Austrian Hockey League

Predecessors of today's league were various championships since 1923, the winners of which are also listed today as official holders of the title Austrian Champion. No championship took place in the years 1936 or 1939 to 1945. During the Second World War, some clubs participated in the German Ice Hockey Championship, which is why the Wiener EV (1940) and the EK Engelmann Wien (1939) can also boast a German Championship title in their club history.

Foundation

• see also Ice Hockey in Austria

Until the 1964/65 season, the Austrian championship was played in a single nationwide league, called the Nationalliga A. Below that, there were several regional groups under the collective name of Nationalliga B. Until the aforementioned season, there were a total of eight clubs in the Nationalliga A: EC KAC, Innsbrucker Eislaufverein (IEV), Wiener Eissport-Vereinigung (WEVg), Sportverein Ehrwald (SVE), EK Zell am See (EKZ), ATSE Graz and Salzburger Eislaufverein (SEV).

However, as the individual clubs played in very different economic and sporting classes, the Austrian Ice Hockey Association decided at a meeting on 15 May 1965 to split the field of participants. The champion was to be played in a first division, now called the Bundesliga, by only four clubs. For the next four seasons, there was to be no relegation; instead, the respective champion of the second division, which continued to be called National League B, was to be promoted, thus gradually replenishing the field of participants.

At the same time, the professionalization of the first league was pushed forward, as the ÖEHV realized that an improvement of the league level could no longer be achieved within the possibilities of a semi-professional organization.

1965 to 1970 - The first seasons

The Bundesliga started in the 1965/66 season with EC KAC, IEV, WEVg and KEC (Kitzbüheler Eishockey-Club). The first champion of the new league was EC KAC, but the first Bundesliga goal was scored by Erhart Hermann of Innsbruck EV. A quadruple first and second round without playoffs was played.

In the 1966/67 season, ATSE Graz joined the field, followed by VEU Feldkirch the following season. The eighth club was finally called EK Zell am See and took part in the Bundesliga for the first time in the 1968/69 season. In this season, a change of mode was decided: after the basic round, the winner was played in a championship round. The last three teams played for a place in the Bundesliga, with the last team to finish having to play the Oberliga champion in the relegation round. This mode was maintained in the following season.
During this period, the association meeting on 24 June 1967 in Mödling took place, where the clubs were allowed to hire and also field 2 foreign players. However, there was a restriction that the opponent also field two or one; if they did not field one, only one non-Austrian was allowed. Another decision was: "There will still be 6 clubs, only from 1968/69 the Bundesliga will be increased to 8 clubs - the National League will no longer be divided into A and B and there will be 8 clubs there as well. In the future, the Bundesliga clubs are to run a youth team as well as a team of pupils. In future, the youth teams of the clubs concerned will play the pre-match before the Bundesliga matches."

1970 to 1980 - Dominance of the EC KAC

The 1970/71 championship was played in four rounds for the first time with a total of eight teams, which meant there were 28 matches for each club. The Grazer AK not only had a football team in the highest division, the ice hockey department was also able to play in the highest league, known as the Bundesliga, with the Oberliga champion. From now on, the Oberliga was divided into a West and East group in order to save costs.
EC KAC dominated the league in the 1970s, bringing the championship title to Klagenfurt a
total of eight times. Only ATSE Graz was able to break this dominance with two Graz titles. For the other teams, there were several changes between the Bundesliga and the second highest division. Several times the mode was changed, and three times the new playoff mode according to the Canadian model was used. In the last two seasons, the winner was again determined in a championship round, in which the best-placed teams after the basic round played one or more first and second rounds against each other.

The 1970s also saw a further professionalisation of the league. The budgets of the participating teams increased and more legionnaires were used. In addition, the 1970/71 season was the first time that a supra-regional schoolboy league was held in order to also promote young hockey talent. 1972 also saw the introduction of compulsory helmets, which initially irritated the players, who until then had hardly been equipped with protective clothing. The disadvantage of the new regulation was that there were thereby at the beginning substantially more assaults with the stick against head and neck of the players, however this normalized soon. From 1973 also an artificial ice rink was mandatory for every participant.

