EHM The Blue Line

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. GM profile: Slovenian nationality only and minor leagues experiance

35 years old former hockey player from Slovenia for some scouts NHL prospect 15 years ago but things did end up that way. After playing 3 years successfuly in OHL and despite being predicted to get drafted in the big league my name never got called. Later spending few years in ECHL and was on few tryouts with NHL and AHL teams but...never made it. When I moved back to Europe I been playing successfuly in German 2nd league and French top league before moving to my native Slovenia. In Slovenian hockey things were not good and clubs are very poor but after so many years away from home I wanted to win championship of my country so I sign a 3 year deal with Olimpija Ljubljana who are as well playing in strong Austrian champioship. In first season we won the championship of Slovenia and after that things went down...most of my time I was injured so we all agreed on mutual termination of the contract....

So there I was unemployed and without my sport that I gave up till now my entire life. I went to Slovenian federation to get my coach license done and as well traveled on few coach clinics abroad as I knew i want to be a GM/HC in my near future. Since there was no real money in Slovenia in hockey world I was looking to start abroad so I called several of hockey agents that knew me as a player and I cooperated back in my playing career. I knew it will be hard to get a job and that I should accept any chance I get and try to work up from there.

I was waiting and waiting for that call from agents and it never came...not at least during summer so I could run the team from start and pick my players...days were long and I got in a bit of panic as I needed a job.

24th of November:
**RING RING*
me: "Hello"
agent: "Hey, coach"
me: "Oh, you are still alive...been long since I got a call from you...what is new?"
agent: "Yeah..been busy..but I worked hard for you as well! Listen, there is a team that want to hire you as GM/Head coach. Not much money but at least its regular and you start somewhere!"
me: "Wow, thank you, please let me know more and when do I have to go.."
agent: "Well it is English Premier Ice Hockey league team called Bracknell Bees and they had terrible start so they fired former boss Ben Beeching. I think it would be a nice start for you specialy as you are trying to get your foot on the door....ammm..and..they want you there tomorrow so while I am getting ready the contract you start packing as you have flight tomorrow to London!"
me: "Great news! Well event I have not even check the team I am in for this adventure! I need to start somewhere! Thank you again and send me the contract over email! Bye"

The moment we end talking I check the internet about my new team and players...did not have much of an idea about where am I heading but I was ready!



25th of November:
After a 2h flight from Ljubljana to London and then about an hour or maybe little more drive with the Chairman of Bracknell Bees mr. Andrew Cross I got to my new home for the next 6 months...team is semi pro and in good financial healt whic is a good sign for me.

Cross: "Practice is today at 8 pm where you will get to know coach Paul Jones and club legend Lukas Smital who we sign on player/coach contract and as well the lads. I hope we will cooperate great and I do give you open hands to bring new staff and as well new players."
me: "Thank you very much mr. Cross. I am sure we will have a great cooperation!"

After evening practice I called chairman to get a phone number of former boss Ben Beeching as I had few questions for him...after our 2 hour convo on phone I decided it might be useful to have Ben around me as if we want to be successful I need an assistant GM who knows the team already. Beeching liked the idea and decided to accept my offer for Assistant GM spot..after all he is local coach and this club means everything to him.



After just few practices I notice club legend Smital will need to be on stand by as with his 41 years he just can not perform game by game..as well I notice our only Canadian Galazzi is not worth to be in this team....same I think for Czech D man Bandik. We will have to look to terminate the contracts with Galazzi and Bandik and try to get some new forces!

After sending out an email to agencies that we are looking for top LD, top C and top RW we got some interesting offers. One of them was on LD a 2008 4th round Sabers pick Jordon Southorn who played mostly in ECHL and AHL...he accepted our tryout offer and joined us but then when we offer him a contract he did not even want to discuss it...too bad!

Next morning I got a call from a Slovenian agent that offered me Gasper Kopitar....younger brother of NHL superstar Anze Kopitar! I called Gasper and he told me he started this season in ECHL Manchester Monarch but is looking for team where he can be a leading player...by the end of the day he had our offer on the table and he accept it! We got our 1st line C right now!

More then I was browsing agent`s internet pages of their clients and check their emails more I realized how hard is to actually find a good player just via highlights…what we need is a good scout but in this rang of competition and semi professional status noone wants to come.

Oh well, we had to get things going so I took a bit of time and notice that in my former team, where i finished my playing career, Olimpija Ljubljana has few players available on transfer list. I called few of them and actualy was able to talk over to join us a 22-years old Slovenian RW Jure Sotlar. Fans did not do much of a hype like they did when Kopitar joined us but still I knew what I am buying here and I was delighted.

We started to play very good and winning game after game and still had available budget to sign some new players. We finally released Czech D man Jan Bendik and Canadian C James Galazzi who did not fit my team plus were overpaid. For Galazzi I found a great substitute from Czech top division side Liberec in Vid Jonak, a 24-years old Czech center that was like my previous signings wanted more important roles and playing time. After signing Jonak our fans were delighted even if anyone of us did not really know who we bought. But we were very lucky as Jonak really showed himself as a brilliant player for the team.

We were still searching for right D man to cover Bendik`s position and more we were looking around less we knew who to pick. Transfer deadline was aproaching so we had to do a move…I really didnt want to buy someone that would be worst then our domestic players...i needed a real »steal« from the market here. I notice that David Kajinek wanted to leave Liberec as well so the easiest way to get good info about him was his fromer team-mate Jonak! Well by the Jonak`s words Kajinek would be best D man in the league so we did not hasitate to bring him over. After bad start Kajinek actualy put his game on higher standard more as we aproach the end of the season.



We really become a team that everyone was afraid of in the league..most of the games under my helm we were winning so mr. Cross, chirman of our club, wanted to resign me for another season but my answer was we still have time for that. With the great finish we manage to end up 4th in regular season. Our ice hocky hall had the most attendance in the league and we were all enjoying. That we are on right path showed also when Slovenian national team Head Coach contact me and later call up to Challenge tournaments both Bracknell players Kopitar and Sotlar!





There it was..a PLAYOFFS! At start we met the 5th placed in regular season Manchester Phoenix who we destroy in two games 5:1 (4:0, 1:1). Interesting was that top placed teams lost in 1st round already so I got a great feeling we can actualy win the championship. With the win over Manchester we book at ticket to FINAL 4 tournament held in Coventry.
In semis we got Peterborough Phantoms ( 6th in regular season) and we beat them 4:0! In the finals the opponent that joined us was 8th in regular season and another surprise of the playoffs Basingstoke Bisons.
The final game ended with another big win for us as we beat Basingstoke 4:1 with great game for oldest player and our club legend Smital (1g+2a) and Kopitar (1g + 1a).
THE NEW EIPHL CHAMPIONS ARE BRACKNELL BEES!!





Hmmm fans were delighted with me and same goes with mr. Cross who try to talk me over to stay another year. I promised him I will stay if I dont find anything during summer that will match my ambition. After all I felt great in Bracknell and so many attention that I got from media back home I havent ever during my playing career. I decided that will try and resign most of my current squad but our players from abroad heard I might leave during summer so they were all kinda waiting for my decision.


