HC Lev Ukraine

An image of the team

HC Lev Ukraine (Lion) was formed in the displaced persons camp in Mittenwald, Germany, by former Ukraina Lwów player Omelyan Buchatsky in 1947. Comprised from members of the champion team in Lviv, the Lev team first defeated opponents from other camps, and later also German professional teams. The "lions" played eight matches with foreign teams. "We wanted to create a history of Ukrainian hockey!", Oleg Lysiak, a participant in those events, recalled. Footage of the team playing in 1947 exists.

The American military team "Red Wings" became the opponents of the Ukrainians in Mittenwald. Buchatsky personally organized the match. "Telegrams went to our players from other cities," Omelyan recalled, "the fans of our team, that is, all of Mittenwald, stopped talking about leaving for America, and only dreamed of victory." It is difficult to assess the level of play of the American soldiers who took to the ice of the Munich stadium that day against the Ukrainians. However, in terms of size and quality of equipment, the Red Wings team clearly outmatched the Lev hockey players.

Buchatsky recalls: "The Americans were huge, just under two meters tall, firmly armored, chewing their gum and smiled. And their smiles somewhat unnerved us, but we kept repeating to ourselves: "Wait, winged ones, now we will cut those wings off for you." That day, the Ukrainian team consisting of Kalytyak, Lysiak, Buchatsky, Markovsky, Svitenko, Tsimbalisty, Dytso and goalkeeper Shklyar defeated the Red Wings with a score of 10:1.

After 1949, the "Lev" team gradually stopped participating in competitions. Ukrainian sportsmen emigrated to the USA, Canada, France, and Omelyan Buchatsky to Australia.