G44-46: THE END DRAWS NEAR + TOKARSKI APPEARS!

44 - OLIMPIJA 7-5 VIENNA

https://www.pinatafarm.com/memegenerator/e0e0317b-67de-4114-9a16-254e7e1744bb plus https://hcamur.ru/en/players/khl/ian-drozg-42267/ plus Capitals on Wikipedia.

HIGHLIGHTS

Jan Drozg getting his second hat-trick in 3 games. He looks so electric right now - as we said before, the rust is truly off and the lean, mean, shiny machine is out and about (see above).

Petan and Mahkovec also combined for a gorgeous goal. Mahkovec took a rim pass behind the net and first-time sent a backhand no-look pass into the slot for the oncoming Petan to also one-time it in. Exquisite play from those two, with Petan our recent Olympian.

LOWLIGHTS

Conceding 5 and letting Vienna back into the game. It's Gretzky hockey, it's good for the neutrals and the new fans at their first OLL game (many Erasmus students and my Dad included!). I can't say I love it, as it seems a bit sloppy, but you can't really argue with a win. If we win a playoff series with high-scoring games I won't be complaining!

MAIN TAKEAWAY 

Vienna have been sneaky-good since their coaching change, so we shouldn't be overly disappointed with letting them back into the game. Like CC said in the locker room, after some time off there was always going to be a bit of rustiness, so overall let's just be happy we got the W and focus on the hot offense instead of the leaky defence.

45 - KLAGENFURT 2 - 0 OLIMPIJA

The KAC commentator every time the puck went anywhere near the net:

https://tenor.com/en-GB/view/screaming-screaming-man-steve-carell-brick-anchorman-brick-gueule-gif-20384482 (To be fair, at least he did it for both teams)

HIGHLIGHTS

Playing KAC very close in their barn was pleasing to see with the playoffs just around the corner. We definitely showed some of that 'hard to play against' style that CC mentioned in his interview with me  (https://youtu.be/L73Yy1mNbgA?si=rLs2UUkXl6cJoYLq if you haven't treated yourself yet). 

LOWLIGHTS

The refereeing in the last 6 minutes of the game was atrocious. How KAC got that 5 on 3 PP I do not know, when it seemed a fight had occurred that both sides should be penalised for equally. That was the difference, a PPG at 5 on 3 and an ENG after. 

Also, after the game, KAC's commentators glazing their player for 'winning' a fight against Halbert was another lowlight. The ICE League's fights are such an embarrassment. It's either the refs don't let them go, or there isn't a gentleman's agreement and one guy just starts swinging before the other has acknowledged to start the fight. Super weak behaviour - that's what the KAC guy did. How's Halbert meant to 'win' when he didn't even know the fight was happening for a decent chunk of it? A certain song about schweine comes to mind.

MAIN TAKEAWAY

We have to hope that this is the last time the refs make the game about them and really take over. Just like teachers, they should be 'guides on the side', not 'stars on the stage'. Leave that to the players. It's a real shame, because I would have loved to see a denouement to this game without crazy calls ruining it. Oh, also, CC got suspended for a game and fined for something nobody saw, but which the league said was clear as day on camera?! Just more BS (thanks to ZG and ED for highlighting this).

46 - LINZ 1 - 2 OLIMPIJA (OT) 

Linz isn't small, it's just far away...

From Father Ted, an Irish TV programme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMiKyfd6hA0

HIGHLIGHTS

The Olimpija-Argonauts once again looked to TJ-Jason for their salvation. TJ was the OT hero yet again. We have 4 wins in OT this season (not including penalties) and TJ has scored 3/4 of the OT winners. Mahkovec has the other. What a clutch/big moment player! Overall, we have 6 OT wins and losses, not including penalty shootouts, so TJ has won us half of those this season.  Now, he gets a lot of opportunities in OT, but it's still incredibly impressive stuff from an attacking player, let alone from a defenseman!

