Orli Znojmo (in English Znojmo Eagles) is a Czech-based

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

team that currently plays in the

2nd Czech Republic Hockey League The 2nd Czech Republic Hockey League (or Czech 2.liga) is the third-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic under the 1st Czech Republic Hockey League. It began in 1993. Format From 1993 to 2001 the league was divided into the Western and ...

. The club Orli Znojmo is based in

Znojmo Znojmo (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian Region. The hi ...

and their home arena is Nevoga Arena. From 1999 to 2009, the club competed in the

Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga () is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. It was created in 1993 following the peaceful dissolution of Czechoslovakia midway through the 1992–93 Czechoslovak Extraliga season (which all Slovak and ...

. Their biggest success in that league was a third-place finish in 2005–06.

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

players

Patrik Eliáš Patrik Eliáš (; born 13 April 1976) is a Czech former professional hockey winger who played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the New Jersey Devils. Eliáš is the franchise's all-time leader in points, goals and assists ...

, Martin Havlát and Tomáš Vokoun played for this club during the

2004–05 NHL lockout The 2004–05 NHL lockout was a labor lockout that resulted in the cancellation of the National Hockey League (NHL) season, which would have been its 88th season of play. The main dispute was the league's desire to implement a salary cap to ...

. On 1 April 2009, Orli sold its

license to another South Moravian club,

HC Kometa Brno HC Kometa Brno ("Comet" in English) is a professional ice hockey team based in Brno, Czech Republic. They play in the Czech Extraliga. Kometa is the most successful ice hockey club in the Czech Republic with 14 Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League ...

. After two seasons in the

Czech First League The Czech First League () also known as the Chance Liga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Czech Republic and the highest level of the Czech Republic football league system. Seasons typically run from A ...

, the club announced on 31 May 2011 that they were joining the Austrian-based Erste Bank Hockey League.

History

The club was founded in 1933 originally as TJ Sokol Znojmo and played until the early 1990s, at only a regional level. In 1993, Znojmo entered a sponsorship with Czech-Austrian company Excalibur under Jaroslav Vlasak. With this financial support club moved to become a professional outfit and in 1994 joined the Czech Second League. Renamed SK Agropodnik Znojmo, they competed for the following three seasons in the Second League. From 1996, the club served as an affiliate to Extraliga clubs,

HC Pardubice HC Dynamo Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. Its home venue is Enteria arena located in Pardubice. The club was originally named LTC Pardubice, acquiring its current name at the start of the 2015– ...

and

HC Dukla Jihlava HC Dukla Jihlava, founded in 1956, is an ice hockey team in the Czech Republic. It won the Czechoslovak Extraliga title 12 times: six consecutive championships beginning in 1967, then in 1974, four consecutive championships beginning in 1982, an ...

, in order to further establish junior players experience. In their two seasons in the Czech First League, Znojmo now known as HC Excalibur Znojemští Orli, in reflecting their sponsorship, formed a competitive team and won their first Championship title in 1997–98 before failing to gain promotion in a 4:3 series defeat to HC Slezan Opava. After claiming their second consecutive title in the 1998–99 season, Znojmo were victorious in the promotion playoffs against Dukla Jihlava to celebrate their first entry into the

. In the following years, the club was able to hold its own in the Extraliga, but never managed to get past the playoff semi-finals. In 2001 was called again changed their name due to sponsorship to new sponsor in HC JME Znojemští Orli. The club's largest success in the Extraliga came in the achievement of the play-off semi-final in the 2005–06 season. After two seasons in the First League in the spring of 2011, the club applied for inclusion in the Austrian Erste Bank Eishockey Liga. Under the ambition to give the team a new perspective, without having to take the

financial risk Financial risk is any of various types of risk associated with financing, including financial transactions that include company loans in risk of default. Often it is understood to include only downside risk, meaning the potential for financi ...

of promotion in the Extraliga. On 31 May 2011, the EBEL granted the application after the Czech Ice Hockey Association's consent on the condition that the club continues to participate with a team in the first league. This requirement was not later maintained. Following the 2021–22 season, the club announced they will compete in the

next season, having bought the licence of HC Kometa Brno B. They left the ICE Hockey League owing to economic reasons and the uncertain continuation of the league.

Honours

Domestic

* 3rd place (1): 2005–06

International

Austrian Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League, ICEHL), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria. It c ...

* Runners-up (1): 2015–16

Pre-season

Tipsport Hockey Cup The Tipsport Hockey Cup is the national ice hockey cup competition in the Czech Republic. It was first played as the Zepter Hockey Cup in 2000. Champions Titles by team External linksTipsport Hockey Cupon eurohockey.com {{Ice hockey in the Cze ...

* Winners (1): 2003 * Runners-up (3): 2002, 2008, 2010

Players

Current roster

Source: hcorli.czSource: eliteprospects.comAs of December 4, 2021.

References

External links

*
Orli Znojmo Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Znojmo Ice hockey teams in the Czech Republic Former Austrian Hockey League teams 1933 establishments in Czechoslovakia Ice hockey clubs established in 1933