On Wednesday 13 September 2023, the Rectorate of the CTU in Prague hosted the unveiling of the new visual identity of last year's regular season winner and runner-up of the University Ice Hockey League, Engineers Prague. The christening ceremony was attended by the highest officials of the CTU as well as representatives of key partners of the university hockey team. The long-standing partners were joined by Bühler Group and Pražská energetika (PRE), for whom this was the first official joint event with the CTU Engineers. With the new official name, the team will not only play in the most watched domestic university competition, but will also attack the attendance record this year, already on 2 November during the University Hockey Duel: Battle of Prague.
What is behind the decision to make such a fundamental change? "The main factor is the vision of the NSA University Leagues project, where each team is to represent only one university. The second reason is that this year's Battle of Prague will now become part of ULLH, and we wanted to maintain the participation of all four universities. Therefore, we had to choose one primary university and the choice fell on CTU, where our club has the strongest fan base and where we have the strongest long-term support," explains Aleš Příhoda, the club's president.
The University Ice Hockey League is looking to grow with new participants and expand to more universities. "With this step, we are also giving room for the creation of new university ice hockey teams at ČZU and VŠE in Prague. Preparations are already underway and I believe that next year we will welcome new members to ULLH, which will create an opportunity for even more young athletes to participate in this unique project," says Tomáš Hlaváč, President of the Czech University Hockey Association.
"We are very happy that the CTU Engineers Prague club represents our university. In the eight years of its existence it has become one of the most important student interest groups, it has gained many supporters from among students and employees and I believe that the excellent sports results will continue to unite our students and strengthen their affiliation to the CTU," says the Rector of CTU in Prague, doc. Vojtěch Petráček.
The club will put on its new jerseys for the first time on 4 October, when it will welcome Riders Univerzita Pardubice to its home stadium for the first competitive match of the new ULLH season. The match will be played traditionally at the Hvězda Praha ice stadium. All of you are of course cordially invited.