Release from 08.10.2024

Excitement and plenty of goals: Furious start to the 2024/25 Alps Hockey League season

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After the first 30 games, the 2024/25 season of the Alps Hockey League promises to be exciting and evenly matched. Remarkably, 20 of the games so far have ended with a difference of just one or two goals. A third of the games were also only decided in extra time or shootout, which illustrates the density of the league.

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The Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel currently lead the Alps Hockey League table with twelve points, closely followed by Red Bull Hockey Juniors, who also have twelve points. Kitzbühel held on thr maximum points until last Saturday, but surprisingly lost 2:4 to HK RST Pellet Celje, who were bottom of the table at the time, leaving only one team unbeaten: the 2023 AHL champions, SIJ Acroni Jesenice. The Slovenians are still "only" in third place, as they had to go into overtime or shootout in three of their four games, but won each of them.

A total of eight games have already gone into overtime and in two cases a shootout had to decide the outcome. This means that a third of all matches were only decided in overtime or shootout. In total, 67% of the 30 games played so far have ended with a difference of just one or two goals, which emphasises the balance and drama of the season so far.

The current season also offers plenty for fans of offensive hockey. With 187 goals scored, the average is 6.23 goals per game. League newcomer KHL Sisak and league leader Kitzbühel are particularly hard to stop offensively. The "Eagles" from Kitzbühel have already scored 25 goals in five games, while the Croatians have scored 19 times in just three games. Sisak put down a special marker with a clear 10:2 home win against the EK Die Zeller Eisbären.

Zell am See has had a mixed start to the season in sporting terms. With five points, the "Polar Bears" are currently in tenth place, but the support of the fans is unbroken. With an average of 1,501 spectators per game, the team from Pinzgau clearly leads the attendance table, followed by KHL Sisak, which attracts an average of 867 fans. A total of 15,478 spectators have already watched the 30 games so far this season, with four games attracting more than 1,000 fans to the arenas.

Board of Governors Chairman Marcello Cobelli is very positive about the Alps Hockey League season so far: "The excitement and balance we've seen so far is exactly what characterises this league. The fact that 67% of games have been decided by just one or two goals and a third of all games have gone to overtime or shootout shows how hard-fought every match is. I'm also very pleased that we were able to win a new, very strong team with a lot of fans in Sisak. The Croatians are definitely an enrichment for the Alps Hockey League."