A curiosity occurred in the 1972/73 season. 16 points were deducted from the WEV table because the team had used a legionnaire who was not entitled to play. However, it was overlooked that the player in question, Paul Kremz, a native of Czechoslovakia, had already played for WEV since 1971 and the whole affair only became apparent when he was naturalised.

The legionnaire problem was already the order of the day when the ÖEHV decided in 1973 to allow only one legionnaire per team in 1975/76 and 1976/77. The plan was to ban foreign players altogether afterwards, as it was hoped that this would improve domestic players. However, already during this period many teams took advantage of the possibility of naturalization, so that within a very short time there was a glut of so-called "Austros", i.e. players with dual citizenship. However, the ÖEHV was able to mitigate this by making some compromises in the statutes. The planned ban on legionnaires never came into effect, but some teams had nevertheless refrained from signing foreign players. Here, the ÖEHV stipulated that the remaining teams were only allowed to use a maximum of one legionnaire against them.

In 1975 it was also decided that the goalkeeper had to be replaced in case of damage to his equipment, as until then attempts had often been made to stall for time by putting the goalkeeper's equipment in order. In 1978, the newly elected ÖEHV president Hans Dobida negotiated the first TV contract with the ORF, which made it possible to broadcast championship games live on TV.

1980 to 1990 - Professionalisation of the league

The 1980s initially saw a problematic development, as the Bundesliga teams all came from relatively far-flung areas, meaning that ongoing championship operations generated high travel costs. At the same time, attempts were made to improve the performance of the referees, as questionable decisions were becoming more frequent in view of the constantly rising standard of the league. An observation system was introduced in 1982, for example, and a newly formed committee intervened in contentious matters.

The promotion of the national team to the B group triggered a real boom in spectator interest. The success of the national team also boosted attendances at Bundesliga clubs, which, however, were sometimes over-generous, with the result that several teams narrowly avoided bankruptcy. In view of this, the clubs now also showed an increased willingness to cooperate in matters relating to young talent and the organisation of the league. The "Stiftung zur Förderung des österreichischen Jugend-Eishockeysports" (Foundation for the Promotion of Austrian Youth Ice Hockey) provided additional funds, so that the number of players coming up gradually increased. Nevertheless, several teams broke away from the field of participants. The bankruptcy of SV Kapfenberg in 1984 made it clear that resources were limited, but also WAT Stadlau had problems in the mid-eighties to maintain the game after several large investments and finally had to give up participation in the Bundesliga in 1985. In the 1983/84 season, Stadlau even had their 48-year-old coach Walter Znehnalik as a player.

For the 1986/87 championship, the use of two legionnaires and three so-called transfer card players (Austro-Canadians) was allowed, but the two last-placed teams in the Bundesliga and also the promoted team could still use a third legionnaire.

The 1988/89 championship, which began on September 30, was played with only six clubs and without a play-off mode. At EC KAC the longtime success coach Bill Gilligan was replaced by Roger Lamoureux. The WEV changed their coach due to lack of success at the end of October 1988 (the team was in second last place after 6 matches; on the weekend 16/17 October there had been a 0:5 at EC VSV in Villach); Walter Znehnalik (sen.) replaced Gerhard Hausner.
However, the championship was concluded with a championship round with the four top teams (VSV, KAC, Innsbruck, Feldkirch), whereby the Villach team, as dominators of the basic round, seemed to be on their way to become
champions for the second time after 1981. For the time being, last year's champions were dethroned three rounds before the end with a 4:2 home win against their local rivals from Klagenfurt on 5 March, but then things got tight again, as the Blue-Whites conceded their first defeat in more than 14 months with a 3:4 in Feldkirch on 7 March, while Innsbruck won 5:3 in Klagenfurt and drew level with VSV (7 points). Thus, the decision was only made in the final round on March 10, in which it came to a direct duel in Villach. Innsbruck won 6:2; a championship title that came as a real surprise to the Tyroleans, as a championship celebration had to be organized afterwards.
KAC, who had slipped to the last place of the championship round with only two points, could defeat Feldkirch 5:4, had 4 points like the Vorarlberg team, but remained last. (The disappointing WEV signed ten-time ČSSR-A national team player Pavel Volek as their new coach for the new season, who was to start work as early as 10 April).

