Corgoň. Source.
The 2023-24 Tipos Extraliga begins. HK Poprad visit HK Nitra.
I selected Poprad to follow this year pretty much randomly -- I like their chamois logo. But after August's Tatra Cup, in which they beat both the Czech and Slovak champions, it seems I made a lucky choice.
HK Poprad date back to 1930. The club has gone through over twenty name changes since then, but those were all variations on the city's name Poprad or else the mountain range's name Tatra. The club never won the old Czechoslovak league and have not won the present-day Slovak Extraliga. They did win the second-tier Slovak league four times in the Czechoslovak days. They finished seventh in the Extraliga last season.
Poprad have the alpine chamois as their emblem and mascot. They wear double blue and white. Their rink holds 4,233 spectators.
Poprad have a Canadian defenceman, Garrett McFadden, who played three seasons for Acadia University.
HK Nitra started out as AC Nitra in 1925, but didn't switch from bandy to Canadian hockey until 1931. They have been in the Extraliga most of the time since Slovak independence. They won the league in 2015-16 and the Continental Cup in 2022-23, as well as the Tatra Cup way back in 1933-34. They finished tenth in the league last year.
Nitra also wear double blue and white. Their emblem is a portrait of Corgoň, blacksmith and local hero, who can be seen as Altas holding up a building in the old town (above). Nitra Arena holds 4,800 spectators.
Slovakian hockey spent all summer pulling itself apart and then putting itself back together, after nine clubs including Poprad declared financial independence from the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation (SZL'H for short). A sore point was automatic relegation. Relegation is not universal in European hockey; the Swedes have it, but the Finns don't.
Poprad's training matches:
2023/8/15 Krakov 3 - 6 Poprad
2023/8/25 Poprad 3 - 4 Michalovce
2023/8/29 Poprad 4 - 3 Spišská Nová Ves
2023/9/1 Michalovce 2 - 3 Poprad
2023/9/5 Poprad 3 - 1 Krakov
[Nitra 2 - 4 Poprad]
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