Went back to Slovenia and meet my agent for a lunch:
Agent: »Coach, congrats. All that are in hockey business here in Slovenia talking about you. We sure need to make a plan what to do next!«
Me: »Thanks. Yeah I been thinking…Bracknell was a great experiance but I need more, need better challenge. Probably if you check at top UK division EIHL teams they should be interesting to get me. After all I manage to win the EIPHL with 2nd smallest budget in the league. Also check around in Europe if anything interesting comes up. But as I said would not mind staying in UK.«
Agent: »Was thinking the same! Then again, there will be soon World championships and there will be open spots for many national teams…have you give a thought about leading a national team anytime soon?
Me: »Hmmm…great challenge as well! Ofcourse offer my name around and see what you come up with!«

While being at home and meeting up with family and friends got also an email from mr. Cross that everyone from domestic players extend the contract and that only one from abroad that decided to stay was Slovenian Jure Sotlar (26 games – 11 goals- 16 assists – 27 points). At this point we have alongside Sotlar as well Czech player and leading player in past season for our team Milan Kostourek (54 games – 31 goals – 28 assists – 59 points). Lukas Smital, legend of Bracknell, decided to leave as well..I tried to talk him over to take Head Coach position or again as previous year Player/Coach position but he decline..I smell retirement soon. Kopitar is looking again for a chance to go back to States and tryout with AHL or ECHL teams if his brother can help him up. Sotlar nor G.Kopitar were called up to represent Slovenia in World championship in Russia. Kajinek and Jonak are targets of Czech 2nd division teams, EIHL and EIPHL teams…actualy few days later they both accept offer from Hull Pirates that are in same league as we! Good look to them both!

I still dont know my future at Bracknell but I do feel responsible to build their squad for next season. My first signing was 22-years old Czech goalie Lukas Horak who past season was a 2nd goalie in Czech 1st division (2nd tier) side Most and in 11 games he had a record 7W-3L-1T with 91,4% saves! Not to tell fans are excited!

BIG NEWS!!!
After relegation of group A of World championship of hockey Slovenian national team decided to sack their GM/head coach!
Few days later they announce the new GM/head coach…

Hmmmm less then a year ago I was almost depressed as I could not gave up playing hockey and afterwards had problems getting a job as a GM/Head coach but look at me now! A new GM/Head coach of Slovenian national team! I can not be happier that federation gave me a chance to lead my own country.
Federation gave me goals to come back as soon as possible to highest level of World championship hockey and I am pretty sure we have quality for that, specialy as next Divisio A1 World championship will be hosted by our neighbours Croatia. The team we will face are France, Great Britain, Hungary, Ukraine and home team Croatia.

Great news for Slovenian fans was also that NHL superstar Anze Kopitar won Selke trophy! Hopefuly I will be able to lead Anze in national team jersey soon!



I have been still working and getting ready the Bracknell squad for next season. I was happy that mr. Cross notice we have potential and made salary`s budget bigger. Slovenian Jure Sotlar decided to leave Bees despite signing a new contract. He active the clause in his contract that he can leave for free in case of a good offer from abroad. Well we did brought back Gasper Kopitar and two interesting Swedes Patrik Magnusson (ex Boras) and Simon Fernholm (NHL drafted, ex Timra) alongside with Great Britain national team member Mark Garside (ex Belfast) and Canadian with British passport Bobby Chaumont (ex Dundee).
This year EPIHL should be interesting as teams brought many interesting players from all around EU!



In mid July I was on my holidays in Cuba…enjoying in a nice all-inclusive hotel doing nothing...about 2 days till the end of my holidays I got a call from mr. Thomas Oliver, a chairman of Fife Flyers from EIHL..

Thomas: »Hello, I am a chairman of oldest professional club in UK, Fife Flyers. We had a bad season as we finished 9th in the league out of 10. We were following your work at Bracknell last season and we would be very interested to have you as our new GM.«
me: »Thank you very much mr. Oliver and I would be more then interested to join EIHL and make a step up in my career. I do have few questions before I say the finaly »yes« if you do not mind? First of all I want to know about budget and if you have already signed any players? What are the goals of Fife Flayer in 2016/17 season?«
Thomas: »Well to be honest we have the lowest budget in the league for past few years and top teams can have like up to 4x more for salaries then we do but we seen your work at Bracknell and we belive you can do great as well here. About our roster is already filled up with 13 imported players but you can always try and get new ones to replace the ones we have. Goal is simple…try to get in playoffs!«
me: »Mr. Oliver thank you for your informations and call. Please contact my agent and lets seal the deal.«

Well my holidays ended even better then i thought. When I arrived back to Slovenia I as well sign the deal with Fife. Was kinda hard to call mr. Cross and tell him I am leaving Bracknell…he understood and wished me good luck.



When I got all the info about Fife from mr. Oliver I notice we need to make this organisation on higher level so we started with bringing a much needed scout, 3 North American coaches and I got myself a new assistant GM, Canadian Monty Hoppel.

Below is the roster of Fife Flyers…and to be honest not many interesting players left on market so we will see what few rounds in the regular season will show us and then try to get some better imports that were cut from NHL tryouts..that is at least what I hope so.

After few practices and that first period of »get to know eachother« I have notice that Darren McKague is just not on level I want plus using my import player slot. Most of the players in the team last season played in ECHL and even there they did not have an important roles…while McKague came from German 4th division. We cut Darrent and starting to look for better players.

Fife Flyers really needed someone in organisation that knows about hockey and do not just sign players because some agents, that they worked in the past very well together, tell them to. I told that to my new chairman mr. Oliver and he gave me full permission to run and sign players I choose.

My main goal was to see what we can do with the team and check the market place regulary about possible hockey players to join us. I was looking mosty at talented British players and imports that either last year played on higher level and could not yet find a team or those who had previous experiance in EIHL…Was looking to add good players in all 3 forwards positions and keep on eye if we can really make a »big steal« on defense postion.

Since I was last year at EPIHL I knew lots of players from there so I did first check that league. I found Brett Perlini, Canadian with British passport, and he would count as domestic player. Need to tell you that lots of Canadians have also British passports but they do count as imports…what was the case with Perlini that he got away with it I don know but I did, before we bought him from Hull Pirates, check on EIHL federation several times if he would count as domestic or import. Perlini, 188cm and 91kg, is a flashy 26 years old RW that was last year one of best players at Hull Pirates in EPIHL and he was bought by Fife Flyers for 30.000 USD fee. The moment he joined Fife I knew we made a great deal with this player that was also drafted by Ducks in 2010 in 7th round.

After that signature I started to negotiate a deal with a 27 years old free agent from USA named Nico Sacchetti. Nico, 183cm and 93kg guy, caught my eye with his high draft pick as he was in 2007 drafted in 2nd round by Dallas Stars. Looking over his profile I notice he went straight form college career to Europe and in season 2013/14 played great in EIHL for Dundee Stars as in 50 games he record 37 goals and 40 assists for 77 points. After that he tried in Russian 2nd division and last season and a half played in Austrian 2nd division. Negotiating was hard but after several attempts we finaly sign him.

