Release from 10.07.2017

Alps Hockey League heads into second season

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17 teams, three nations, one championship - Alps Hockey League will start into the second season on September 9, 2017. After a successful debut campaign, the eight Italian teams as well as all seven clubs from Austria and Jesenice confirmed their participation for the 2017-18 season. With Olimpija Ljubljana a second Slovenian team completes the starting field.

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Two inner-Austrian games open the 2017-18 Alps Hockey League season on September 9, 2017 with all the remaining teams getting into action just a few days later. Champions Rittner Buam attempt a possible title defense just with an away game at newcomer Olimpija Ljubljana. After ten years in Erste Bank Eishockey Liga, the "green dragons" open a new chapter in Alps Hockey League now. With it the first capital of the three participating nations is on the AHL map.   
 
Mode: more games, more derbies in Alps Hockey League 2017-18
Despite Italy and Slovenia playing the World Championships Division I Group A and Slovenia also taking part in the Olympic Games (Jesenice and Ljubljana have a three-week AHL break in February), the final series will be played "best of seven" with the regular season ending just at the beginning of March.
 
The Alps Hockey League season 2017-18 is split in two phases. In the regular season the teams play a double round robin of 32 games for every club against each other, in addition to it there is an innovation: Instead of a sparsely plannable Intermediate Round, there are additional games in four local groups at four resp. five teams around Christmas time. It's not only about important points for the overall table, the two best-placed teams of both Italian groups qualify for the Italian Final Four, where it’s about the „Scudetto“.
 
The eight best teams of the overall table make it to the playoffs. In the quarterfinals the first three teams have the right to pick their opponent of the teams ranked from 5-8. The first two playoff-series (quarterfinals and semifinals) are played in a “best-of-five” mode, the finals will be "best-of-seven". In semifinals the best-placed team of the regular season plays the lowest-ranked team. The champion of the Alps Hockey League 2017-18 will be crowned in up to 377 games.
 
Peter Schramm (Chairman Alps Hockey League): „I think the second season will be even better with the teams still coming closer. The participation of Olimpija Ljubljana in Alps Hockey League shows the great interest in our league. Those responsible in Ljubljana have seen how Jesenice has developed in the last season. I think the top teams of Austria will be capable of closing the gap to the top. The new mode will make the championship even more interesting. It was tough to accommodate the number of things for the schedule as we had to be mindful of many dates. But we have found solutions for the national teams, both on senior and youth level."
 
Tommaso Teofoli (Member Board of Governors): „The first season of the Alps Hockey League was a good success. The championship has shown that something important can be built in the heart of Europe with the collaboration of the national federations and the clubs. Now the championship continues with one more team and this will make the competitions even more interesting and exciting with 17 clubs starting the season. At the same time the second year of the Alps Hockey League will have to give even more responses from the point of view of the organization, communication and marketing. The sport history of this league can only grow even better thanks to the mix between young players and experienced players. The course of this championship is still long but after a year I am confident about its full development."
 
Sky no longer title sponsor
After the promised support from Sky for the debut season of Alps Hockey League, the cooperation now expired. At this point Alps Hockey League wants to thank for the valuable support. The pay-TV channel will still offer Alps Hockey League a platform for detailed coverage as part of the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga broadcasts.