SLOVENIA MANIA

 

Argueably, the most remarkable statistic in OSHL history, is the frequency in which team Slovenia has found their way to the Legacy Cup Finals.

 

Slovenia was welcomed into the bi-annual tournament, along with Iceland, during the 2nd stage of expansion when in Tournament IV the league moved from a 10-team format to a 12-team one.

 

Joe Hilborn would lead the the squad all the way to the finals where they eventually fell 5-4 to team Slovakia.  Brandon Forbes would take over the following tourney and also lose in the finals. The third time, however, was the charm...as Forbes would once again lead the way, but this time grabbing Slovenia's 1st ever Legacy Cup title. 

 

It would be impossible to continue the success of three finals in three years. In fact, the team did not return to the Championship game until Joel Andresen took over as the new GM in Tourney X. They would lose that one, but took care of busines two tourney's later by knocking off Russia in Tourney XII. They would lose in the quarter-finals in Tourney XIII, not play in Tourney XIV (12-team post-COVID edition), and without Andresen at the helm...fail to qualify for the playoffs in Tourney XV.  

But by Tourney XVI, all was right again. With Andresen back in charge, the team was once again back in the championship game, coming within seconds of winning their 3rd Legacy Cup...ultimately dropping a tightly-contested game to team Finland, 8-7.

 

Fast-forward to Tourney XVII. Team Slovenia found themselves in a tough division with the likes of team Canada (Ferenac), Finland (Gach), and Czechia (Davison).

 

After winning a tight, tournament-opening matchup up against the defending champs (Finland) 7-6, Slovenia had their way with Ferenac's Canadian's to the tune of 11-4. Andresen and Tyler Stuber led the way with 5-points each, while the OSHL's all-time save leader, Blake Barge, turned aside 17 of 21 shots.

 

With the postseason already a lock, Slovenia appeared to dial it back a notch during their third and final round robin game...dropping a 12-10 shootout to the already-eliminated team Czechia.

 

For their quarter-final matchup, team Slovenia drew the team that was widely-considered the favorites to win the Cup heading into the tourney. Mike Holben had assembled an impressive roster and had his team Scotland clicking on all cylinders...outscoring the opposition 33-15 through the round robin, including a 16-5 dismantling of team India in their most recent game. But Andresen (4-1-5), Jared White (3-5-8) and the rest of team Slovenia would prove to be too much for team Scotland to overcome, as Slovenia walked away with a 10-6 victory.

 

The semi-finals would prove to be another difficult matchup, as Team USA...a team who had also knocked off team Scotland, came in with a perfect 4-0 record. Rookie GM, Nolan Musey, had built a well-balanced squad that featured the eventual tournament Vezina-trophy-winning goalie, Darren Lodge, who basically had his net on lockdown...and a collection of timely scorers. The game, which was tight-checking from start to finish, would need overtime to decide the winner. It was Stuber who would corral a lob pass from White in behind the US defense, thanks to an ill-timed line change, and patiently outweigh Lodge. eventually tucking the ball home to send Slovenia back to Legacy Cup Final.

 

It was a rematch thirteen tournament's in the making. Just as it was in their first tournament ever, Slovenia would be facing Slovaki with the Legacy Cup on the line. This time, however, it was Slovenia's turn to come out on top. Powered by an impressive 4-goal performance, including the final two goals to help seal the deal, Jared White would once again provide the necessary offense to lead Slovenia to a 6-4 triumph. White was awarded the Hart Trophy, given to the player deemed most valuable for the duration of the tourney, while Andresen took home the first-ever "We won because of..." award given to a player on the Championship team and sponsored by Dave Musey and Chopped Leaf (Spruce Grove). 

 

Of note, Blake Barge, the goalie who has played the most games, logged the most minutes, and faced the most orange plastic in tournament history captured his first-ever Legacy Cup Championship. It was an incredibly impressive feat considering that Barge probably has logged amongst the top-10 most minutes in life of all the players in the tourney. His 5.94 goals against average put him 4th amongs all goalies for Tourney XVII.

 

For the record, Slovenia has played in 13 OSHL tournaments. They have won 3 times, and lost in the finals another 4 times...meaning they've played in the Legacy Cup Finals in more than half of the tournaments they've been in (7/13). Joel Andresen has personally been in charge of Slovenia for 6 tournaments. He has made the finals in 4 of them, winning twice. Overall, Andresen has played in 9 tournaments, making the finals 6 times and winning 3...including one...where he helped team Russia knock off guess who? Team Slovenia. 

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AWARD WINNERS

HART TROPHY - Jared White, SLOVENIA

VEZINA TROPHY - Darren Lodge, USA

HEART & HUSTLE TROPHY  - Matt Baer, SLOVAKIA

"WE WON BECAUSE OF..." - Joel Andresen, SLOVENIA