In our third and final episode of our Hockey is Europe’s Game mini-series (Part 1 | Part 2), we’re going to round up the rest of the European countries which have been represented in the CHL, despite not having a team from their native leagues. We feel that this shows the beauty of European hockey, as its interconnectedness means players from all corners of the continent can come together and showcase their talents at the highest level possible.
Before we start our list, there are two players who are of special mention who have a non-European origin. Firstly, we must recognise the role that Shuhei Kuji played in being the first Japanese player to both play, and score, in the Champions Hockey League. Kuji played one season with Eisbären Berlin in 2015/16, finishing with 2 points from 8 games.
Alongisde Kuji, the CHL has welcomed perhaps hockey’s only Bahamas-born player, André Deveaux, who played a single CHL game in 2016/17 for Sparta Prague.
But after that brief interlude, back to Europe!
Starting west and moving east, we begin in BeNeLux, and the two players from this region who have hit the ice in the CHL. Talented Dutch forward Kevin Bruijsten has been a household name in a number of European leagues, including the French Ligue Magnus and the British EIHL. In 2016/17, Bruijsten signed with EBEL side Orli Znojmo, scoring 1 goal in 4 games.
Hailing from a country with even less of a hockey tradition than the Netherlands, Sam Verelst was born in Belgium, but has played his entire hockey career to date in Germany. At the IIHF Division IIA level, Verelst has racked up 11 points in 10 games, and in 2014/15, was part of the Hamburg Freezers team which played in the CHL.
Moving to the Alps, whilst we have had an Italian representative in the CHL in years past – HC Bolzano, the Alps League currently does not provide a team to the competition. No Italian-born player has been as prolific in the CHL as Marco Insam. The highly-skilled winger has been an ever present in Bolzano’s side since their move to the EBEL, apart from one year spent in Finland. In two CHL appearances, Insam has racked up an astonishing 11 goals in 14 games… and 0 assists!
Check out some of Insam’s finest moments in a Bolzano jersey:
In 2019/20 we might see another Italian-born player steal the headlines, after goaltender Andreas Bernard, a star at the 2019 IIHF World Championships in Slovakia, signed with German club Adler Mannheim.
Heading further eastwards we reach Croatia, a nation whose hockey prowess came into full view with the rise of Medveščak Zagreb, who played in both the EBEL and KHL. Many Croatian-born players head into Europe for their junior careers, and that was the case for defenceman Ivan Puzić. Rising through the ranks of the HC Vitkovíce Ostrava junior system, Puzić played 8 games on the Czech team’s blueline, registering 1 assist.
Finally, we reach Ukraine, a country desperately looking to return to the ranks of the world’s elite. The CHL has welcomed a single Ukrainian player, and a big one at that! Standing 2.00m tall, Andrei Mikhnov has terrorised opposing defencemen for years.
The ‘Ukrainian Antilla’ has graced the CHL with his presence on two occasions with two different teams. In 2016/17, Mikhnov was a member of a Yunost Minsk side that failed to reach the Playoffs, before he most recently represented GKS Tychy in last season’s CHL campaign. In total, the now 35-year-old Mikhnov has 3 goals and 1 assist in 12 CHL games.
All in all, hockey in Europe continues to develop, and the Champions Hockey League is at the forefront of promoting greater European success in all corners of the continent. Check back in a few years when hopefully we can talk of even more players from even more countries hitting the ice!