Just few days before this update I manage to convince another player. 28 years old two-way forward from Canada Joey Martin who is 178cm tall and has 84kg. Joey last two season successfuly played in EIHL for Cardiff Devils and before that had great seasons in ECHL and solid ones in AHL. He was never drafted but what got us encouraged to sing him was successful spell at Cardiff where in season 2014/15 he ended up with 83 points and last season with 30 points.

Probably you are all interested how we are doing and let me tell you something..we are at the moment biggest hit of the season as in 20 games so far we manage to lose only three times and we are topping the conference and regular league. We are all very impressed the way so far season goes and we still have lots to prove.



If my goal and goal of the board was to play playoffs this season I just put my goals a bit higher and that is that we manage to qualify for European club competition next season and give Fife Flyers a season to remember..till then we still need to prove we are worth it from game to game..

Regarding Slovenian national team we got our opponents for Final Olympic Qualification that will be held in Denmark in February 2017. Home team and Germans will be our biggest threat but I am positve we can play against them on equal base. Looking forward to that challenge!

February 2017 was aproaching quickly and my first meeting with Slovenian national team as a GM/Head coach.

There was no earlier tournaments that we could work on few of my ideas and try them before..no, our first test will be already a very important one…qualifications for Olimpic games! Can Slovenia be in two Olympic games in a row? Newspapers and online media was guessing a lot about the players I will call up to the squad that will face Germany, Estonia and home team of Denmark.

First lets hear some facts about Slovenia and hockey:
Slovenia is about the size of New Jersey and has a population of 2.07 million. That'd put it at No. 32 among U.S. metropolitan areas, between Las Vegas and Albuquerque, N.M. A grand total of five Slovenian players have been drafted by NHL teams. Two, Jan Mursak and Anze Kopitar, have actually made it to the league, and Mursak is currently in the KHL. There are 150 total professional players in the country, and 25 were at the Olympics in Sochi in Russia where they become one of the big surprises. Slovenia actualy have only one professional team and several semi pro teams and probably just about 5 or 6 icerinks!!

I made a list of player and luckly there was noone injured at that time so they were all ready to join us for Olympic qualifications! The only one missing will be ofcourse our best player and NHL star Anze Kopitar.

Below is the list of players called up and the ones that are dressed for the game against Germany.



We had few days in our capital city Ljubljana to get ready for the tournament. Players accepted my ideas and our best player in this selection Jan Mursak accepted the role in 2nd line along side Ziga Pance and Jan Urbas. First line was reserved for a trio of players that played together already as kids in Jesenice, Ticar – Jeglic – Sabolic. Rodman brothers will play in 3rd line alongside Golicic. We will use 3 D pairs and 4 Forward lines and then do cut them to 3 lines during the game..same as I am doing at Fife and before Bracknell.

How the games went….check on screenshots below:







Yes, we made it! We are going to Olympic games! We were dominant and Mursak ended with 9 points in 3 games! Players and fans were excited…and i must confess..so were I! France and Belarus are the other two team that reach the Olympics.



OK, mission Accomplished…now back to Scotland…

There was not much time to celebrate the success with national team of Slovenia as already next day we all went back to our clubs.

We had the most interesting part of the season ahead of us.
During that time I also sign an American Defender Adam Comrie (193cm, 100kg, LD/LR) who was in 2008 drafter in 3rd round by Florida Panthers but never played in NHL..most of his career he spend playing in ECHL and some AHL.

Few days later after my return from national team action we faced Sheffield Steelers in semi finals of Challenge cup and won in two games 5 to 2 so we reach the final. The final was held in Sheffield and our opponent was Belfast Giants. The finals ended with our victory 4:2 and my first British Challenge cup and also first one for the Fife Flyers in their history.



There was still few games to play in regular season of EIHL and we keep playing hard and ended on top with 40 wins in 52 games. I was really proud of my players as they really worked hard for that.



In quaterfinals we met for my opinion one of the hardest opponents we could face and that was Braehead Clan. We actualy lost the first game in our home arena with 2:3 and then played an interesting game at their home which we won in regular time 3:2 so we went to overtimes and since there was no goals we came to shootouts and won 1:0 with goal of Henrion. We booked a ticket for Nottingham to play on FINAL 4!

Our bad luck was that in Semis at Final 4 we played against home sided team Nottingham Panthers. Nottingham has lots of money, great players and as well great fan support so I kinda expected this could be the end of our run…we started badly…22 minutes and we were down 0:3! At 34th minute we finaly score via Power Play goal by Kellen Jones. After 40 minutes we were down 1:3 and we had long talk in the locker room. I told my guys to keep a pressure on them and we started to use only two forward lines. With just 2 and a half minutes in 3rd quater we were tied on 3:3…scorers were John Henrion and Joey Martin. I put back the 3rd forward line in the game so we would not gas out too much. 3 minutes till the end of the game the home crowd went nuts as Brad Moran got them again the lead….we put again only two lines and hope for miracle..last minute I called my goalie out…last 15 seconds when I thought the game was over Nico Sacchetti stole a puck behind Panthers goal and skate around it and put the puck behind Wiikman`s back….4:4…..the Notthingham arena went silent! Overtime went goalless so we had another shootout coming…and Fife won 1:0 with only goal that came from Martin! What a game! Fife Flyers are in the FINALS of EIHL!

The final game was quite easy…we won 3:1 again Coventry Blaze and goals came from our 3rd line as I guess our top two lines were still very exhausted from semis the day before! YESSSS, FIFE DID THE DOUBLE THIS SEASON!



When we came from Nottingham back to Kirkcaldy we had a feeling that everyone from Fife county came to celebrate with us..it was an amazing season for all of us! Once again congrats to the boys!



Few days later I got few emails from agents of our players who want to stay and who want to test the free market. Players that we will lost when their contract will expire are: Pat Nagle (1st goalie, USA), Stuart Stefan (team leader in points with 55p, CAN), Dan Ringwald (top line DL with 44 points, CAN), Kellen Jones (top line LW with 41 points, CAN) and some others that are not so important to me…two of them that I will not resign and are Canadians with British passport and national team players are James Isaacs and Matthew Paton.
It is going to be busy summer!



I had to choose also a team for World championship division 1A and I choose the same players as for Olympic games qualification. We won 1st place with all the wins but it was not so easy as I expected! Croatia really surprised me as they give us huge problems with bunch of their Canadians and a huge shock came as they lost the 2nd spot that still lead to top level of hockey in last game…so promoted teams are Slovenia and Hungary while relegated were Great Britain. Well we reached our goal and move back to where we belong!

I started my summer vacation in Thailand and thinking about hockey, Fife, Slovenian national team, Olympic games, Euro Champions Cup, etc..

Those 14 days went fast but I still came back to Slovenia full of elan and motivated for next season. Already next day I started to browse all kind of databases with available hoceky players for season 2017/18.

Since we lost several important players that help us to get that success last season I knew we need to get the best possible players we can…starting with goalie!

Probably best goalie I could find and from the words of his agent would that would be interested to join us was Niklas Backstrom…they were looking at 50.000,00 USD per season.