LOWLIGHTS

The long journey to Linz always shows up in our performances and this time was no exception. Would it really be that bad to go early and stay overnight for a well-rested performance? This time, it was probably not possible, given the KAC game on Friday. Still, it's something to consider if we're looking for every edge to win games.

MAIN TAKEAWAY

I think this was a fair result for both sides. Linz probably deserved a point and we probably deserved a win. Given the circumstances, with 3 games in 6 days and a long journey to this away game, it's understandable that we weren't on top form and struggled to beat them in regulation. Getting the win despite all that was pleasing. Linz kept things tight, the refs did their job far better than those in the previous game, so a fair, competitive result was achieved. Imagine that!

 

OLL SIGN DUSTIN TOKARSKI 

Fresh off the press this afternoon! A very recognisable name, wow. He's a 36yo Canadian goalie who has been in and around the AHL/NHL for 17 years. You don't get a sentence like that written about you without being trusted by top organisations over and over. Now, admittedly, his five games in Europe this season have been awful, with a 5.48 goals allowed average. Yet, his team in the DEL, Lowen Frankfurt, are comfortably the 2nd-worst team in the league, so I think we need to give him some grace there. Let's hope he's much more Horak than Robin Rahm (a Swedish goalie who came in to replace Horak a couple of seasons ago and was very disappointing). He's certainly got a far better pedigree and track record than Rahm ever did. 

ED reminded me to say that yes, I think this does relegate Kolin back into a backup role. Tokarski will surely start as soon as he's ready.

This is exciting, but also confirms that Horak is properly hurt, which is really sad. The season we've had deserved a chance for Horak to ball out in the playoffs. Just like Canada 'deserving' to win the Olympic gold, sometimes you don't get what you deserve. On that happy note, let's use the HCB game tomorrow as a good warm-up for the incoming playoffs.

 

P.S. Sorry for those of you who saw a yucky earlier draft, Blogger updated on my end but then lost all progress somehow. Thankfully, I anxiously copy and paste my articles into other documents, so it was rectified quickly!

P.P.S. Here's Google Translate's version of the official press release:

Ljubljana, February 24, 2026

The Olimpija Ljubljana hockey club has strengthened its goalkeeping position for the ICE League playoffs. Due to an injury to first goalie Lukaš Horak, experienced Canadian goalie Dustin Tokarski has joined the team.

Dustin Tokarski has had a rich career in the strongest North American leagues. In 2008, after winning the world junior championship with the Canadian national team, he was selected in the 5th round of the NHL draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. He trained in the AHL with the Norfolk Admirals, and made his first appearance in the strongest hockey league in the 2011/12 season. He played most of his career in the AHL, and in the NHL he played 86 games for the following teams: Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes. This season he was a member of the Löwen Frankfurt club, which plays in the elite German league DEL.

Anže Ulčar, director of the Croatian Hockey Federation (SA - why does it always say this lol): "After a good regular season, we don't want to leave anything to chance. An injury to the first goalkeeper is of course a big blow, and that's why we were looking for a goalkeeper who has experience playing at the highest levels and playing in important or elimination matches. Dustin is undoubtedly that."

Dustin Tokarski will join the Olimpija Ljubljana team in the coming days and with his experience will be an important reinforcement in a key part of the season.

G41-43 AUSTRIAN ADVENTURES AND ADVERSITY

https://tenor.com/en-GB/view/hello-there-gif-5677380953331354485

Hello there! I hope you have enjoyed your Olympic break. I certainly did - the Seahawks won the Super Bowl and finally closed the chapter on the Malcolm Butler interception that I watched in the middle of the night at the St Andrews Students' Union Bar 11 years ago. Team Liquid also 3-0'd Fnatic to win the Kickoff Lower Final and qualify for Masters Santiago in VCT EMEA. I can't decide whether two of my other teams winning, plus Aonishiki in Sumo, is a good sign or a bad sign for Olimpija's chances in the playoffs. Anyway, we are almost back to OLL hockey, so let's review the previous three games before Wednesday's 'Boys' Night' against Vienna.

