HC Košice

HC Košice
City:	Košice, Slovakia
League:	Slovak Extraliga
Founded:	1962 as Dukla Košice
Home Arena:	Steel Aréna; (capacity 8,378)
Colors:	darkblue, white, orange;

Hockey Club Košice is a professional ice hockey team playing in the Slovak Extraliga and is one of the most successful hockey teams in Slovakia and the former Czechoslovakia. The team is nicknamed Oceliari, it means Steelers in English.

History

The club existed since 1962, when it was established as an army hockey team named TJ Dukla Košice. At that time, there were two weak regional ice hockey clubs in Košice. The new club was pretty mighty and within two years it joined the Supreme Czechoslovak League.

In 1966 Dukla accepted a new name TJ VSŽ Košice. Twenty years later, in 1986, the club became, for the first time, the Ice Hockey Champion of Czechoslovakia (beat HC Dukla Jihlava in finals). In 1988, TJ VSŽ Košice obtained its second lead - in finals beat HC Sparta Prague. At that time, the team of VSŽ Košice was the second best ice hockey team in Europe after legendary CSKA Moscow (The European Cup 1987 and 1989).

Former logo of HC Košice (until 1998)

In 1992, the federal Czechoslovak parliament decided to split country into two independent states – the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as of January 1, 1993. As a Slovak team, VSŽ Košice became a member of the Slovak Extraliga, and in the next years obtained three titles of Slovak hockey champion.

In 1998, the club changed name again. Hockey Club (HC) Košice removed to Lokomotíva Košice Stadium because of the Steel Aréna – Košice‘s L. Troják Stadium construction. The new home arena of HC Košice was open on February 24, 2006. It is named in honour of the general sponsor of HC Košice – the U. S. Steel Košice (a member of the United States Steel Corporation, U.S.A.) and legendary Košice‘s ice hockey player Ladislav Troják.

Since 2008-09, HC Kosice has won four Slovak Extraliga champions, the most recent of which in 2013-14.

Season-by-season results

This is a partial list of the last seven seasons completed by HC Košice. Code explanation; GP—Games played, W—Wins, OTW—Overtime wins, OTW—Overtime losses, L—Losses, GF—Goals for, GA—Goals against, Pts—Points. Top Scorer: Points (Goals+Assists)

Season	League	Regular season									Post season results	Top scorer (regular season)
Season	League	Finish	GP	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	Pts	Post season results	Top scorer (regular season)
2007–08	Extraliga	2nd	54	31	5	5	13	188	127	103	Lost in finals, 3–4 (HC Slovan Bratislava)	Juraj Faith 52 (23+29)
2008–09	Extraliga	1st	56	37	6	3	10	232	131	126	Won Slovak Championship, 4–2 (HK 36 Skalica)	Rudolf Huna 72 (31+41)
2009–10	Extraliga	3rd	47	24	3	3	17	179	126	81	Won Slovak Championship, 4–2 (HC Slovan Bratislava)	Rudolf Huna 49 (24+25)
2010–11	Extraliga	1st	57	38	10	3	6	217	102	137	Won Slovak Championship, 4–1 (HK Poprad)	Peter Bartoš 53 (23+30)
2011–12	Extraliga	1st	55	35	2	1	17	191	130	110	Lost in finals, 3–4 (HC Slovan Bratislava)	Miroslav Zálešák 47 (15+32)
2012–13	Extraliga	2nd	56	32	4	5	15	214	138	109	Lost in finals, 1-4 (HKm Zvolen)	Richard Jenčík 66 (23+43)
2013–14	Extraliga	1st	56	39	4	0	13	174	98	125	Won Slovak Championship, 4–3 (HK Nitra)	Peter Bartoš 47 (14+33)