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The 2021–22 Alps Hockey League was the sixth season of the
Alps Hockey League The Alps Hockey League (AlpsHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in Central Europe. The league is made up of teams from Austria, Italy and Slovenia. The league was established as a result of a merger between Serie A and the Inter-Natio ...
. The defending champions were Slovenian team HK Olimpija that participate in
ICE Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...
beginning from the 2021–22 season.


Teams

The number of participating teams has risen to seventeen from the previous season: Vienna Capitals Silver, reserve team of the
Vienna Capitals Vienna Capitals are an Austrian professional ice hockey club that participate in the Erste Bank Hockey League. Founded in 2001, the Capitals play their home games in Vienna, Austria, at Albert Schultz Eishalle. In the 2004–05 season, the Capit ...
(which in the previous season had decided not to participate due to the uncertainty caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
) and the EK Zeller Eisbären (which was instead excluded due to the resignation of the board of directors of the company);
HC Merano HC Merano is an ice hockey team in Merano, Italy. They play in the Serie B, the second level of ice hockey in Italy. History Merano was founded in 1968. They won the Serie A twice, in 1986 and 1999. Since 2004 the club is playing in the 2nd highe ...
requested and obtained from the
Italian Ice Sports Federation The Italian Ice Sports Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio; FISG), is the governing body for ice sports in Italy. It was founded in September 1926 to promote the practice of winter sports on ice and to coordinate events. The F ...
a wild-card that allowed him to enroll in the AHL and return to play the Italian top flight after seventeen years; the reigning champions HK Olimpija and
HC Pustertal Wölfe HC Pustertal Wölfe – Val Pusteria Wolves are an Italian professional ice hockey team from Bruneck, currently playing, as of the 2021–22 season, in the ICE Hockey League (ICEHL). They formerly played in the Alps Hockey League and Serie A. T ...
from South Tyrol have instead moved to the
ICE Hockey League The ICE Hockey League (International Central European Hockey League), known as the win2day ICE Hockey League for sponsorship reasons, is a Central European hockey league that also serves as the top-tier ice hockey league in Austria, it currently f ...
. ;Notes


Format

The formula has changed again: the seventeen teams will meet in a regular season, for a total of 32 games each. At the end of the regular season, the first six team will classify to the master round, the rest will be divided into the two qualification groups (the teams finished 7th, 10th, 11th, 14th, 15th will be placed in Group A, the others in Group B), also played in two rounds. The first four teams at the end of the master round qualify directly to the play-offs. The remaining two teams in the master round and the top three in each qualification round group will instead have access to the preliminary round to determine the other four teams.


Changes to the regulation due to the COVID-19 pandemic

At the end of December 2021, when it became clear that the number of matches postponed for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic had become too high for all recoveries to be organized in time for the expected end of the regular season, the league decided that to determine the ranking not by the number of points earned, but the average of the points, calculated as the quotient between the points and the number of games played. In order to be considered classified, a team was still required to play at least 70% of the scheduled matches.


National championships


Italian championship

The Italian teams participating in the AHL will also play for the Italian title. As in the 2018–19 season, all the matches between Italian teams during the regular season form a ranking, and at the end first four teams will play in the semifinals and the final.


Second division of the Austrian championship

Similarly to what happens for the Italian championship, the meetings between the Austrian teams in the regular season of the Alps Hockey League determine a ranking, at the end of which the first four teams will play for the second series title with semifinals and final with first legs and return. The qualified teams are Lustenau, Kitzbühel, Bregenzerwald and Red Bull Salzburg Jr.


Regular season


Second stage


Master Round

The first six teams at the end of the regular season qualified for the Master Round, with the first four classified being given the bonus from 4 to 1 point. At the end of the master round, the first four teams qualify directly to the quarter-finals of the play-offs, the other qualify to the preliminary round.


Qualification Group A

Teams finished 7th, 10th, 11th, 14th and 15th in the regular season are qualified for Qualification Group A, with the first three receiving bonus equal to 6, 3 and 2 points respectively. At the end of the qualifying round, the top three teams advance to the preliminary round.


Qualification Group B

Teams finished 8th, 9th, 12th, 13th, 16th and 17th in the regular season are qualified for Qualification Group B, with the first three receiving bonus equal to 5, 4 and 1 point respectively. At the end of the qualifying round, the top three teams advance to the preliminary round.


Play-offs


Bracket


Pre-playoffs


Quarterfinals


Semifinals


Finals


Final rankings


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 Alps Hockey League Alps Hockey League seasons 2021–22 in European ice hockey leagues 2021–22 in Italian ice hockey 2021–22 in Austrian ice hockey 2021–22 in Slovenian ice hockey