I picked up a phone and dial the number of our president mr. Oliver..
Oliver: »Hello my favorite person in the county«
Me: »He he, hello mr. Oliver. It is time we start signing players for next season and as I think that every good team needs for a start to have a great goalie I wanted to discuss with you about budget for next season«
Oliver: »It`s stays the same.«
Me: »You are kidding me right? We made great profit last season plus we play Euro Champions Cup in just few months time and I`m stuck with the same budget?«
Oliver: »Well board of directions already had a meeting while you were on vacation and they all decide that if you managed to win the EIHL with the budget we gave you why would we need to make it any bigger?«
Me: »Maybe as we will play in Europe and every agent now ask from me way more money as they did when we were among weaker teams. We are champions mr. Oliver, we need to behave like them. I have a chance to sign the biggest name that ever skate on British soil for British club..Niklas Backstrom! Our limit is 33.000,00 USD per season for few top players and Niklas want 50.000,00 USD. Find me those 20.000,00! Any other EIHL team can offer that kind of money for their best players..
Oliver: »Hmmmmm. No, no I can`t. Go with the limits of budget we gave you. Thanks!«
Me: »You probably don`t know who Backstrom is right? Oh boy! Whatever…bye«

I was really mad. I was thinking to even leave Fife Flyers….I called the agent of Backstrom and explain him the situation. He understood and offer me for 30.000,00 USD a new name, as well former NHL goalie that last few season played in Europe..Dan Ellis. There was not much to think about it..we signed Dan in next few days!

When we announce Dan Ellis the fans were excited and so was I as I knew I got myself a great goalie, probably best in EIHL!

As i was scouting EPIHL during season I wanted to bring Czech Center Vit Jonak, my former player at Bracknell, who past season played at Hull Pirates and finished with 58 points. I notice also Swedish LW/RW named Jasper Thornberg who finished past season in EPIHL for Manchester Phoenix with 69 points as a rookie. I offered them both contracts.

Few days later Jonak called me himself and told me he accepted the deal of Czech top division side Olomouc. As far as I know Vit I am pretty sure he will be looking for new club during the season as he won`t be in the first two lines at Olomouc and I know he wants to play hockey and not just be part of the team. But I accepted his decision and wished him luck.

Same day got also a call from Jasper`s agent and he told us Thornberg is our new player! Great news!



Then I got a call from some French agent offering me Floran Douay, young 22 years old LW/RW French national team player that also played against Slovenian national team few months ago in Croatia and scored us two goals. Douay posses also Swiss passport so last two season he played at top division in Switzerland for Geneve and Lugano. Yes we signed him! He is strong guy at 192cm and 99 kilos and will I am sure played great in EIHL.



There was also another guy who catch my eye while scouting ECHL..Canadian Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau..a 22 years old LW that was in 2013 drafted in NHL in 2nd round by San Jose Sharks. In ECHL he played past season for Kalamazoo Wings and in 72 games scored 93 points. Season earlier he was still at QMJHL at Chicoutimi Sagueneens and in 66 games scored 83 points. Gabryel accepted a deal with Fife and we expect he will be among leading players in the league.



I was happy with the signing season so far and for the budget we have I think we brought some solid names. Ofcourse when I saw the players some other EIHL teams brought for 50.000,00 USD per season or more almost got me tears on my face…

Few days later I get a shocking news!



I really could not belive it. The guy that I saw as the main piece of the puzzle retired. In a big shock I called his agent and ask for Backstrom if he might lower his demands and got told he decided to retire as well…

Not many goalies on the market left..there were few youngsters that been drafted to NHL few seasons ago but I am looking for a proven vet here..all I could find was Canadian Kevin Nastiuk. Kevin was drafted in NHL in 2013 by Carolina Hurricanes but never played in NHL. He mostly played in ECHL and AHL before moving to Europe and spend several season in DEL and DEL2. Last season he played again in ECHL for Manchester Monarch but in 12 games had 3 wins and 9 losses…Kevin is 32 years old and with a good season in Fife he can still move up to stronger European leagues..



The last guy that we sign was American Zack Budish. 26 years old RW/C drafted in NHL in2009 in 2nd round by Nashville Predators never manage to get in NHL…he played in ECHL and AHL all his career and is looking forward to go and start in Europe as well. Welcome to Fife Zack.



Those were the players we can afford to go with the limits of the budget. I will still look for a great Defense player as we actualy lost quality in those lines compering to last season.



I need to prepare the team now for European Champions Cup where we got in group Czech team Liberec and Finish team Karpat with Jonathan Cheechoo as a star player.

Just to tell you.. last season standouts at Fife Pat Nagle, Dan Ringwald and Kellen Jones all signed for ECHL sides while Stuart Stefan sign for last year last team in EIHL Edinburgh Capitals.

2nd season at Fife and my 3rd in career as a GM will about to start...

(First of all I aplogize I havent posted anything in this section for over a year but I got my mood back for EHM and will continue my jurney with this save. I see pics above are »lost« but I hope you will still continue reading…thanks!)

President of Fife Flyers, mr. Thomas Oliver, was all excited that for the first time Euro Champions Cup will be played in Kirkcaldy. The whole city and larger area of county of Fife was as well expecting a new breeze of quality hockey that European club competition will bring. On the other side myself was a bit scared as I did not really knew what we can expect and knowing that with my limited budget I really could not get a level of domestic and imports I wanted for Europe and even for British championship that we manage to won season before.

With a big surprise we actually won group K of Euro Champions Cup and then in first round among 32 best teams in Europe lost against German side Iserlohn Roosters with some big names in the team like Maxim Chudinov, Dany Heatley, Marc-Andre Bergeron or Tim Gleason and so on. We lost 1:3 in Germany and draw in Scotland 2:2 which was an amazing success.



We started the season successfuly and hit the top of the rankings just after few rounds and never look back till the end of the regular season. During the season I decided to sign another import goalie to be the back up for Canadian Keving Nastiuk and I belive that the best what agents could offer me considering the salary we could offer was Finnish goalie Antti Rautiola. 30-years old Rautiola past season played in Finnish top division for KooKoo and put decent stats in 28 games with 10 wins and 15 loses with 91,4% of saves.



All the time during the season was calling agents to offer me D players that have good experiance and that might be a bit in panic as they still did not sign a contract but would consider for a short time move to Fife and saved their season….and we could not find anyone. The only guy we actually sign was forward, enforcer Brett Hextall, 29-years old American who in Fife for sure did not came to be enforcer but a great addtion to 2nd line in center postion. Brett coming from a well known NHL Hextall family which boost as well a marketing department at our club.



When I was not heading my Manager/Head Coach role at Fife Flyers I was devoting my time as well to Slovenian national team that secure for the 2nd time in history an Olympic ticket. During Euro Challenges we did not play well and lost many games we should not. Ofcourse our players from NHL and KHL did not play on those challenges and just proved how important for our small country with small hockey base every good hockey player is.

