HK Poprad is a professional ice hockey team in the Slovak Extraliga, the top ice hockey league in Slovakia. It plays its games in Poprad, Slovakia. The squad's greatest successes include 2nd place in the Slovak Extraliga in 2006, 2011 and 2021. The team finished in the standings of the 2023-2024 season in 1st place, with a record of 27 wins and 15 losses. The club is nicknamed Kamzíci, which means "Chamoises" in Slovak.

History HK Poprad, in its current incarnation, was founded in 1935 by the merger of two existing teams. Those teams were "SK Vysoke Tatry" (founded in 1926), and a team called "HC Poprad" (founded in 1929 as "Karpathenverein Poprad", name changed to "HC Poprad" in 1930). The 1935 merged team was named "HC Tatry". They started playing in the original SNHL, a 2nd-tier league, and eventually played as one of the strongest teams in various other 2nd-tier leagues. During this time, they went through various name changes, and won Slovak championships in 1970, 1981,1985, and 1991. The 1991 team, known at the time as "SKP PS Poprad", was admitted into the 1st-tier Extraliga of Czechoslovakia.

After the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Poprad started playing in the new independent Slovak Championship which was named the Slovak Extraliga. The team underwent more minor name changes until 2010, and since that year, the official team name has been HK Poprad.

In the 1996–97 season Poprad was eliminated in the semifinals by HC Košice. In the next season 1997–98, they played semifinals again against HC Košice and lost 0–3. However, these two seasons were successful because the team won bronze medals. In the 2005–06 season the team reached the most remarkable success, but lost 3–4 in the final series against MsHK Žilina. This success was repeated in the 2010–11 season, when they played against the long-time rival HC Košice and lost 1–4 in the final.

Season-by-season record This is a partial list of the last tenth seasons completed by HK Poprad.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, OTW = Overtime/shootout wins, OTL = Overtime/shootout losses, L = Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season GP W OTW OTL L Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs 2015–16 50 18 3 11 18 68 139 149 6th, Extraliga Lost in Quarterfinals, 1–4 (HKM Zvolen) 2016–17 56 18 6 9 23 75 153 167 7th, Extraliga Lost in Quarterfinals, 0–4 (HK Nitra) 2017–18 56 25 6 4 21 91 159 152 6th, Extraliga Lost in Quarterfinals, 0–4 (HK Dukla Trenčín) 2018–19 57 28 9 3 17 102 168 147 5th, Extraliga Lost in Semifinals, 2–4 (HC '05 Banská Bystrica) 2019–20 55 28 5 5 17 99 170 131 4th, Extraliga 2020–21 50 26 7 3 14 95 186 133 3rd, Extraliga Lost in Finals, 1–4 (HKM Zvolen) 2021–22 50 17 7 6 20 71 165 161 6th, Extraliga Lost in Quarterfinals, 3–4 (HK Nitra) 2022–23 50 17 9 3 21 72 151 153 7th, Extraliga Lost in Wild card round, 0–3 (HK Nitra) 2023–24 50 27 5 3 15 94 163 119 1st, Extraliga Lost in Quarterfinals, 2–4 (HK Nitra) 2024–25 54 24 4 6 20 86 178 144 6th, Extraliga Lost in Quarterfinals, 2–4 (HK Nitra)

Honours

Domestic

Slovak Extraliga Runners-up (3): 2005–06, 2010–11, 2020–21 3rd place (2): 1996–97, 1997–98

Czechoslovak Extraliga 3rd place (1): 1937–38

Slovak Hockey League Runners-up (1): 1941–42 3rd place (2): 1942–43, 1943–44

1st. Slovak National Hockey League Winners (4): 1969–70, 1980–81, 1984–85, 1990–91 Runners-up (4): 1966–67, 1979–80, 1981–82, 1987–88 3rd place (6): 1968–69, 1970–71, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1982–83, 1985–86

Pre-season Tatra Cup Winners (15): 1936/1937, 1937/1938, 1938/1939, 1941/1942, 1946/1947, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2023, 2025

Players

Current roster

Retired numbers HK Poprad retired numbersNo.PlayerPositionCareerNo. retirement 13 Arne Kroták LW 1990–2019 September 13, 2019

Franchise scoring leaders These are the top-ten-point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed regular season. – current Poprad player Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game

Points Player Pos GP G A Pts P/GArne Kroták LW 980 380 486 866 .88Miroslav Škovira LW 582 205 253 458 .79Slavomír Pavličko LW 564 143 278 421 .75Peter Junas LW 480 157 225 382 .80Patrik Svitana RW 509 137 243 380 .75Peter Klouda C 379 81 194 275 .73Igor Rataj RW 309 106 120 226 .73Lukáš Hvila LW 367 100 94 194 .53Štefan Fabian D 686 44 144 188 .27Samuel Mlynarovič* LW 371 85 99 184 .50

Goals Player Pos GArne Kroták LW 380Miroslav Škovira LW 205Peter Junas LW 157Slavomír Pavličko LW 143Patrik Svitana RW 137Igor Rataj RW 106Lukáš Hvila LW 100Marcel Haščák RW 95Adam Lapšanský LW 95Martin Kuľha RW 89

Assists Player Pos AArne Kroták LW 486Slavomír Pavličko LW 278Miroslav Škovira LW 253Patrik Svitana RW 243Peter Junas LW 225Peter Klouda C 194Radoslav Suchý D 147Štefan Fabian D 144Igor Rataj RW 120Daniel Brejčák* D 110

Franchise playoff scoring leaders These are the top-ten playoff point-scorers in franchise playoff history. Figures are updated after each completed season. – current Poprad player Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Poprad player

Points Player Pos GP G A Pts P/GArne Kroták LW 102 41 31 72 –Miroslav Škovira LW 65 23 24 47 –Patrik Svitana RW 81 10 30 40 .49Slavomír Pavličko LW 43 11 19 30 .70Marcel Haščák RW 43 12 14 26 .60Lukáš Hvila LW 40 10 15 25 .63Martin Kuľha RW 34 14 10 24 .71Dávid Skokan C 24 10 12 22 .92Radoslav Suchý D 57 1 21 22 .39Samuel Mlynarovič* LW 51 9 12 21 .41

Goals Player Pos GArne Kroták LW 41Miroslav Škovira LW 23Martin Kuľha RW 14Marcel Haščák RW 12Slavomír Pavličko LW 11Martin Frank F 11Patrik Svitana RW 10Lukáš Hvila LW 10Dávid Skokan C 10Samuel Mlynarovič* LW 9

Assists Player Pos AArne Kroták LW 31Patrik Svitana RW 30Miroslav Škovira LW 24Radoslav Suchý D 21Slavomír Pavličko LW 19Samuel Takáč LW 17Lukáš Hvila LW 15Marcel Haščák RW 14Jaroslav Kasík D 13Dávid Skokan C 12

NHL alumni

Jamie Arniel (2022) Ľuboš Bartečko (1993–1994, 2010, 2014–2015) Peter Bondra (2004) Michal Handzuš (1996) Kevin Henderson (2016) Miroslav Ihnačák (1992, 2004) Brandon Mashinter (2021) Ladislav Nagy (2010) Andrej Nedorost (2011) Radoslav Suchý (1994, 2004–2005, 2010–2016) Tomáš Surový (2000) Ľubomír Vaic (1993–1994, 2011–2013) Kyle Wanvig (2010) Viktor Svedberg (2024) Adam Cracknell (2025) Teemu Pulkkinen (2025) Ben Thomas (2025) Ivan Vishnevskiy (2021)

See also Lev Poprad Tatra Cup

References

External links Official website