OLL 5 - 2 PIV

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Sabla and Mahkovec combining for a textbook shorthanded goal 6s before the end of P1 to open our account. I managed to miss this entirely when I took my glasses off to put my jersey on, it happened that quickly 😆😭
• Polei doing his net-front dirty work job and stabbing in a loose puck near the goal line, amidst general chaos
• PP finding success getting the puck to more central areas instead of staying outside
• Scoring a goal off the rush instead of just conceding them!
• Drozg drawing three tripping penalties in the OZ - I'd asked for more from him in the previous article and this definitely counts! Call it the OHB effect! 😆
• Mašič blasting a one-timer in and dangling through the PIV D when coming out of the penalty box. I wish he'd try this more often, but it seems CC doesn't give the guys the license to do that
• I enjoyed watching this with Olimpija News and VBT, who I met in-person for the first time. It was a pleasure!

LOWLIGHT: PIV's consistently dirty play, e.g. a hit to the head on Beričič, resulting in a concussion. The refs did assess a major penalty and a game misconduct at the time, although these do not appear on the ICE website's game breakdown. They didn't address the hit until Halbert had already taken matters into his own hands to defend Beričič, so well done Halby and 'boo refs'. Polei got jumped at the end by a PIV player for a clean hit and the refs wouldn't let him teach them a lesson they wouldn't forget. I left the game pretty furious with how PIV were allowed to get away with 'hacking' us, as we used to say in British football when bad teams would start just trying to hurt the better team, having lost the game. The refs did do something, but not enough to keep this from deteriorating into a very poor showing from a team that looks to be sinking out of the ICE League.

MAIN TAKEAWAY - We continued to treat PIV as we should always have done. We have gone 6-1, 4-1 and 5-2 against them this year - we shouldn't forget how much difficulty we used to have against them in the last couple of seasons.

OLL 5 - 1 RBS 

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Jan Drozg has arrived! Now he's shaken off the rust, we're seeing a Bonino-esque impact. He looked so dangerous and could have had 4 or 5 goals, but ended on a juicy hat-trick nonetheless. The OHB effect rears its head again - 3 goals certainly improves on drawing three trips in the previous game 😆
• Giving RBS a 5-1 after they handed us one in the previous encounter. Each time, the victorious team sucked the soul out of the loser - what an interesting playoff series this would be, with storylines galore for CC and the other former RBS players...
• Kolin coming in to replace Horak and doing a fantastic job of it, when shaky play could have let RBS back into the game.

LOWLIGHT: Get well soon to Horak - he was hit in the back of the head by a shot and fell awkwardly (still saved it though, as it's Hory) and Brennan (apparently a knee injury?!). 

Another one has to be Crnović doing one of his carry-ins of old, flying around with his jersey billowing behind him - only to go right around the rim of the OZ and back out again without doing anything with the puck. This is the only notable thing he has done in a while and it goes some way to epitomising his season, a non-descript showing for the ages. Please, let Ćosić have a go! The latter does have the lowest +/- on the team, which may suggest why CC doesn't like him playing, but his -6 is only one less than...Crnović, at -5. Give the man a chance to do something, to save us from Crnović's nothing!

MAIN TAKEAWAY: We weathered the RBS storm in the first 10 minutes and otherwise controlled the game as RBS had in their home game against us, which was also 5-1. Inflicting an exact reverse on them was very satisfying! We had double their shots at 40-20, showing this was no fluke result.

 

VSV 8 - 5 OLL

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Coverage of this game was well and truly sponsored by ED and LR, who were enormously generous to me. Not only did they pay for my ticket, they drove me there and back - supplying me with my beloved Cedevita at a pit stop along the way and my classic water when at the stadium. Not to mention the vignette and Karawanke tunnel charge! I did try to pay for things, but I was refused. Slavic hospitality at its finest - I am extremely grateful to them. To go from feeling entirely alone here not too long ago to being shown such immense kindness means very much to me. Najlepša hvala once more!  
• Seeing Sodja's backhand goal live was one of the top moments of my Olimpija fandom. Our position in the away section meant we couldn't see much of our goals at the other end, but boy did we see Sodja's, right in front of us! The fact he celebrated right at us was the cherry on top. The last time I had such a soul-imbued 'wow' moment was the ending of Pentiment, a game by Obsidian Entertainment. It's a murder mystery game set in a side-on illustrated manuscript about a Medieval German town. Highly, highly recommended!

