After 306 games the field gets divided

HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana started the current season as defending champions. Last year, the Slovenians took the trophy from second place in the regular season. In the current season Ljubljana will start from pole position in the new Master Round of the Alps Hockey League. The decisive factor was a winning streak of twelve games from December to January. During this period the 2019 champion took the lead and could not be displaced from there. Especially in defense the "dragons" knew how to convince. On average, Gregor Poloncic's team only had to concede two goals per game. Ljubljana will start the Master Round on 13 February with four bonus points.

Ritten and Pustertal take second and third place
The Rittner Buam, the premiere champion of the AHL from the 2016/17 season, and the reigning runner-up HC Pustertal Wolves each scored 75 points in the regular season. Due to the direct duel, the "Buam" will start the Master Round from second place. They convinced especially with their offensive. With 4.5 goals per game they scored the most goals of all teams. Once again, Alex Frei was the guarantor of success for Ritten. With him on the ice they scored 39 goals more than they received - league best. The third-placed HC Pustertal was still at the top of the table in mid-December. By the end of the year they were down to third place - and the management reacted to this, changing the coach and also making personnel changes within the team. The "Wolves" were then able to maintain third place and start the Master Round with two points.

Cortina, Asiago and Jesenice take playoff tickets in the last round
While the top 3 qualified for the playoffs early, S.G. Cortina Hafro, Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey and HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice had to fight until the last round to qualify for the Master Round. Especially impressive was the catch-up of the Slovenians. At the end of December Jesenice was still in 13th place, the Master Round seemed almost out of reach with a gap of nine points. But the young team of Head Coach Mitja Sivic started a remarkable recovery with a winning streak of ten games and qualified for the top six on the last possible day, while Asiago was also "under the line" for a long time and only managed to get the ticket for the post-season thanks to three wins in the last three rounds. Cortina made it even more exciting in the last few rounds, but got a bit shaky in the decisive phase. In the final showdown against Feldkirch in the last round, only an emptynetter brought redemption in case of a tie.

Fassa, Feldkirch and Lustenau bury hope for top 6 in last round
Up to the last round the SHC Fassa Falcons, the VEU Feldkirch and the EHC Lustenau still had chances for the Master Round. The Falcons and the VEU even had the promotion to the top 6 in their own hands, but could not win their showdowns. The Italians presented themselves as one of the biggest surprises this season, as they were always at the bottom of the table in the previous seasons of the AHL. But Lustenau fell short of expectations and lost their early play-off ticket in January with six consecutive losses. The Feldkirch team was in a good starting position for a place in the Master Round until mid-January, but had to accept three defeats in the last three rounds - two of them after extra time or penalty shootout.

The roller coaster ride from Sterzing and Salzburg
Both the Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan and the Red Bull Hockey Juniors have gone through some ups and downs this season. While the Broncos had a remarkable start, the first rounds were even at the top of the standings and they were ranked second until the beginning of November, the Salzburgers had to settle for second last place at the same time. Coming from different sides, the Broncos and the Salzburgers finally met in the middle of the table. Both teams are also facing each other in the Qualification Round A, with an advantage for Sterzing, which takes three bonus points.

Zell am See, Kitzbühel and Val Gardena with bonus points into the Qualification Round
The EK Zeller Eisbären, HC Gherdeina valgardena.it and EC "Die Adler" Stadtwerke Kitzbühel also scored bonus points for the Qualification Round. So far this season Val Gardena has been heavily dependent on the striker duo Matt Wilkins and Bradley McGowan. With a total of 125 points they are the most successful duet in the league. The Polar Bears had an incredibly strong phase from mid-October to the end of November, during which they climbed to fifth place in the standings. After that, however, things didn't go according to plan and they had to settle for twelfth place in the regular season. Kitzbühel struggled with their chances this season. Only 9.05% of the shots found their target, which meant 14th place at the end of the regular season phase 1.

Klagenfurt, Bregenzerwald, Vienna and Linz attack without points
The young team of the EC-KAC II started a little too late this season to collect bonus points for the qualification round. Especially from 31 October to 26 December the "young KAC team" lost their chances for more with eleven defeats from twelve games. In the remaining ten games of the regular season, they were able to win at least four games and thus still catch up with EC Bregenzerwald. The Vorarlbergers lost eight out of nine games in the same period and must therefore continue their way in the Qualification Round B. The field is completed by the two AHL debutants Vienna Capitals Silver and Steel Wings Linz. While the Viennese were able to celebrate eight victories this season, the Linz team aim to tackle victory number two in the Qualification Round.


Master Round: hier geht’s zum Spielplan
1. HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana 4 pts.
2. Rittner Buam 3 pts.
3. HC Pustertal Wölfe 2 pts.
4. S.G. Cortina Hafro 1 pt.
5. Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey 0 pts.
6. HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice 0 pts.

Qualification Group A:
EHC Lustenau 4 pts.
Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan 3 pts.
Red Bull Hockey Juniors 2 pts.
HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 1 pt.
EC KAC II 0 pt.
Vienna Capitals Silver 0 pt.

Qualification Group B:
SHC Fassa Falcons 4 pts.
VEU Feldkirch 3 pts.
EK Die Zeller Eisbären 2 pts.
EC 'Die Adler' Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 1 pt.
EC Bregenzerwald 0 pt.
Steel Wings Linz 0 pt.

Die Spielpläne zur Qualification Round folgen am Donnerstag.