At Olympic games we had our best team as we could count on Anze Kopitar and as well on KHL players like Jan Mursak, Ziga Jeglic, Rok Ticar and Robert Sabolic. In group A we were facing Finland, USA and Switzerland and manage to won by shoot-out Switzerland…then in playoffs lost to Slovakia 4:2. Canada won the Olympics 4:1 against Czech Republic and 3rd place was won by USA over Sweden. Great experiance and hope that will not be our last Olympic games! In few months we will play World championship so I hope we can be in the same edition as in Olympics so I wished my players healthy rest of the season.



Back to Scotland…we finished on top spot the regular season and will be facing Nottingham Panthers in Playoffs. Worth mantion that in British Challenge cup (we won last year) we were humiliated in the semi finals by Edinburgh Capitals 1:7 and 2:6…yes, mr. Oliver was very unhappy!





RING RING
me: »Yes?«
agent: »Hello the most popular Slovenian in the UK«
me: »Hey Neil. What`s new?«
agent: »Nada. But I can confirm you that there was teams that were looking for your profile so I am pretty sure we could get you a good deal for next year!«
me: »I really hope so Neil. I don`t belive I can stay at Fife for another season. Just need a step up again. Would love a new challenge and better, more hockey environment.«
agent: »I understand you. Well you need to give your best in playoffs now as that will get us better chances to get you offers from better teams. As well I will be on World Championship so we will meet there and discuss more personaly…hopefully with contract offers already. Till then good luck«

Playoffs for season 17/18 started and in first round we got Nottingham Panthers and we manage to win both games, away 2:1 and at home 3:2. In the Final 4 then at semis our opponent was Manchester Storm and we won with 4:2 and move to the finals!

In the Final our opponent become with a win over Belfast Giants 3:2 Edinburgh Capitals! Edinburgh is one of the teams that during the season we really couldn’t find a way to beat them or even play a close game. Remember they humiliate us in the semis of British cup with sum of 13:3 from both games. Not to mention they had our former 1st line C from our championship season Stuart Stefan who this year produced another 50+ points season. The game started and in full Nottingham arena with 7500 spectators we took a lead with a goal in 26th minute by Brett Hextall. In 37th minute Capitals tied up at 1 with a goal by Canadian defender Lee Baldwin and the result stayed the same till the end of regular time. If have notice that Stefan couldn’t do much and had a very bad game rated at 5…as well one of our leading players and first line Center Nico Sacchetti. So before the overtimes I mixed a bit the line up and hoped we scored before going to shoot-out. Our plan didn’t work as in 63rd minute Capitals` David Rutherford scored for a win and big celebration (previous season they were last in EIHL).
I couldn’t do anything then congrats to opponents and as well to my players for great season, even if we didn’t manage to win any cups!



Few days later I was meeting our president mr. Oliver in his office…
Mr. Oliver: “Great season, great performance in Europe and at domestic championship...we just didn’t have a pinch of luck to win it at the end. Overall we are very satisfied with your work.”
me: “Thank you very much, sir. I wasn’t happy as we didn’t win at least one trophy this season but it all goes back when we talked that club needs to start investing more into players and staff. We again made a huge profit but salaries budget stays the same…hope you all in the board can do something about it.
Mr. Oliver: “We wont go there again. Budget is as it is. You made team successful with that budget and everyone is happy…”
me: “Everyone is happy? How about all the team wants to try the free agency after the season as we can not to afford more money for salaries. It is normal that they want a raise after a good season.”
Mr. Oliver: “All?”
me: “Yes, all of them!”
Mr. Oliver: “Then we will have to find new ones. We play next year again Euro Champions cup…that will motivate them all.”
me: “We will see mr. Oliver, we will see. I will do my best to find players that fit the budget but expect that I will as well look for a stronger and better league to manage and coach in the near future.”
Mr. Oliver: “I understand your desire and your potential. We have no doubt you will try and get the best players for Fife with limited budget for next season and hope we can start a season with you on the helm like the past few years.”

Almost all the player left…with some I didn’t want to renew and some had bigger demands that we couldn’t afford or just wanted to try the free agents market.
The good thing is we manage to keep last year best player 23 years old Canadian LW Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau (1st line - 58 points last season at Fife), Finnish goalie Antti Rautiola, 23 years old French national team player Floran Douay (3rd line - 22 points) and 27 years old Swedish forward Jesper Thornberg (2nd line – 41 points). All other imports went and test the free agents market. Evan Mosey`s contract was about to run out and he wanted to move to bigger team so we decided to sold him for free to Sparta from Norway top division.



Few days after they were on the free agents market we offer Brett Hextall and Brett Perlini new offers and they accept it and join us back at Fife! One of best players in the league past season Adam Comrie decided to sign for…guess who…Edinburgh Capitals. Another important player John Henrion signed for Coventry Blaze while Zach Budish sign in France and Kevin Nastiuk in Belarus. Our last year 1st liner Center Nico Sacchetti is still free but AHL team seems to show interest in him…

After Hextall and Perlini another familiar face sign a contract. 31 years old Defender from Canada Dan Ringwald decided to join us. Dan was in firs D pair 2 seasons ago when we won British championship and fans were excited that he join us again.



One of the agents offered me and interesting player that played past season in France and in 50 games scored 38 points plus hold British passport yet he never played in UK. Andy Bathgate later on sign a contract with us and will be our 1st line center. Andy was drafted to NHL in 5th round in 2009 by Pittsburgh Penguins.



Due to limited budget my main goal was to get quick players that might not so much be good in technical side but be better physically then our opponents. That’s why we sign 26 years old Canadian Joe Basaraba who past seasons played in Czech 2nd division. Joe was drafted 2010 NHL draft in 3rd round by Florida Panthers.



An interesting moment happened later on as out of the blue I got an email by Jesse Saarinen, 32 years old Finnish player that played in Finnish top division for years and as well KHL with Medvescak Zagreb. He said that he met our goalie Antti Rautiola back in Finland and he told him that we are looking for quality players so Antti pass him my email. Jesse last season played in KooKoo (Finnish 2nd division) as well as Antti before he join us. After some emails back and forth and calling to Zagreb to check on Jesse we decided to bring him to our team. He should be a great addition for a solid salary!



Ringwald`s agent called me if we are looking for any more players and I told him we do look for three D players and one or two forwards and an a goalie who would be a back up to Antti Rautiola. Budget is limited so I didn’t expect much…

He suggest me to try on two NHL drafted players that just finished NCAA and would come cheaper then Ringwald together. I must say I was a bit sceptical as I didn’t do my homework as I should and all I did was reading few internet news sections and NHL draftee reports. We just didn’t have time to send out scout and so on…I accepted an idea to sign both of players and if they don’t meet my demands we can terminate the contract until the end of December.

We sign a 22 years old Canadian, defensive defenseman, Dane Birks. Birks for the past three seasons played at Michigan Tech and in the last season at 49 games record 9 goals and 18 assists and had 64 penalty minutes. He was in 2013 drafted in NHL by Pittsburgh Penguins in 6th round!



