Release from 30.04.2021

Start and mode for season 21/22 fixed

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The new season in the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League will start on 17th of September 2021 - this was decided at a video conference on Friday, which was also attended for the first time by the three new league participants HK SŽ Olimpija Ljubljana, HC Pustertal and HC Orli Znojmo. In addition, the 2021/22 campaign will be played with a new mode.

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The 2021/22 season in the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League will begin on Friday, 17 September 2021. The regular season will be played in two round robins of 52 games per team. This means 26 home games per team and thus at least one more than in the past season. Thus, all 14 teams will play against each other four times in a total of 364 matches. The regular game days of Tuesday, Friday and Sunday will be adhered to.

While there is a uniform schedule from the start of the season until the beginning of February, two scenarios have been developed with regard to the Olympic Games in order to create the greatest possible planning security. Depending on whether a nation participating in the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League qualifies for this event, games could be held before or after the international break (7 to 13 February). The regular season will be completed either at the end of February or the beginning of March.

Pre-playoffs for the first time
The teams in first to sixth place after 52 match days will qualify directly for the quarterfinals. The teams in seventh to tenth place will play "best-of-3" pre-playoffs, with the seventh-placed team choosing whether to play the ninth or tenth-placed team. The winners of the two series complete the field of participants for the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinal pairings will continue to be determined by a playoff pick. In this, the top 3 teams select their opponent after the regular season. The fourth-placed team is not available for selection and will face the team that was not chosen in the pick.

From the quarterfinals onwards "best-of-7"
The quarterfinals, semifinals and final will be played in "best-of-7" mode. The team that has collect first four wins is one round further.

The detailed roster regulations for the 2021/22 season will be worked out in a workshop in the near future and decided at an extraordinary general meeting.