Brett Welychka joins the Rittner Buam. © Bietigheim Steelers

The Rittner Buam are equipping themselves with a globetrotter

The 2025/26 season is already a few games old, and the Rittner Buam SkyAlps have made another addition. The blue-red team's forward line is being expanded by Canadian Brett Welychka. The 31-year-old arrives in Klobenstein as a free agent and has played for eleven different clubs over the past eight years.

September 30, 2025

From: pm/det

Welychka was born on March 3, 1994, in London, Ontario, Canada. The Canadian gained his first experience in ice hockey with the London Knights, from the youth leagues to the Ontario Hockey League, one of the three largest youth leagues in North America. He won the league title twice with the Knights (in 2012 and 2013). From London, the 1,78-meter-tall, 81-kilogram Welychka then went to Carleton University, from which he reached the American Hockey League for the first time in the 2017/2018 season. He played eight games with the Manitoba Moose before leaving Canada for the first time for the 2018/19 season and gaining further AHL experience with the Rockford IceHogs in the USA.

In 2019, Welychka crossed the Atlantic to Denmark. There he played for Esbjerg Energy (2019/20) and the Rodovre Mighty Bulls (2020/21). This was followed by a one-year stint with HC Presov in Slovakia, and then, in the 2022/23 season, with the Nottingham Panters in the British Premier League (EIHL).

Brett Welychka joins the boys. © Bietigheim Steelers

That same season, the right-handed shooter also played a few games for the Dresden Eislöwen and the following season for the Bietigheim Steelers in the second German Ice Hockey League (DEL2), before joining his last club, the Guildford Flames, in the EIHL in 2024/25. At all his stops, Welychka impressed with his consistent points tally, which he is now expected to deliver with the Rittner Buam, where he also completes the foreign player contingent.

Sporting directors Dan Tudin and Alexander Eisath are delighted with the new addition to the Rittner Buam squad: "Brett (Welchyka, editor's note) is a versatile striker who plays with high intensity in every substitution. His versatility and professional attitude make him an ideal addition to our team. We are convinced he will play an important role in achieving our season goals."