The other player that we got in a package with Birks is as well 22 years old Canadian, stay at home defenseman, Brandon Hickey. Hickey last three seasons played for Boston University and in last season scored 5 goals and 12 assists in 50 games and sat on bench 46 minutes. Brandon was drafted in 2014 NHL draft in 3rd round by Calgary Flames.
We were happy with both players and we think that for that money we couldn’t get better youngsters…specially for 2nd D line!



Was still searching for C for 2nd or 3rd line (depends how I wanted to use Haxtall) and run on Slovakian agent who said he represent for European markets Yan Stastny, former American national team member and former NHL player but as well better known as older brother of NHL player Paul Stastny, current USA national team member. What happened to Yan in past few years I didn’t know as he went from NHL to KHL to DEL and last season played in EPIHL!! For Swindon Wildcats in 54 games he scored 17 goals and 20 assists and had 80 penalty minutes as well…his average rating was awful 5.67. At 35 he wont get any better but I did think that we can get a great use of him as 3rd or even 2nd liner and some special teams. We went in negotiating and got him for great deal plus after Haxtall hockey dynasty member we as well now welcome member of Stastny hockey dynasty member!



Of course Slovakian agent offered me as well a 38 years old Slovakian goalie Matus Kostur who was drafted in NHL back in 2000 by NJ Devils in 5th round. Matus has experience from AHL, KHL, Czech and Slovakian top divisions so we thought he would be a great addition for back up goalie…plus the salary was what we were looking for.



We were almost completed but was still looking for someone who could play in first D line along side Dan Ringwald. Wanted someone young and promising. Well after browsing on thousands of emails and run on one name that really found it interesting. A 21 years old Latvian national team player, offensive defenseman, Uvis Janis Balinskis. Good salary range as well! Uvis last year played a bit in KHL for Dinamo Riga and finished the season in Liepaja in Latvian league.



That was about it. We got our team ready for next season…will I be leading in season 2018/19 or not we will find out later…

With the Slovenian national team we started training for World Championship in Denmark. I got all the players I wanted and had them in Olympics but shock came a day after my announcement of 26 players we are counting for WC. Our 1st goalie, Robert Kristan, got injured and wont be able to play at the WC.

We were determinate that we still have the quality to stay in the top tier of world hockey despite we had in the group whole Scandinavia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia and USA.
Well we started surprisingly good and after 4 games we were still 3rd in the table. We first manage to beat in overtime Norway, then revenge the loss from Olympic quarterfinals against Slovakia and beat them 2:0, then lost in shoot-out against USA and then we lost to Sweden 2:8. After Sweden we were facing home side of Denmark and if we would win we could plan to be among top 4 in the group…but Denmark was just to strong and too good that night and beat us 2:5. After that disappointing loss we couldn’t keep up with the Finland and lost 1:3 and for the end beat Kazakhstan 3:2 and leave Denmark with our heads high! Was very happy on my lads!





Interesting things from WC…Russia lost in quarterfinals from Sweden 0:3 and Canada from USA 1:2. In semis USA beat Finland 4:2 and Sweden humiliate Czech republic with a win 8:1. Czechs then manage to focus and beat Finland and won the bronze while Sweden won in the finals USA 3:2 and become World champions plus stayed undefeated the whole tournament! Hungary and Kazakhstan were relegated.
Below is as well staring line up of the whole tournament and we are glad that Anze Kopitar is among them! That just shows how good our tournament display was!



I manage to hang out a bit with my agent during WC and he promised me that there will be offers at the start of July and that I should go on a nice vacation and refill my batteries and get ready for new season.

After a good display on World Championship was finally a time for some vacation. Took my 14 days off to really fill up the batteries and get ready for my 4th season as a manager.

As my agent promised me there should be offers at the start of July and as always I did trust my agent…In July he started to call me more often and updating me about clubs that were looking for managers. There was probably around 20 if not more teams looking for managers so I felt confidant that I will get a deal on the table.

Few days later he called me:
agent: “Helllooooo”
me: “Oh, hello. Someone sound happy”
agent: “And someone else will as well in a moment as he finds out he got few offers..”
me: “Kidding me, right? Tell me all…”
agent: “Well, you can choose among Czech powerhouses Dynamo Pardubice or Sparta Prague or Swedish team Linkopings. All teams play as well Euro Champions Cup. There are some options for KHL smaller teams but I wouldn’t risk waiting too long..”
me: “Wow, you really surprised me now…what is your opinion, what should I choose?”
agent: “Hard to say. But I would go to a country of new World champions...Sweden!”
me: “Sounds good. Tell me more about Linkopings…”
agent: “Well great club, great organisation…but last year they were relegated to 2nd tier in Sweden. Still play ECC and goal for first season is pretty easy…get back to SEL. You would get same budget or closer to one that you would have in SEL so it is like 10x bigger then in Fife. They have some very talented players in the team and play in sold out Saab arena! This could be a great ticket to KHL or even NHL!”
me: “You are right. Let`s do it. Please inform as well Fife and tell mr. Oliver he is a cheapskate…kidding…but yeah, please contact them and thank them for everything and wish them good luck. Will call him as well tomorrow. Thanks Neil!”



My first day in the office at new club! I ordered a team report with all the tests and information I could get. As well watched 3 games that day and had few interviews with captain of the team and as well Head coach. Did check the youth program and decided to sign two players.

First I sign a 29 years old Slovenian national team forward Rok Ticar who is coming from Slovakian KHL club Slovan Bratislava. In KHL in season 17/18 in 56 games manage to collect 13 points. As younger player he played already in Sweden for Timra (both senior and U20 league). We sign a one year deal with team option for another one. Welcome Rok and will be my pleasure to coach a Slovenian player again!



We signed as well 28 years old Canadian D player with NHL experience Cody Goloubef. Cody signed a 2 year contract with team option for another one. In season 17/18 Goloubef played mostly in AHL for Lake Erie and had a call up to NHL Blue Jackets for 4 games. Two seasons before he was a standard member of Blue Jackets and in 2016/17 in 82 games scored 25 points! He will be great addition to our team!



I decided we will start with this team that has lots of talent and experience as well to win Allsvenskan and get us back where we belong…back to SEL!



We started the season with Euro Champions Cup group stage where we got last year Continental Cup champs French Rouen Hockey Elite 76 and Swiss ZSC Lions. We won all the games and qualify for next stage.

In playoffs 1st round we faced Finnish HIFK and lost away game 2:4 and then won at home with overtime goal 3:0 and qualify to 2nd round where were were expecting strong DEL side Red Bull Munchen. We won both games, home 3:2 and away 4:2 and qualify to quarterfinals of ECC. Among 8 teams in quarterfinals 5 of them were Swedish and the rest were German team Eisbaren Berling, Swiss side Fribourg and Czech team Pardubice. In quarterfinals we ran on Dynamo Pardubice (remember I had an offer to take them over in preseason) and in Sweden game ended 2:2 while at Czech rep. we won 4:3 and manage to come to semi-finals…actually Swedish semi-finals as all the team were from Sweden.

In the meanwhile we were from first game at AllSvenskan league on leading the table. Our game was quick with lots of scoring. We did get some bad moments in the 2nd half of the season where I had to change tactic a bit and try the one I used at Fife and the change paid up.

