Release from 26.04.2024

Review of the 2023/24 season

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A week ago today, the EC Red Bull Salzburg were crowned champions of the win2day ICE Hockey League for the third time in a row. The Red Bulls defeated the EC-KAC 4:3 in a dramatic final series. The other playoff duels and the Regular Season were also very exciting. A look back at a season that was hard to beat in terms of excitement.

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The thirteen teams in the win2day ICE Hockey League kicked off the 2023/24 season on Friday, September 15, 2023. The Regular Season was very varied right from the start, with numerous changes at the top. At one point, HC Pustertal was in the lead for the first time, but in the end the South Tyroleans slipped to eighth place, but later made history again in the playoffs. As the Regular Season progressed, the EC-KAC was the best team. The finalist finished the Regular Season at the top with 102 points. Between November 28 and the end of the Regular Season on February 23, the KAC only suffered two defeats in regulation. During this period, they won a total of 20 out of 25 matches.

Klagenfurt qualified for the Champions Hockey League as winners of the Regular Season. Runner-up Hydro Fehérvár AV19 are also represented in the 2024/25 CHL campaign. The Hungarians played their best Regular Season since joining the league. With a total of 95 points, the 2022 finalists surpassed their 82 points back then by thirteen points. It was also Fehérvár's last season at the “Ifjabb Ocskay Gábor Jégcsarnok” ice rink. From the coming season, the team from Székesfehérvár will play in the new “Alba-Arena”, which seat 6,000 spectators.

Pure excitement in the battle for the Top-6
The EC Red Bull Salzburg finished the Regular Season in third place in the table, not only crowning themselves champions later on, but also snatching the third Champions Hockey League ticket. The top three had secured their playoff participation relatively early, but behind them it was a five-way battle for the remaining three early playoff tickets for a long time. It was not until the penultimate matchday that the final decisions in the battle for the Top-6 were made. The HCB Südtirol Alperia secured the fourth place despite a bad start to the season and nine defeats from their first twelve games. The “Foxes” then got back on track with new, old head coach Glen Hanlon and celebrated ten wins in a row. The Steinbach Black Wings Linz took the fifth place in the table, while the EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV secured the last early playoff ticket. The HC TIWAG Innsbruck, who made a sensation in the Champions Hockey League by reaching the round of 16, finished just behind in seventh place. It was the Tyroleans' first time in the CHL. In the group stage, they defeated the eventual champions Servette Geneva 5:2.

Vienna Capitals missed the playoffs for the first time since 2003/04
The “Sharks” qualified for the pre-playoffs as seventh in the table, as did the HC Pustertal, HK SZ Olimpija and the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg. On the other hand, the spusu Vienna Capitals failed to qualify for the post-season for the first time since the 2003/04 season, meaning they are no longer the sole record holder for the most playoff appearances in a row. Salzburg drew level with the Viennese this season, making it the Red Bulls' 19th consecutive postseason appearance.

Goalie fight and four goals games
Fans of the win2day ICE Hockey League will probably remember the goalie fight between Niklas Svedberg (HCB) and Rasmus Tirronen (BWL) for a long time. It was one of the “spectacles” in an emotional Regular Season. In the offense, three players shone with four goals in one game. Kevin Roy (HCI) only needed 24 minutes and 58 seconds to make it 4:0 for Innsbruck against Salzburg. It was the fastest four goals by one player in ICE history. Graham Knott (BWL) and regular season MVP Steven Owre (PIV) also scored four times in one game.



Premiere for the Pioneers

After the Regular Season, the postseason began for the third time with the pre-playoffs, which produced a surprise as the Pioneers Vorarlberg gave Innsbruck no chance and qualified for the quarterfinals for the first time. The second pre-playoff duel was much closer. Pustertal prevailed against Ljubljana in the overtime of the decider.

Spectacular playoffs
The pre-playoffs were followed by the playoffs. Regular season champion EC-KAC chose the Pioneers as their opponent. However, Klagenfurt had more problems than expected with the Vorarlberg team in the quarterfinals. The red and whites secured their place in the semifinals in the sixth game. Salzburg had fewer problems with Linz (4:1) and Bolzano with Villach (4:1) in the quarterfinals. Pustertal, on the other hand, fought their way into a deciding game against Fehérvár and, as in the pre-playoffs, the South Tyroleans won. The “Wolves” thus qualified for the semifinals for the first time. However, in this it was the end of the line for Pustertal. They were eliminated by the KAC with 0:4. The second semifinal was a repeat of the 2023 final and Salzburg once again won against Bolzano in the deciding game. In overtime of game seven, it was again Nicolai Meyer who denied the HCB its chances of winning the title. In the 2023 final, the Dane scored the championship-winning goal just before the end of regulation.

The 30-year-old also played a big part in his team's triumph in the final against the EC-KAC. For the second time in a row, a final series went the full distance. Meyer scored twice in the 6:2 win in the deciding game and also scored the OT game-winner in the fifth final. It was Salzburg's third championship in a row.

New record for postseason games
For the first time since the “best-of-7” format was introduced, three playoff series went the full distance. A total of 46 games were played in the playoffs, more than ever before in the postseason of the win2day ICE Hockey League.

Three individual awards
Three individual awards were also presented in the 2023/24 season. Steven Owre of the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the Regular Season by the trade journalists. This was the first time a BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg player had won this award. Sebastian Dahm (KAC) finished in second place, with John Hughes (VSV) in third.

At the end of the final series, the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the playoffs award was also presented. This went to Thomas Raffl of champion Salzburg. With eleven goals, the 37-year-old was the top goal scorer of the playoffs, and the forward also made eight assists. Raffl scored five times in the final alone. Marcel Mahkovec of HK SZ Olimpija won the Young Star of the Season award, which was voted for by fans and TV expertes.

The individuals
Regular season MVP Steven Owre was both top scorer (72) and top goal scorer of the past season (37). Jason Akeson from the HC Pustertal made the most assists (50). KAC goalie Sebastian Dahm won the goalie award with a save percentage of 93.4% and a GAA of 1.83.

Final table win2day ICE Hockey League season 2023/24:
1. EC Red Bull Salzburg *
2. EC-KAC **
3. HCB Südtirol Alperia
4. HC Pustertal
5. Hydro Fehérvár AV19 ***
6. Steinbach Black Wings Linz
7. EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV
8. BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg
9. HC TIWAG Innsbruck
10. HK SZ Olimpija
11. spusu Vienna Capitals
12. Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey
13. Moser Medical Graz99ers

* win2day ICE Hockey League Champion 2023/24 and CHL participant 2024/25
** win2day ICE Hockey League runner-up 2023/24 and CHL participant 2024/25
*** Runner-up after the Regular Season and CHL participant 2024/25