Release from 24.04.2023

Review of the 2022/23 season

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On Friday, the win2day ICE Hockey League season 2022/23 came to an end with the eighth championship title in the club history of the EC Red Bull Salzburg. A look back at an enormously exciting season.

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In a dramatic final series, the EC Red Bull Salzburg became champion against the HCB Südtirol Alperia. In the seventh and all-decisive final game, it was Nicolai Meyer who scored the championship-winning goal 108 seconds before the end of the third period. The championship celebration tomorrow, Tuesday, at the Stiegl Brauwelt (17:00) will now mark the conclusion of the 2022/23 season.

Season started with two new teams
The season kicked off on September 16th, 2022, with the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg and Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey joining the league. While the Italians promptly made it into the pre-playoffs, the Pioneers finished the season in thirteenth and last place in the table.

Innsbruck was the surprise in the Regular Season
The big surprise in the Regular Season was the HC TIWAG Innsbruck, which was at the top of the table from December 9th to January 18th and also was in the lead several times before that. Finally, the Sharks finished the Regular Season in third place and were rewarded with the first Champions Hockey League qualification. In the playoffs, Innsbruck was defeated in the quarterfinals by the spusu Vienna Capitals with 2:4. The HCB Südtirol Alperia finished the regular season with a commanding lead at the top of the table . With 106 points, the Foxes were eight points ahead of Salzburg.

Season without COVID restrictions
After two and a half years of ICE with spectator restrictions or partly in front of completely empty stands, the entire season could be played without COVID restrictions. This was also reflected in the attendance figures. A total of 908,986 spectators attended the 359 games in the 2022/23 season. 177,788 fans watched the games in the playoffs alone.

Spectacular playoffs
The fans were rewarded with spectacular games, especially in the playoffs. Finalist Bolzano had to play a decisive game seven against the Steinbach Black Wings Linz in the quarterfinals, in which they managed to reach the semifinals in overtime. In the semifinals the South Tyroleans eliminated the spusu Vienna Capitals 4:1 and so it came to the final between Bolzano and Salzburg for the third time in the history of the ICE. The Red Bulls marched into the final with a 4:0 win over Hydro Fehérvár AV19 and a 4:1 win over the EC-KAC. The loss to the intervening 1:1 was the first postseason defeat for Salzburg after previously winning 17 straight.

In the finals against Bolzano, the Regular Season winners from South Tyrol took a 1:0 lead, but then the Red Bulls pulled away to 3:1. However, as in the previous two final series between HCB and RBS, it went to a deciding game, but this year for the first time with the better end for Salzburg, who narrowly prevailed 2:1 in game seven.

Three individual awards
Three honors were again awarded for individual achievements in the 2022/23 season. Brady Shaw of the HC TIWAG Innsbruck was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Regular Season by hockey journalists. This was the first time a Sharks player won this award. The second place went to teammate Adam Helewka, with Nick Mattinen of EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV coming in third.
With the conclusion of the finals, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the playoffs was also honored. As in the previous season, goalkeeper Atte Tolvanen of champion Salzburg won the award. With important saves and a save percentage of almost 95 percent in the playoffs, the 27-year-old Finn played a major role in winning the title. The Young Star of the Season vote, conducted by fans, experts from TV partner PULS 24 and journalists, was won by Fabian Hochegger of the EC-KAC.

The individuals
Matt Bradley of the spusu Vienna Capitals was the top scorer of the past season with 74 points (30G|44A). The Viennese also provided the top goal scorer with Max Zimmer (34). The goalkeeper ranking was won by Salzburg's goalkeeper Tolvanen with a save percentage of 93% and a GAA of 1.71. The most penalized player in the league was Mike Dalhuisen of runner-up HCB Südtirol Alperia (123 PIM).

Final standings win2day ICE Hockey League season 2022/23:
1. EC Red Bull Salzburg *
2. HCB Südtirol Alperia **
3. EC-KAC
4. spusu Vienna Capitals
5. HC TIWAG Innsbruck ***
6. EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV
7. Steinbach Black Wings Linz
8. Hydro Fehérvár AV19
9. Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey
10. Moser Medical Graz99ers
11. HC Pustertal Wölfe
12. HK SZ Olimpija
13. BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg

* win2day ICE Hockey League Champion 2022/23 as well as Austrian Ice Hockey Champion and CHL participant 2023/24.
** win2day ICE Hockey League runner-up 2022/23 and CHL participant 2023/24
*** third-placed after the Regular Season and CHL participant 2023/24