Energija Elektrenai, the club that is virtually synonymous with Lithuanian hockey, is in financial distress. The team needs LTL150,000 (about €50,000) to cover short term debt. Not a staggering amount of money but enough to put the team on the brink of survival as it has been unable to attract new sponsorships.

Following the budget crisis, Energija has had to make some hard decisions. For some time, the team has wanted to move from the Latvian League to the stronger Open Belarus League, but this is now out of the question. To participate in the Latvian League, Energija can do with a budget of around LTL2.5 mio. If the team was to enter the Belarus league, the budget would have to raise to LTL3.5-5 mio, and that's not possible.

Energija has made budget cuts in two significant ways: first by swapping some its more experienced and expensive players with junior players, and second, and perhaps even more significant, by dropping its participation in the Lithuanian league. What will happen to the Lithuanian league now that it has lost its only good team remains to be seen. So far, the Lithuanian hockey federation's website is silent on the question.

During this weekend, Energija will participate in the second round of the IIHF Continental Cup. Energija's head coach, Rimantas Sidaravincius looks forward to test Energija's strength with Polish Cracovia, Sary-Arka of Kazakstan and Tartu Kalaev-Välk of Estonia, but Sidaravincius also acknowledges that it may be difficult for Energija to win the tournament and qualify for the semifinals. At Krakow, Energija will be missing several injured players, among others it's team leader Sarunas Kuliesius, and it may, according to Sidaravincius, also become a factor that Energija went later on the ice than the other teams in the preseason. For Energija, that was another measure to save money.