LOWLIGHT: Is conceding 8 too obvious? CC said we were too sloppy defensively after the game, but ED fairly pointed out that the shots were pretty limited and yet we kept conceding. I feel those fewer shots were generally pretty dangerous, but Kolin does have to do better, even if two ENGs were added to the tally. There were too many rebounds on offer today. This is where the community's growing calls for a more consistent, veteran backup start to make sense - even if I still believe in Kolin's potential.

Another lowlight was when VSV fans threw a lighter at F13's head (a young Olimpija fan). Well done to him for pressing charges and getting them banned from the stadium. Now, as he said himself, things weren't helped by a couple of our older fans antagonising the VSV contingent. As I said to him, the lone security guard also didn't do a great job - he should have inserted himself directly between the warring fans, instead of watching from below. Kudos to the Villach police, though - they did not mess around once it was clear something bad had happened. 

I realise a lighter is worse than a coin or two, but it does make me think about my own experience of having things thrown at my head. In Austria, the police are onto them in seconds and they get a stadium ban. In Tivoli, it seems like security could not care less, especially if you are a foreigner. Instead of acting the first time a violent incident happens, they simply tell you - with an almost Francophone insouciance - to get hit again and then they'll consider handing out a pathetic warning. In essence, this is a 'get stuffed, tujec, and leave us to our smoke breaks outside' approach. There's not much Austria does better than Slovenia, but this is definitely one of them. 

MAIN TAKEAWAY: This scoreline was an ugly combination of a bit of a hangover from the imperious performance in the RBS game, our having qualified for the automatic playoffs already and VSV being really up for it chasing a better pre-playoff spot. 

Injury updates from NU

• Horak hurt his ankle in the awkward twist down from getting hit in the back of the head vs RBS, but he is good to go for after the Olympic break.
• Brennan and Mašič are out till at least playoffs (Brennan - knee, Masic - shoulder)
• Kirichenko is possibly done for the season (couldn't walk after a game, no more info).

Here's how our defence has been looking:

Mašič - Brennan

Halbert - Kirichenko

MacWilliam - Gregorc

Crnović

So, we are at minus 75% of our top-4 D and 50% of our 3 pairs gone 😳 Time for Bohinc and Hebar to be recalled from Jesenice, if they haven't already returned!

How I think CC will line up the D:

Halbert - Gregorc

MacWilliam - Crnović

Ćosić - Bohinc/Hebar

How I would line up the D:

Ćosić - Halbert

Bohinc - Gregorc

MacWilliam - Crnović/Hebar

ZG suggested pairing Ćosić and Gregorc, as they play together for the national team. That would look like this:

Halbert - MacWilliam

Ćosić - Gregorc

Bohinc - Crnović/Hebar

It's slightly crushing that the injuries are piling up just as the playoffs come into view, but that is how hockey goes sometimes. We have 5 more games to go in the regular season, all in February. Then, the real fun begins, to quote Anakin Skywalker. 

P.S. Friends of the blog (e.g. NU, ED, ZG) have suggested we go hunting for another Lalonde-type addition, a defender (or two) from a better league that is out of the playoffs and wants to become a stick-for-hire, an icy mercenary, for a contending team. A Balearic Slinger, if you will, for those who enjoy Total War: Rome. I wouldn't be opposed to it, especially if they are of the booming-hit variety like Lalonde was, but I also want our reserve guys like Ćosić and Bohinc to get a chance. I suppose we'll see soon if there's any fire to this smoke!