Ice hockey has been played in Croatia at least since the late 19th century. It became organised on the national level in 1935 with the establishment of the Croatian Ice Hockey Federation, and at this period Croatian teams were playing in the Yugoslav Ice Hockey League. During the 1960s, Group B of the

1966 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1966 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 33rd edition of the Ice Hockey World Championships. The tournament was held in Hala Tivoli, Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia from 3 to 14 March 1966. For the fourth straight year, the Soviet ...

took place in Zagreb, and KHL Medveščak Zagreb became a leading team, winning the national championship on several occasions. The

breakup of Yugoslavia The breakup of Yugoslavia occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the early 1990s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...

in 1991 led to the formation of the

Croatian Ice Hockey League The Croatian Ice Hockey League is the top ice hockey league in Croatia. The league is operated by the Croatian Ice Hockey Federation. History The league was formed in 1991 with the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Until then, Croatian teams played in t ...

Prior to World War II

On November 9, 1935 the Association for Skating and Ice Hockey was founded in Zagreb, although ice hockey in Croatia had been inherent for some 30 years, considering that Franjo Bučar, the father of Croatian sport, had founded skating section in 1894. First game on natural ice was played in the winter of 1916 between HAŠK (Croatian Academic Sport Club) and PHŠD (First Croatian Sport Society). In 1922, the Zagreb Winter Sub-federation was founded which included

skating Skating involves any sports or recreational activity which consists of traveling on surfaces or on ice using skates, and may refer to: Ice Skating *Ice skating, moving on ice by using ice skates **Figure skating, a sport in which individuals, ...

, ice hockey and

alpine skiing Alpine skiing, or downhill skiing, is the pastime of sliding down snow-covered slopes on skis with fixed-heel bindings, unlike other types of skiing ( cross-country, Telemark, or ski jumping), which use skis with free-heel bindings. Whether for ...

. The first game by Canadian rules was played on February 3, 1924 between HAŠK and ZKD (Zagreb Skating Society) on ice next to the former Esplanade Hotel, which HAŠK won with 4:1. The real uplift of the Croatian ice hockey was in 1930 when 3 clubs were founded, but as sections within the major sports companies: Marathon, Concordia and Karlovačko Športsko Udruženje. Other clubs were Sisak founded in 1931 as a part of Slavija Sports Society and

KHL Varaždin KHL Varaždin, former known as KHL Varaždin, is a Croatian ice hockey team that is located in Varaždin ) , image_photo = , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Varaždin.svg , flag_size ...

founded in 1935. In the late 1930s hockey teams from Croatia participated in the Yugoslav Hockey League. Initially the best clubs from various republics were promoted to the playoffs. Croatia hence had its own division in this league with clubs from Zagreb,

Sisak Sisak (; hu, Sziszek ; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavin ...

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. According to the 2011 census, its population was 55,705. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located on the Zagreb- Rijeka highway and railway line, south-west of Zagre ...

and Varaždin.

After World War II

A period of years after the Second World War is considered as the most prosperous for Croatian ice hockey and is associated with the name of

Dragutin Friedrich Dragutin Friedrich (5 January 1897 – 26 March 1980) was a Croatian footballer who represented the national team of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes at the 1924 Summer Olympics, but he did not play in any matches. International career ...

. In 1946 he founded

KHL Mladost Klub hokeja na ledu Mladost, commonly referred to as KHL Mladost or simply Mladost, is a Croatian ice hockey team that currently plays in the Croatian Ice Hockey Championship. The club was founded in 1946 as part of HAŠK Mladost and in 1986 bec ...

which was a champion of SFR Yugoslavia in 1947 and 1949. In 1947, SD Zagreb was founded and the club won the championship of Yugoslavia in 1956. In the early 1960s due to the crisis and the lack of funds for this sport, KHL Zagreb and the new KHL Medveščak Zagreb merged and the new club continued to work under the name KHL Medveščak. The same club got the first artificial ice in Croatia in

Šalata Šalata () is an upper-class residential neighborhood in Zagreb, Croatia. It is administratively part of the Gornji Grad - Medveščak city district in the northern part of Zagreb and it has a population of 1,929. Šalata houses the Šalata Spo ...

. After that in 1966 Zagreb got the organization of a World Championship, group B. Due to completion of Dom Sportova in 1972 players got second artificial ice and in 1984 Croatian Ice Hockey Federation became independent. In 1986, KHL Zagreb was established. Then, with significant economic support, KHL Medveščak won the championship of Yugoslavia in 1989, 1990 and 1991 and Yugoslav cup in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991.

Post 1991

With disintegration of Yugoslavia

was established and since 1991 it operates under its present name. In 1992 Croatian Ice Hockey Federation became a member of IIHF.

References

External links

Ice Hockey Fights Its Way Back in Croatia
('' The Wall Street Journal'')
Croatian Hockey: The low-down
(''Pro Hockey News'')

{{Ice hockey in the world