During the season I signed as well from KHL team Slovan Bratislava a 27 years old Slovakian national team player Jan Sykora. Needed more speedy LW then we had in Canadian Brock Trotter. We signed a 2 year deal with team option for another one.



As well I was looking for the future of Linkopings and signed Alfred Alsing from Mariestad for 50k$, Oscar Olsson Fromell from Pantern for 4k$ and Carl-Johan Ivarsson for 35k$ from Sodertalje.

Back to ECC! In the semis we played against HV71 and won away 2:1 while at home 5:1. On the other semi-final game Djurgarden beat Skelleftea and join us in the finals of ECC! What a season so far for our team!



In the final game, that was played in our sold out SAAB arena we manage to win Djurgarden 3:2 and won first ECC title in the history of Linkoping. What I was very pleased as well that player of the game was Slovenian Rok Ticar!




We stayed on top of Allsvenskan league after regular season and out of 52 games won 37 (32+5) and lost 15 (12+3). We then beat 2nd placed Mora to win the Allsvenskan championship with 3:0 in series. That still wasn’t a ticket back to SEL…we had to beat last placed team in SEL Timra and we did won the series 4:1 and manage to do a quick return to the elite!



It was a very successful year for all of us and we won several awards as well:








For Brock Trotter I knew I will not try to renew his contract and will look for better and more quicker solution. Wanted to keep Andy Miele and Rickard Hugg (11th pick of 2017 NHL draft by Toronto Maple Leafs) but both wanted much better conditions I could afford. Will definitely be a very busy summer! We need to go to SEL with as good team as we were in Allsvenskan if not better!

From what I can see we will be looking for next season following positions (mind I have only left 500k $ for salaries for next season):
- back up goalie (David Rautio will retire)
- one of two offensive minded D players
- first line C (Miele and Hugg leaving)
- another forward that can play various postions
- promote and play at least one or two players from youth team

A successful season behind us. We got promoted back to SEL and we won Euro Champions Cup! All the goals were accomplished.

Just after the SEL was over and we had a huge celebration I had to move back to Slovenia and call up the national team so we could get ready for World Championship in Slovakia. This would be for many of the guys the last games in national team as for further tournaments I plan to start involving younger players…

All the guys where healthy and we were ready to go to Slovakia to try and for the first time reach the 2nd stage of the tournament. After a good last year display when we were almost in the game for 2nd stage till last round we wanted this year to achieve it as we knew that in Slovakia we could count on big support of Slovenians as well.

In first game of the world championship we beat team Latvia 5:1 with Golden Star (GS) awarded Anze Kopitar (LA Kings) with 2 goals and 1 assist!
We didn’t stop and had a huge game as well against team Norway and won the game 4:1 and the GS award went to Blaz Gregorc (Dynamo Pardubice) with 1 goal and 1 assist!
Our third game we met team Russia who had a bad start and actually lost first two games with USA and Slovakia so they were in position to win against us. Big bear really played with us and won 4:2 (2:2 after 30 mins) with 48 shots on goal against 16 of ours. GS went to Alexander Ovechkin with 1 goal and 1 assist.
Next game was a very important one…we faced the home team of Slovakia and if we knew if we win tonight we are very close to 2nd stage…and we did…Slovenia beat Slovakia 2:1. We had 34 shots on goal and they manage to test our goalie 22 times. GS went to Kopitar with scoring 1 goal.
After a huge win were were expecting team USA. Game against USA was like with Russia…they dominate us and they easily won us 6:2 with GS award went to Tyler Pitlick with 2 goals and 1 assist.
Huge loss against USA really put us down but up next we had our northern neighbours Austria. If we win we are almost 100% 4th in the group which means 2nd stage. Game was as always on derbies very tied. While we were leading already 3:1 they manage to score two and tied on 3 so that means overtimes! Good we manage to win with an early overtime goal by Ziga Jeglic (Blues (Fin)). GS went to player of my team Rok Ticar (Linkoping) as he scored 2 goals and assist at 1.
You could imagine a joy among players, staff and fans as we secure at least 4th place in the group. Game against Czech republic was no longer important for us but we wanted to leave a good impression and we did with a minimum loss 3:2. Roman Cervenka (Avangard) won the GS award with a goal and assist.
In the quarterfinals we met team Canada and lost 5:1. We were not outshot like against Russia or USA but they were still way to good. Islanders Ryan Strome was GS with 2 goals.



At the end World Championship was won again by Sweden, 2nd placed was Canada and bronze went to Russia.

Of course during WC I had to take care of signing players as well as market was alive as always during summer period. I got a bit upset as our President made a salary budget a bit smaller then we had last year…but still I will go a little over budget as always.

First who we brought was a 30 years old Slovenian national team player Robert Sabolic. Sabolic came from Sparta Prague and in the past season in 37 games made 28 points. Contract was signed for 1 season with an team option for another one.



As we were short on money and I couldn’t bring back our former starting C Andy Miele who by the way signed in Krefeld (DEL) for over 300.000$ I had to act quick and find someone who could replace him. We wound out guy in 32 years old American Cameron Burt who is very creative playmaker and past 3 seasons played in SEL for MODO. Past season in SEL in 50 games he manage to have 10 goals and 28 assists. He signed 1 + 1 (team option) for 140.000$.



Was still looking for two offensive minded defenders and I found one in old former Russian national team player Denis Kulyash. Kulyash is a 15 years KHL veteran playing for teams like CSKA, Dynamo, Avangard and last Sochi. Last year in KHL he manage in 49 games to score just 4 points…but my link in Russia told me he would be a great addition for 3rd or 4th line plus Power Play unit. We sign as with him as well 1 + 1 (team option) for solid 91.500$.



I didn’t write before but I took from free agency as well a young goalie from Rogle named Linus Gidbark. Linus was drafted in 4th round by Coyotes in 2018 NHL draft. Just after he signed with us as well Coyotes send him an entering contract…as I kind of expect he would accept it I offered a goalie contract to 24 years old Swedish goalie Fredrik Bergvik. Bergvik was drafted by SJ Sharks and just return back home as he past two years played in ECHL and AHL with big success. When we signed a deal with Bergvik…



…this happened! Gidbark refused an NHL team…



I was stuck now with 4 very good goalies. (got to love EHM and realism!)

Another sign for the future was when we stolen from free agency market a 17 years old Swede Patrick Andre Jonnson. Jonnson played last in Swedish 3rd division for Halmstad and our scouts said he is Swedish Phil Kessel. He will play in our U20 team and get few call ups as well. He signed a 2 + 1 (team option) contract.



Still in panic as I didn’t get a good offensive D player and I didn’t really know what to expect from Kulyash. I was browsing the emails of agents and calling them all around the globe with my cca 100.000$ left in salary budget. At the end we decided to sign 32 years old American Jeremy Dehner who was never drafted but played in top European sides for almost a decade. Jeremy played 4 years in Jokerit and last 4 years Red Bull Munchen. Last season with Red Bull wasn’t his best but before he had 3 seasons with more then 27 points per season. We couldn’t sign noone better for that money and that he stayed for so long at two teams just shows he is a good character and can adapt well to teams.



