Release from 27.04.2023

Review of the 2022/23 season

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A week ago today, on Thursday, April 20th, the seventh season in the Alps Hockey League came to an end. In an enormously exciting final series, HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice became champion for the first time. A review of an atmospheric season.

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After two and a half years with severe spectator restrictions or partly in front of completely empty stands, the entire season could be played without COVID restrictions. This was also noticeable in the spectator numbers. A total of 153 137 spectators attended the games of the Alps Hockey League this season, which ended with a dramatic final series. In game six between Jesenice and Cortina, the championship-winning goal was not scored until the 97th minute. It was the third-longest game in AHL history, in which Jesenice became champion of the multinational league for the first time. For Italian champion Cortina, the final qualification was the biggest success in the Alps Hockey League so far too.

In the semifinals, the Slovenians beat the Rittner Buam SkyAlps clearly with 4:0. A thriller was the series between Cortina and Red Bull Hockey Juniors, which the Italians won 4:3. In the all-decisive game seven, Cortina was already trailing 1:3 to win with 4:3 in the end. It was the first semifinal appearance in the Alps Hockey League for the Young Bulls. Ritten was already in the semifinals for the fourth time, once they won the title.

Regular Season again divided into two phases
The kick-off of the seventh season took place on September 10th. The Regular Season was again divided into two phases. At the beginning, five participants for the Master Round were determined in Regular Season Phase 1, who then played out the best starting position for the playoffs. The remaining teams were divided into two Qualification Round groups, in which the remaining participants for the Pre-Playoffs were determined.

Red Bull Hockey Juniors started the playoffs as top seeded team
Champion Jesenice finished Regular Season Phase 1 at the top, surprisingly followed by league newcomer Hockey Unterland Cavaliers. In the subsequent Master Round, Red Bull Hockey Juniors finished on top, which is why the team from Salzburg started the playoffs as the top seeded team.

The individuals
The league's top scorer was Diego Cuglietta of runner-up Cortina with 63 points, followed by Santeri Haarala of league newcomer Hockey Unterland Cavaliers (61). The AHL's top goal scorer was Zan Jezovsek of champions Jesenice, who had a total of 36 goals, eight ahead of second placed Henrik Neubauer of the EK Die Zeller Eisbären.

Jesenice goalkeeper Karjalainen was elected MVP
Outstanding goalie and also MVP was Antti Karjalainen of champion Jesenice. For the 27-year-old Finn, who played his first season in the Alps Hockey League, it was the first individual award of his professional career. With a GAA of 1.36, Karjalainen was clearly at the top in this statistic. In addition, the 2019 Finnish champion celebrated eleven shutouts, including four in the playoffs alone. Florian Vorauer of the EC-KAC Future Team had the highest save percentage (95.1%). However, the 23-year-old was in goal in only 14 games.

HK RST Pellet Celje enters the league
After 15 teams participated in the Alps Hockey League in the past season, with the Slovenians HK RST Pellet Celje a new team will join the international league in the upcoming 2023/24 season.

Copyright: Vito De Romeo