HK Dukla Trencin
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HK Dukla Trencin is a professional Slovak ice hockey club based in Trencin, playing in the Slovak Extraliga. The club has won three Slovak league championships (1994, 1997, 2004) and one Czechoslovak league championship (1992). The team is nicknamed Vojaci, meaning "Soldiers" in English.
The club was founded on 19 January 1962, relocating the army hockey club from Opava to Trencin. They were members of inaugural season (1963–64) of the 1. SNHL (1st Slovak National Hockey League).
After the fall of the Iron Curtain many players who were born in Trencin or started their youth career in Dukla youth system had success in the NHL. Marian Gaborik, Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara are the most successful players who were born in Trencin. Gaborik was drafted 3rd overall by Minnesota Wild in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, becoming the first signed player in the club history. Gaborik's teammate in Minnesota Wild was Luombir Sekeras who played three seasons for the club. Chara, drafted 56th overall by New York Islanders in 1996, is the first Slovak and only the second European captain of an NHL team who won the Stanley Cup. Chara is also the first Slovak winner of the James Norris Memorial Trophy, given to the best defenseman of a season. Richard Lintner was drafted in the same year as Chara, another NHL player who was born in Trencin. Marian Hossa won Stanley Cup three times with Chicago Blackhawks. The stadium in Trencin was named after Pavol Demitra who died in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash.
Information sourced from HK Dukla Trencin website and Wikipedia.
