Ernest Aljančič

For his son, also a Slovenian ice hockey player and official, see Ernest Aljančič Jr.

Ernest Aljančič
Born	(1916-12-05)December 5, 1916 Ljubljana, Austria-Hungary
Died	November 19, 2006(2006-11-19) (aged 89) Ljubljana, Slovenia
Played for	SK Ilrija HK Ljubljana
National team	Yugoslavia
Playing career	1932–1957

Ernest "Nestl" Aljančič (5 December 1916 – 19 November 2006) was a Slovenian ice hockey player and official.

Aljančič was one of ice-hockey pioneers in Yugoslavia. As a member of SK Ilrija he participated in the first Yugoslavian ice-hockey game against Kamnik team. He continued to play after the Second World War in the renamed HK Ljubljana team. He also played for the Yugoslavia national ice hockey team in the first international match against Austria national ice hockey team, where Aljančič scored first Yugoslav international goal. As a part of the Yugoslavia national team he participated in the 1951 and 1955 World Ice Hockey Championships, scoring two goals.[1]

In 1957, after a 25-year ice-hockey career, Aljančič retired. He later worked as an official trying to popularise the sport in Slovenia, helped to build Hala Tivoli ice-hockey rink and organize the 1966 World Ice Hockey Championships in it.^[citation needed] As the first Slovenian, he was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2002.[2][3] In 2007, he was inducted to the Slovenian Hockey Hall of Fame.^[citation needed]

His two sons, Ernest Aljančič and Jani Aljančič, have also played ice-hockey for Olimpija and Yugoslavia national ice hockey team. Ernest was also the president of the Ice Hockey Federation of Slovenia for 15 years.^[citation needed]

References

1. "Slovenia Is Proud to Have Two IIHF Hall of Fame Members". Ice Hockey Federation of Slovenia. Archived from the original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved 2011-02-02.
2. "Umrl je Nestl Aljančič". Siol (in Slovenian). Ljubljana, Slovenia. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
3. "Eight new IIHF Hall of Famers will be celebrated in Goteborg". International Ice Hockey Federation. 2002. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 8 November 2007.