1990 to 2000 - VEU Feldkirch is serial champion

In the nineties, in addition to the national league, the Alpine League was played with clubs from Slovenia, Yugoslavia and Italy. The actual Austrian champion was played in a very shortened season after the end of the Alpine League season. This was usually done in a very short basic round followed by playoffs. In the 1996/97 season, however, the basic round was dispensed with altogether; instead, the three best Austrian teams in the Alpine League were fixed for the play-off, and the remaining three teams played out the last participant in a short hope round.

Due to the high financial expenditure and the great superiority of VEU Feldkirch, which also achieved great success in international tournaments at that time, the other clubs were forced to also make a high effort to remain competitive. Little by little the smaller teams broke away and switched to the National League, so that from the 1998/99 season onwards, with EC KAC, EC VSV, WEV and VEU Feldkirch, only four teams played out the championship among themselves. SV Kapfenberg even went bankrupt during the current season in 1997 and could only play ten of the planned 18 games of the basic round.

2000 to 2010 - The league goes international

The Ligacrash

In the summer of 2000, the inevitable happened: after the budgets had already exploded, VEU Feldkirch announced that they would no longer be able to participate in the league after the main sponsor left. On the part of the ÖEHV the emergency brake was pulled. The teams sat down together and decided on a new start with reasonable budgets, which should also allow the participation of some teams that had migrated to the National League in recent years.

Thus, after some difficulties, the 2000/01 season finally started with ten teams. The following season saw a novelty when Uniqa was found as the main and name sponsor for the league for the first time. The company sponsored the league for three seasons.

Erste Bank Ice Hockey League

In the 2003/04 season, Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG took over the sponsorship of the league and will remain loyal to it until the 2019/2020 season. However, due to renewed budget increases at the individual teams, several teams again dropped out over the course of time. The 2003/04 season was played with only seven teams, and after the end of the season VEU Feldkirch (which until then had played under the name "EHC Feldkirch 2000") announced its relegation to the National League. At the same time, EC Red Bull Salzburg, as champions of the National League, made use of the right to be promoted to the Bundesliga and has since played with two teams in the two highest leagues. Thus, for the time being, the number of teams remained at seven.

The league was played out in this form for two seasons. However, difficulties became apparent again and again as the Graz 99ers in particular increasingly lost touch with the other teams and some of them had to withdraw from the league. The EBEL started to move forward and in the 2006/07 season HK Jesenice became the first foreign team to join the EBEL. The team played its first league game on September 22, 2006 in front of its own crowd against HC Innsbruck and lost only narrowly with 4:5.

Although Jesenice's participation was a success from a sporting point of view and the team quickly became very popular among Austrian ice hockey fans, problems were again looming.

The legionnaire problem and the points system

EC Red Bull Salzburg, in particular, had invested a lot of money in its playing operations after an unsuccessful premiere season and had been able to retain the better Austrian players with high salaries, which caused difficulties for many other clubs, especially those without sufficient youth development of their own. With only five transfer card players allowed, some teams were unable to fill their lines with competitive homegrown players. A push by the Vienna Capitals finally brought about a complete reorganization in light of the Bosman decision, which had also brought drastic changes to many other European sports leagues.

As many clubs objected to the league being completely open to transfer card players, a special solution was developed, which has been in force in ever-changing form ever since. Since the 2007/08 season, there has no longer been a numerical cap on legionnaires, and instead a points system has been introduced under which players have been awarded points, with each team entitled to the same maximum number of points.

Expansion to ten clubs

Likewise in 2007, it was decided to expand the league from eight to ten teams. The Slovenian team HDD Olimpija Ljubljana and Alba Volán Székesfehérvár from Hungary were included. A new mode with a shortened basic round and a subsequent placement or intermediate round before the play-offs was developed, but met with little approval from fans.

