Release from 10.01.2024

Review of the first phase of the Regular Season

Short text 366 CharactersPlain text

The first phase of the Regular Season of the Alps Hockey League came to an end on Friday. The Rittner Buam SkyAlps secured the first place - but there was still a lot to play for until the last matchday. The fans acknowledged the exciting course of events with a large attendance: Compared to the previous season, 19% more spectators came to the arenas. A look back.

Press release 3414 CharactersPlain text

The Rittner Buam SkyAlps finished the first phase of the Regular Season of the 23/24 season in the Alps Hockey League in first place with an eight-point lead. The South Tyroleans thus secured their second Regular Season title after the one in the AHL premiere season 16/17 - when the "Buam" also won the championship.

Their closest rivals were the EK Die Zeller Eisbären, who opened the championship with eleven wins from their first twelve games and finished the first phase of the Regular Season in second place.

Tension until the end
While Ritten and Zell am See had already secured the qualification for the Master Round and the quarter-finals before the end of the year 2023, a quintet of teams battled for the remaining four spots in the top group until the end: the EC Bregenzerwald was "through" after the penultimate matchday - an eight-game winning streak between November 18 and December 19 secured the Vorarlberg team's first Master Round qualification.

The Red Bull Hockey Juniors, the Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan and S.G. Cortina Hafro completed the top group on the final matchday. Defending champion SIJ Acroni Jesenice missed out on the top six as seventh - and continues to play in the Qualification Round.

19 percent increase in fan numbers
Exactly 127,501 spectators watched the exciting first phase of the Regular Season (240 games). On average, 531 spectators were welcomed per game - an increase of 19% compared to the previous season. The majority of teams recorded a significant increase in arena attendance: S.G. Cortina Hafro, SIJ Acroni Jesenice and HC Meran/o Pircher increased their average attendance by 80%.

"Polar bears" the crowd puller
The EK Die Zeller Eisbären is once again the spectator magnet this season: the runner-up from the first phase of the Regular Season welcomed 1,796 fans per game, an increase of seven percent on the previous season. The 3:2 victory after overtime against defending champion Jesenice was watched by 2,600 people in the sold-out KE KELIT ARENA - an absolute season record. Seven teams broke the 1,000 mark in at least once: Zell am See, Kitzbühel, Gherdeina, Lustenau, Bregenzerwald, Merano and Jesenice.

Merano duo leads scoring statistics
The two best scoring players wear the jersey of the HC Meran/o Pircher: Nolan Ritchie (28G|29A) and Clader Anderson (21G|36A) scored a total of 57 points in the first phase of the Regular Season. The top scorer was Anthony De Luca from the HC Gherdeina valgardena.it with 35 goals. With a score of +28, Ritten's Simon Kostner won the plus/minus rating. With a save percentage of 92.5% and a goals-against average of 2.24, former MVP Colin Furlong (RIT) was the best goaltender.

Intermediate round starts on January 17
While the Alps Hockey League takes a break this week, the semi-finals of the national AHL championships are taking place in Austria and Italy. The Alps Hockey League will finally resume next week with the Intermediate Round. The game between the EC Bregenzerwald and the Red Bull Hockey Juniors from the Master Round will kick off on Wednesday, January 17. The first round will be concluded on Thursday, January 18. The last match day of the Intermediate Round will take place on Saturday, February 24. The decisive phase of the season then begins with the Pre-Playoffs and Playoffs.

>> TO THE MATCH DATES