ABSTRACT
The history of the beginnings of ice hockey in Slovenia is connected to and intertwined with the activities of the Ilirija Sports Club, which expanded the selection of sports activities in Ljubljana with the construction of a new ice skating rink and the introduction of ice skating and figure skating. The Ilirija ice skating rink was open to the public for recreational skating. Recreational ice skating ensured a certain income, but was disturbed by the so-called ‘wild skaters’ that the older visitors kept complaining about. In the attempts to find a solution to the problem, bring peace and order to the ice skating rink, and provide ice skating enjoyment to recreational skaters, a decision was reached to invite the ‘wild skaters’ into the club and offer regular participation in a new sport: ice hockey, at the time relatively unknown in Ljubljana. A few years after modest beginnings in the winter of 1928/1929, the ‘inaugural match’ in Ljubljana took place on 21 February 1932 against the Austrian Klagenfurt Athletic Club (KAC) from Klagenfurt. During its further activities until 1941, Ilirija became the central Yugoslav club, the first state champion, as well as the core of the Yugoslav ice hockey team.
