HK Sisak 2008–2010 HK INA 1972–2008 KKHLK Segesta 1965–1972 SD Segesta 1952–1965 FD Naprijed 1946–1952 HAŠK 1938–1942 ŠK Slavija 1930–1938

History

The first hockey game was played in Sisak in 1930. It was played between the students of the 7'th High School. Over the years they played partial and irregular matches, mostly between students. Then, at the end 1934 the sports society "Slavia" organized a hockey club. The new Sisak club had its first success at the championship of Yugoslavia in 1937. The players were: Vjenceslav Holubek, Vladimir Berghauer, Želimir Golder, Josip Kovačić, Mate Starčević, Oliver Pötzl, Franjo Knebl, Branko Herlinger and Joža Stampf. At that time, Pötzl and Berghauer were members of the national team. In season 1938/39 the club participated in the Yugoslav league, Croatian division with teams from Zagreb, Karlovac and Varaždin. In 1958 and 1959 Sisak hockey players won the Croatian championship and became members of the Federal League. In 1961 they went on to become Croatian ice hockey champions, formed the club "Segesta," and played their first game against Zagreb's newly formed team Medveščak. Late in 1971 the Sisak rink "Recreational Center Zibel" was finished and the first international hockey match in Sisak was played between Medveščak and Tesla Pardubice from Czech Republic.

Hockey has continued to evolve in Yugoslavia; Sisak was sponsored by the INA oil company and bore their name. "INA" Sisak repeatedly won first place in the second division of the state championships, and appeared in the first division. Through several years of play, with greater or lesser success, Sisak's young hockey players from the club "INA" became the junior Croatian champions in 1979. In the 1980/81 Croatian league season, the youngest "INA" team won the championship. The club prospered until the war in the '90s, and has come back afterwards, slowly picking up pace as circumstances allowed. New generations took over, keeping the oldest Croatian club alive, now known as ice hockey club "Sisak."

Club identity

KHL Sisak traditional colours are blue and green. These two colours are consistent with the colours of the flag of Sisak. The club plays home matches in mostly blue uniforms, while the away kits are predominantly white. The badge represents a knight, holding an ice hockey stick. The knight is also one of the city's symbol, which represents a rich history of Sisak. KHL Sisak nicknames are Vitezovi (The Knights).

Honours

Croatian Ice Hockey League

•   Winners (2): 2021–22, 2023–24
•   Runners-up (1): 2022–23
•   3rd place (0):

Sponsors

KHL Sisak sponsors include companies such as: Hrvatski Telekom and OTP banka.

KHL Sisak in European Hockey

After winning Croatian Ice Hockey League in season 2021/2022, KHL Sisak qualify for the IIHF Continental Cup. That was the first time that club will competing in European competition. The draw placed KHL Sisak in group A together with Tartu Kalev-Välk, HC NSA Sofia and Skautafélag Akureyrar. In the final Group A match of the Continental Cup in Sofia, Sisak secured their historic first qualification for the second round with a win against hosts NSA Sofia.

IIHF Continental Cup

Season	Round	Club	Score	Aggregate
2022–23	First Group Stage (Sofia, Bulgaria)	Tartu Kalev-Välk	2-7	1st place
		Skautafélag Akureyrar	2-6
		HC NSA Sofia	9-6
	Second Group Stage (Angers, France)	SC Miercurea Ciuc	5-0	4th place
		Ducs d'Angers	0-12
		Ferencvárosi TC (ice hockey)	10-2

Players

Current roster

Source: https://www.khl-sisak.hr^[1]Source: eliteprospects.com^[2]As of 23 September 2022.

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
1		Riku Räihä	G	R	23	2023	Tampere, Finland
35		Rodoljub Mrđenović	G	L	36	2023	Sisak, Croatia
25		Marko Batnožić	G	L	39	2005	Sisak, Croatia
69		Luka Baždar	D	R	24	2021	Sisak, Croatia
96		Marko Baždar	D	L	18	2023	Sisak, Croatia
21		Niko Čavlović	D	R	20	2023	Zagreb, Croatia
6		Marko Vukadin	D	L	19	2023	Zagreb, Croatia
89		Ryan Galvin (Ice hockey)	F	R	26	2023	Atlanta, Georgia
16		Luka Đerek	D	L	22	2022	Zagreb, Croatia
10		Luka Komljenović (C)	D	L	29	2009	Sisak, Croatia
8		Domagoj Kralj	D/F	L	26	2014	Sisak, Croatia
24		Ivan Puzić (A)	D	L	28	2021	Zagreb, Croatia
13		Jan Ikanović Šilhan	F	R	22	2022	Zagreb, Croatia
15		Tyler Dill	D/F	R	27	2023	South Lake Tahoe, California
92		Lorian Bezuk	D	L	19	2021	Zagreb, Croatia
77		Matija Domitrović	D	R	44	2005	Sisak, Croatia
87		Ivor Bujger	F	L	19	2019	Sisak, Croatia
38		Dominic Rene Čanić	C	L	24	2021	Auckland, New Zealand
5		Patrik Dobrić	D/F	L	22	2021	Zagreb, Croatia
23		Luka Jarčov (A)	RW	L	27	2021	Zagreb, Croatia
17		Hrvoje Krikšić	LW	L	25	2021	Zagreb, Croatia
88		Tomislav Ličina	LW	R	24	2018	Sisak, Croatia
44		Tomislav Lulić	F	R	28	2018	Sisak, Croatia
68		Renato Platužić	F	L	27	2021	Zagreb, Croatia
86		Branimir Rožanković	F	L	33	2006	Sisak, Croatia
27		Nik Malenica	LW/C	L	26	2022	Nanaimo, British Columbia
9		Carter Lennon	D	L	23	2023	Kitchener, Ontario
87		Filip Vragolović	F	L	24	2021	Zagreb,Croatia
55		Leo Selitaj	F	L	23	2021	Zagreb,Croatia
4		Ante Bebek	F	L	21	2023	Zagreb, Croatia
7		Filip Polonijo	F	L	19	2023	Zagreb, Croatia

Retired numbers

KHL Sisak have retired two numbers in their history:

KHL Sisak retired numbers

No	Player	Position	Retired
22	Darko Lončar	F	1983

References

1. "Team Roster / KHL Sisak". khl-sisak.hr/. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
2. "Team Roster / KHL Sisak". eliteprospects.com. Retrieved 19 September 2023.