Ö Eishockey Liga to begin its fourth season in mid-October

The Ö Eishockey Liga will enter its fourth season in mid-October, featuring a total of eleven clubs across the two regional East and West divisions. Traditional Vorarlberg club EHC Lustenau will be new to the West Division, while WSG Swarovski Wattens Penguins return after a one-year break. Slovenia’s HDK Maribor is a new addition to the East Division. The champion of the 2024/2025 season will be decided on 15 March 2025.

11 June 20242 min read

The Ö Eishockey Liga completed the missing piece of the Austrian ice hockey puzzle three years ago. The aim was to establish another nationwide league below the win2day ICE Hockey League and the Alps Hockey League.

The third season featuring eleven teams from five federal states (Styria, Upper Austria, Vienna, Tyrol and Vorarlberg) once again offered everything ice hockey fans in Austria could wish for: attractive, high-scoring games, some of them highly emotional in the inter-regional playoffs, which once again drew a rush of fans to the third-highest league. The decisive final at the Stadthalle Kapfenberg, in which hosts Kapfenberger SV claimed the title against SC Samina Hohenems, was played in front of a record crowd of 3.200 fans.

The Ö Eishockey Liga gets under way again on 12 October 2024

The ÖEL will begin the new season with the opening matchday on Saturday, 12 October 2024. In its fourth year, the format will remain almost unchanged in Phase 1, with six teams in the West Division and five in the East Division. Traditional Vorarlberg club EHC Lustenau is new to the West Division, while WSG Swarovski Wattens Penguins are celebrating their comeback after a year away.

HDK Maribor from Slovenia is a new addition to the East Division. VEU Feldkirch in the West, along with EV Zeltweg Murtal Lions and UHT Dukes Graz in the East, have not entered for the new season. As in the previous season, the West Division will play two double round robins, resulting in 20 games per team. The East Division will also play a double round robin, with each team playing 16 games.

After Phase 1, there will once again be an inter-regional play-off, beginning with the quarter-finals on 08 February 2025. The play-off pick after the regular season will also provide extra excitement in the coming campaign. The highest-ranked team in each of the West and East Divisions may choose its quarter-final opponent from the team placed third or fourth in the other division.

The playoffs, starting with the quarter-finals, will once again be played in the Champions Hockey League format with home and away legs, with the teams progressing determined by the aggregate score after two games each. The new Ö Eishockey Liga champion will be decided on 15 March 2025. The exact schedule will be published by the ÖEHV as soon as it has been confirmed.