For this, the legionnaire regulation was criticized with a wide variety of arguments, so that the league felt compelled to change it again: In the 2008-09 season, the points quota was reduced to 60. At the same time, it was decided that foreign players under the age of 22 could no longer count for the full four points.

Despite all the measures, however, the budgets at the clubs continued to rise, so that some teams again ran into difficulties. This culminated in the voluntary relegation of HC Innsbruck in the spring of 2009, as those responsible no longer felt able to put together a competitive team with the available funds. However, in order to continue to have an even number of clubs in the league, a little later the EBEL granted the application for admission of KHL Medveščak Zagreb from Croatia, which had been submitted for the first time back in 2007, so that the team took part in the league as a tenth team from the 2009/10 season onwards.

2010 to 2020 - Consolidation

The 2009/10 season was the first time the league had made it into the top seven in Europe in terms of spectator numbers, leaving Slovakia's Slovnaft Extraliga behind. Another important step in the league's development finally came in May 2010, when the EBEL became the seventh full member of the international league association Hockey Europe. For the 2011/12 season, Orli Znojmo became the first team from the Czech Republic to join, meaning that teams from five nations were now participating in the league.

For the 2012/13 season, Dornbirner EC decided to move up to the highest division. HC Innsbruck followed suit, returning after three years in the second division.

In turn, Slovenian club HK Jesenice dropped out of the competition, paying tribute to massive financial problems. The 2011/12 season was a disaster for the club and ultimately its last. The following year, Croatian side KHL Medveščak Zagreb were also admitted to the Kontinentale Hockey Liga and dropped out of EBEL play. In return, Italian record champions HC Bozen were admitted to the league, which was officially announced on 8 July 2013.

The field remained unchanged from 2013 to 2017, although the second Slovenian participant HDD Olimpija Ljubljana also experienced financial problems in the meantime and regularly finished in last place. In January 2017, Zagreb announced its withdrawal from the KHL and reapplied for the EBEL. In March 2017, the club's participation for the 2017/18 season was confirmed. Again due to financial problems, Zagreb had to withdraw from league play during the season, while since December 2018 only amateurs played for the club.

For the 2019/20 season, VEU Feldkirch applied to return, but later withdrew the application. Thus, only eleven teams participated in this season. The season had to be cancelled after the first three play-off matchdays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since 2020: New name, new sponsor

In October 2019, Erste Bank announced that it would not be extending its sponsorship agreement with the league, which expires at the end of the 2019/20 season, after 17 years. At the same time, the previous free-TV partner Servus TV also announced its exit after ten years. In April 2020, the league signed a three-year contract with bet-at-home.com as its new title sponsor. Puls 24 became the new free-TV partner, while the contract with pay-TV partner Sky Austria will continue.

On July 4, 2020, the name and the new logo of the league were published. From now on, Austria's highest division will be called Bet-at-home ICE Hockey League. ICE stands not only for the playing surface (ice), but also for the internationally participating clubs. ICE stands for International Central European.

In the run-up to the 2020/21 season, the Slovakian club Bratislava Capitals, founded in 2015, applied to join the league. The team most recently belonged to the second-highest Slovakian division and won the main round of this league in 2020. At the end of April 2020, the eleven previous clubs agreed to Bratislava's participation. In contrast, the only Czech club HC Orli Znojmo withdrew from the league "for one season" in May for economic reasons as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 3, 2021, the General Assembly of the ICE HL decided to reinstate HC Orli Znojmo in the league for the 2021/22 season. At the same time, the league will be expanded to 14 teams, more than ever before. With HK SŽ Olimpija Ljubljana a Slovenian club is again represented in the league, with HC Pustertal a second club from South Tyrol. The application of VEU Feldkirch, on the other hand, was not accepted.

The following is a summary of the seasons of the Austrian Ice Hockey League since the 1965/66 season. The table also contains information on the participating countries, the play-off mode, as well as spectator numbers.