Release from 23.04.2024

Review of the 2023/24 season

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On April 11, the Rittner Buam SkyAlps became the new champions of the Alps Hockey League. For the South Tyroleans, who swept S.G. Cortina Hafro in the final, it was their first title since the 2016/17 season. A look back at a spectacular season.

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A total of 198,649 fans went to the arenas of the 16 Alps Hockey League clubs in the past season. The eighth season kicked off on September 16 with the first phase of the Regular Season. The eventual champions Rittner Buam SkyAlps were always in the lead, or only just behind. In the end, they only conceded seven defeats in 30 games, and with a total of 69 points, the "Buam" were eight points ahead of their closest rivals EK Die Zeller Eisbären. Defending champion SIJ Acroni Jesenice narrowly missed out on the Master Round in seventh place. Positions five to seven were only separated by two points. Ritten confirmed its title ambitions in the Master Round, with just one defeat from ten matches, Ritten had in the end a eight point advantage over S.G. Cortina Hafro. The Italians went from the fifth place after the first phase of the Regular Season to the second place with a strong Master Round. Ritten and Cortina therefore started the playoffs as the top seeded teams. Defending champion Jesenice, among others, missed out on the postseason. They finished Qualification Round A only in third place.

Exciting playoffs and many late overtime decisions
In the playoffs, the last two quarterfinalists were first determined in pre-playoffs. The Hockey Unterland Cavaliers and HC Meran/o Pircher won. It was the first quarterfinal qualification for Meran. In addition to the South Tyroleans, the EC Bregenzerwald also reached the last eight for the first time. However, the quarterfinals were the end of the line for both teams against the eventual finalists Ritten and Cortina. The Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan went into the semifinals with a sweep against Zell am See. The Broncos were thus the only 2024 semifinal debutant. Sterzing also dominated for long stretches in the semifinal against Ritten, taking a 3:1 lead in the series, but the season dominator from Ritten found its way back into the series and won 3:1 in the seventh game. In the second semifinal, Cortina beat the Red Bull Hockey Juniors 4:2. It was the second semi-final defeat in a row for the Juniors against Cortina.

In the final, Ritten finally clinched their second AHL title with a sweep, while for Cortina it was their second consecutive defeat in the final. However, all four encounters were extremely even, with Cortina just 22 seconds short of equalizing the series in the second final. In overtime, it was Alan Lobis who scored the game-winner in the 93rd minute. In the 2024 playoffs, however, two goals were scored even later. In the sixth semifinal against Sterzing, Max Coatta didn't score until the 101st minute to give RIT an important victory, while in the other semifinal series it took until the 98th minute before the Juniors scored to decide game one. The longest game in AHL history dates back to March 1, 2017, when Cortina scored after exactly 109 minutes against Pustertal.



The individuals

The league's top scorer was Calder Anderson, who was also voted MVP of the 2023/24 season. The HC Meran/o Pircher forward scored 81 points. His teammate Nolan Ritchie followed in second place with 80 points. Anthony DeLuca from HC Gherdeina valgardena.it scored by far the most goals with 50. In goal, Colin Furlong of champion Ritten was particularly impressive with a goals-against average of 2.16. The Canadian played a major role in his team's success in the playoffs, with the 31-year-old saving 94.3% of all shots on his goal in the postseason. Top scorer in the playoffs was Tim Doherty from runner-up Cortina with 21 points.