We were ready for season in SEL! Board wanted playoffs and I always set my goals higher…I wanted to be at least in semi-finals. In Euro Champions Cup I wanted to win a back to back crown!

In ECC we played in group stage against German side Hamburg Freezers and Swiss side Fribourg. We won all but last game against Fribourg which we lost in overtime. We qualified and got in 1st round Czech team Trinec and after 4:4 away we beat them 8:4 at home.

At away game at Trinec we got a shocking injury of Jonas Junland who got him out for 4 months. Jonas was our 2nd line D man that played as well in PP and PK. Not to mantion we started SEL season with 3 losses in a row so we had to get someone, someone experienced, someone who could help us to get back on our feet. Salary budget is all filled yet the President told me I those cases I could get an extra player but just for around 100.000$ or little more.



I was again calling around like a mad man. Saw that 38 years old Niklas Kronwall still on FA…I talked to him month and a half ago and he didn’t even want to discuss any kind of contract as he probably thought he could still get a deal in NHL. This time was different…I explained him the situation and since he didn’t get any offers by then he decide to join us at Linkoping for 131.000$! 1 + 1 (team option) is how we roll this summer with signing and be ready SEL as some will get “KRONWALLED”!



After bad start at SEL we started to picking up and soon roll on 2nd or 3rd place. Very good season had Orebro leading the league almost from the start.

Back to ECC…in 2nd round of playoffs we got Finnish Kalpa and win at home 3:2 and then 7:2 in Finland! We are not in the quarterfinals where we got our former player Andy Miele and his new team Krefeld. We beat Germans twice, 4:2 away and 2:1 at home.
In the semis we got SEL team Farjestads and won at home 6:0 and away 6:5!! We are in the finals of Euro Champions Cup for the 2nd time in a row…can we win it for the 2nd time as well? In the finals we will met Swiss team SC Bern who was better in semis against Eisbaren Berlin.

Few days before the finals of ECC I received a phone call from my agent…

agent: “Get ready, start packing…..OMG….we made it!”
me: “Wait Neil, calm down, what is going on?”
agent: “Ottawa Senators wants you! They want you right now!”
I was quiet for a moment as I didn’t know if that is some kind of joke or what but my agent Neil forward me over an email he received while we had our phone conversation.
me: “Well if they cannot wait till the end of the season…they I had to decline for now. In a week I can win a back to back ECC plus we are doing very well in SEL. Please understand me and hope we can find that kind of deal in the summer.”
agent: “*!#%$&**…..ok ok ok, I need to calm down! Will tell them the reason and well…hope we get another chance! Goodbye…I am upset!”



I needed to focus back on Linkoping and our final game of ECC against SC Bern. Game was in our Saab Arena and it was packed. Our fans expected our back to back ECC crown and they got it after regular time ended 1:1 in then in 1st minute of overtime C.Burt scored for 2:1 and our win! Yes, we did it again!



As you can see Swedish teams dominate ECC but only one team manage to win it back to back!

It was almost Playoffs time in SEL and we were in the run till the last game to become SEL regular season champs but we lost the last game and Orebro won it…we still came 2nd with best attack as we scored 173 goals (30 more then 2nd best) but we had as well best PP % and worst PK%.

In Playoffs in Quaterfinals we faced Frolunda and won the series 4:1. In semis we faced Djurgardens and we won as well series 4:1 and qualify to the finals and possible to win “Le Mat Trophy”. In the finals we swept with HV71 with 4:0 and for the 1st time in club history Linkopings HC become a SEL champions!





Below is as well out team`s total stats for players in season 2019/20. Sykora, Burt and Gunnarsson were all 1st line and 1st PP line. Solensky and Sabolic were on 2nd line. First 4 players were as well in SEL stats top 4 players on points while Sabolic ended 8th on points in SEL.



Below is as well a stats of our goalies for total games in season 2019/20. Lindback sometimes really get easy goals and for his salary that is 500.000$ per season is a bit too much. Bergvik and Bagenvik did very solid job.



After a season like that, where you win a SEL, ECC and get an offer from NHL you have to expect to be very popular in Sweden and of course Slovenia. But I had to look forward and set my goals for the next year or two and we discussed that with my agent Neil.

agent: “I`m still upset with you!”
me: “Hehe well I`m sure now will be much easier to get a foot on the NHL door!”
agent: “Well we will see. Honestly Ottawa would be a great place for you, a great city to make a historic story under your guidance…”
me: “I know but you do understand me...anyway I it simple after that to expect we can maybe look over summer for NHL job…would consider as well maybe from one of top KHL teams for a year or two. What do you say?”
agent: “Well lets see what will the market say. Might happen you wont get an NHL offer no more. Would you consider AHL move? Have several great friends among AHL owners and we could do a move there and then I am sure NHL is just around the corner. CHL is a fun league as well and the hardest competition to be won and you know good about it you play in OHL.”
me: “OK Neil I trust you from start and we work very well together. Don’t think AHL is right now a good choice but CHL might be interesting indeed. But lets focus on NHL. After all I am happy in Linkoping so far and would not have a problem to stay one more year but if a good offer arrives…I`m your man!”

Oh well, I guess will be another busy summer! Before I get ready to national team I had renew the contract or activate a “team option” with almost all of my players in the team.
There are 7 players that will left the team:
- Mattias Guter, 31y old, Sweden, RW, our 4th liner wants to try the FA
- Anders Lindback. 31y old, Sweden, G, our starting goalie as well want to try a FA plus his big salary of 500.000$ is just too much for us
- Michael Schumacher, 26y old, Sweden, LW, 4th liner with OHL and 5y of AHL experience at 130.000$ is too much for us
- Rok Ticar, 30y old, Slovenian, RW/LW/C, 2nd/3rd liner C in our team. Played him on C spot as I had to…don’t have RW or LW spot free for him so it is better we part ways…
- Jeremy Dehner, 33y old, USA, RD/LD, 3rd liner and PP, we could use “team option” but decided since Lindback leaving and will open lots of salary budget we should afford better D player…younger too!
- Petter Emanuelsson, 28y old, Sweden, RW/LW, 3rd liner that I wanted to extend but couldn’t agree on his demands…
- Denis Kulyash, 36y old, Russian, LD, 3rd and 4th line D and some PP…was still playing very good for his age but he will get the same fate as Dehner.

Last NHL draft noone was selected from Linkoping but for NHL Draft 2020 we have 4 of our youngsters on the Final draft rankings:

Reading that after almost 10 years made me live up the story one more time. Was so much fun.

Funny thing is Lukas Horak that i sign in my game back then as young goalie to Bees now actually is a goalie in my favourite slovenian team Olimpija in RL

Kopi wrote: Tue Sep 24, 2024 11:50 am Reading that after almost 10 years made me live up the story one more time. Was so much fun.

Funny thing is Lukas Horak that i sign in my game back then as young goalie to Bees now actually is a goalie in my favourite slovenian team Olimpija in RL

You can't beat going back and reading through the old stories and saves. One of mine I will never forget is with EHM07. I really wish I had the save file so i could go and look through it.