Alps Hockey League schedule 2024/2025: It all starts on Saturday!

13 teams from Italy (6), Austria (4), Slovenia (2) and, for the first time, Croatia (1) will contest the 2024/25 Alps Hockey League season from 21 September. KHL Sisak will be the first team to represent the Croatian federation in the international championship.

Format

The regular season in 2024/25 will initially be played in a one-and-a-half round-robin format, with 36 games per team. The top 5 then form the Master Round, receiving bonus points based on their regular-season placing (4-3-2-1-0) before playing each other twice more to secure the best possible position for the quarter-final pick. The top 5 after the regular season qualify directly for the play-offs.

The remaining eight teams (6 – 13 after the regular season) will be divided into two Qualification Rounds and will likewise receive bonus points based on their regular-season placing (3-2-1-0 in each case).

Following a round robin, the three best teams from the qualification groups will compete for the three remaining play-off places in best-of-three series (first versus third and second versus second in each case).

Austrian Championship in the Alps Hockey League

EC Bregenzerwald, EK die Zeller Eisbären, EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel and Red Bull Hockey Juniors, who are also the reigning champions, will take part in the Austrian Championship in the Alps Hockey League.

The fixtures from the completed home-and-away round (= the respective first home and first away game) of the Alps Hockey League regular season between Austrian clubs will be taken into account and assessed in accordance with the provisions of the Alps Hockey League Gamebook.

The two highest-placed Austrian teams after the regular season will contest the final during the IIHF break in February 2025 for the Austrian Alps Hockey League 2024/2025 championship title.

As in recent seasons, the Champions Hockey League format will be used for the final, with the club ranked higher in the overall table of Austrian clubs starting with the away game. The team leading on aggregate after the home and away legs will be crowned champions.

Overtime and a penalty shoot-out can therefore take place only in the second leg if the aggregate score is level. In that case, a 10-minute overtime period will be played with three skaters per side on the ice. Should overtime remain scoreless, a shoot-out with five shooters per team will follow.

Play-offs begin on 08 March

The first day of play-offs is scheduled for 08 March 2025. The champions of the ninth Alps Hockey League season will be confirmed no later than 19 April 2025.

Thursday and Saturday remain the main matchdays

As in previous seasons, Thursday and Saturday will be the main matchdays of the Alps Hockey League in the upcoming campaign. For logistical and infrastructure reasons, road trips have also been scheduled for the forthcoming season, meaning that occasional games will be played outside the main matchdays.

The opening round at a glance:

Sat, 21 September 2024, 18:00: Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan vs. HK RST Pellet Celje

Sat, 21 September 2024, 19:00: Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel vs. HC Gherdeina valgardena.it

Sat, 21 September 2024, 19:30: EC Bregenzerwald vs. SIJ Acroni Jesenice

Sat, 21 September 2024, 19:30: EK Die Zeller Eisbären vs. Hockey Unterland Cavaliers

Sat, 21 September 2024, 19:30: HC Meran/o Pircher vs. Rittner Buam SkyAlps

Sun, 22 September 2024, 17:30: S.G. Cortina Hafro vs. Red Bull Hockey Juniors

Key dates for the 2024/25 season at a glance:

Sat, 21 September 2024: start of the regular season

Sat, 01 February 2025: final round of the regular season

Tue, 11 February 2025: start of the intermediate round

Thu, 27 February 2025: start of the pre-play-offs (best-of-3)

Tue, 04 March 2025: final pre-play-off game

Sat, 08 March 2025: start of the quarter-finals (best-of-7)

Sat, 22 March 2025 or Tue, 25 March 2025: start of the semi-finals (best-of-7)

Sat, 05.04.2025 or Thu, 10 March 2025: start of the final (best-of-5 or best-of-7)

Sat, 19 April 2025: latest possible final game

For the full fixture list of the Alps Hockey League in the Gamecenter

All information on the Alps Hockey League on the official website