ICE Hockey League 2020-2021 (Klagenfurt wins championship)

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
The successor of EBEL. As mentioned, the Austrian internationalized league has a new main sponsor and undergoes a name change.

They found a new sponsor just the other day, bookmaker "bet-at-home"
Eishockey-Liga hat mit bet-at-home einen neuen Sponsor gefunden - derStandard.at (German)

HC Znojmo (Czechia) drop out while Bratislava Capitals (Slovakia) join the league. Some other entries are still in question:
  • Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia) want to join. Technically it would not be a comeback since this is a new club legally speaking, but that's window dressing. It's seems questionable whether they have sufficient funding, but they seem to be determined. A few Austrian clubs are reported to be against it.
  • EHC Black Wings Linz (Austria) are in trouble. Several club officials and sponsors have pulled out due to a dispute with the club president and they have founded a new club, EHV Linz. This new club wants to compete in the ICE Hockey League, but haven't been admitted yet as the other clubs stand by the old club for the time being. But funding of the old club seems to be in question and they are now being sued for unpaid wages by former employees, among them coach Tom Rowe (former Florida Panthers GM) and players like Jeff Glass (former Chicago Blackhawks backup goaltender).
 
Last edited:

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
As expected, the decision today is to not admit new club EHV Linz to the league.



Meanwhile, the president of the old club EHC Black Wings Linz is subject to criminal investigations for alleged fraud and new accusations have surfaced yesterday: a widely-read newspaper claims the contracts of the former employees (Tom Rowe and several players) who sue for unpaid wages contain evidence of fiscal evasion on part of EHC Black Wings Linz.
 

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
A few details:

EHC Black Wings Linz (Austria) are in trouble. Several club officials and sponsors have pulled out due to a dispute with the club president and they have founded a new club, EHV Linz. This new club wants to compete in the ICE Hockey League, but haven't been admitted yet as the other clubs stand by the old club for the time being. But funding of the old club seems to be in question ...

A regional paper (Oberösterreichische Nachrichten) says the club lost a seven-digit sum (1 million € or more) due to the recent loss of some of their main sponsors. Considering 2 to 3 million € is what some EBEL/ICE Hockey League clubs operate with, a seven-digit sum is a whole lot.

Meanwhile, the president of the old club EHC Black Wings Linz is subject to criminal investigations for alleged fraud and new accusations have surfaced yesterday: a widely-read newspaper claims the contracts of the former employees (Tom Rowe and several players) who sue for unpaid wages contain evidence of fiscal evasion on part of EHC Black Wings Linz.

The paper (Kronen Zeitung) says they have seen employment contracts in which the club guarantees players net payments of 55,000 €. But when it came to payroll accounting, the club respectively the president not only declared a lower figure than 55k, but the lower figure was even designated as a gross payment.
 
Last edited:

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
The Austrian government wants to ease Corona restrictions further and allow up to 5,000 spectators at indoor events (like hockey games) beginning in September. Provisions: Only seats and no stands, so that everyone in attendance has an assigned place; and some distance between individual spectators or groups of spectators. Details are supposed to be settled within one week from now.

Source (German)
 

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
Ivo Ďurkovič, Bratislava Capitals president, in an interview with the league website:
  • Initially Bratislava Capitals wanted to join the Slovak top league. Back then, Slovan Bratislava was still playing in the KHL. But when Slovan returned to the domestic league, Bratislava Capitals didn't like the prospect of competing for fans against an established club with a long tradition.
  • Bratislava Capitals have limited funds and will play almost exclusively with Slovak players. But Ďurkovič thinks they can reach the playoffs.
  • He says EBEL/ICE Hockey League offers "quality hockey" which he wants to bring to Bratislava.
  • The games against Vienna Capitals are the ones he's looking forward to the most. He thinks the two clubs will develop a natural and "healthy rivality".
  • Bratislava Capitals are on the verge of signing several players. With one single exception, the squad will be all Slovak.
  • He says he's very happy about the coach they have and that he has a good reputation beyond Slovakia. (Who is he? I haven't even found the name of their new head coach.)
 
Last edited:

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
EHC Black Wings Linz (Austria) are in trouble. (...) But funding of the old club seems to be in question and they are now being sued for unpaid wages by former employees, among them coach Tom Rowe (former Florida Panthers GM) and players like Jeff Glass (former Chicago Blackhawks backup goaltender).

Update: The outstanding salaries have now been paid. The president claims that "most"of the sponsors who had turned away from the club in favour of the new club EHV Linz have gone back to supporting EHC Black Wings Linz – assumingly in the wake of the EBEL/ICE Hockey League decision to not admit the new club. He says Black Wings except to raise a budget of "significantly over 3 million Euros" for next season.
 
Last edited:

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
Why the opposition to the Slovenian entry?

The last time they guaranteed everyone they had enough money and were accepted, even though critics already doubted the validity of their statements. Then they turned into the laughing stock of the league as they were unable to pay salaries and players left mid-way through the season. They were kicked out of the league and went bankrupt. The outstanding salaries haven't been paid until today. Now the replacement club (HK Olimpija instead of HDD Olimpija; the new club has to be separate legal entity or else they become liable for the debts of the old club) is knocking at the door with the claim that they are financially sound and critics again question where the money is actually supposed to come from resp. how much they can realistically raise.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PanniniClaus

TheWhiskeyThief

Registered User
Dec 24, 2017
1,625
496
Why the opposition to the Slovenian entry?

I went to an Alps league game in Ljubljana 2 seasons ago, the game was poorly attended. With Slovenia still recovering economically, I don’t know how they could put together a competitive budget in a COVID world.
 

TheWhiskeyThief

Registered User
Dec 24, 2017
1,625
496
I went to an Alps league game in Ljubljana 2 seasons ago, the game was poorly attended. With Slovenia still recovering economically, I don’t know how they could put together a competitive budget in a COVID world.
OneyMay UnderingLay is not a easonRay to have a team join your league.

Get home attendance to 90+% of capacity; have a distro platform that gets 1/2 your away matches available to fans in a free/easy manner.
 

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
The new league name has just been officially announced: ICE Hockey League, an abbreviation for International Central European Hockey League. I will change the thread name accordingly.

ICE.png
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Rigafan

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911


Other players let go by Klagenfurt: Ramon Schnetzer (last loaned to Dornbirn), Philipp Kreuzer and Siim Liivik.
 

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
A report today says the new Alps HL season will start October 8th.

New update:

Alps HL is now supposed to start October 3rd. In a first stage, the 16 clubs only play regional games (4 clubs per regional pool), then (from late October on) the schedule will resume in a normal manner. The playoffs are supposed to start March 27th 2021.

Source
 
Last edited:

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
The ICE HL clubs have decided to prolong the league-wide transfer freeze "until further notice". The teams want to wait until they know the attendance restrictions required by each provincial authority.

Fehervar however announced two signings that were already made before the Covid crisis:


 
  • Like
Reactions: PanniniClaus

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
Much uncertainty about the league start as the ongoing stadium inspections by the authorities keep resulting in attendance restrictions that aren't financially feasible for the clubs. Linz, with one of the bigger arenas in the league, would be limited to 1,000 spectators. A new suggestion being discussed is mandatory mask-wearing in the stadiums. The idea is that this should do away with the need for attendance restrictions.
 

Theokritos

Global Moderator
Apr 6, 2010
12,538
4,911
The Austrian government wants to provide € 35 million to compensate sports clubs for revenues lost due to the pandemy between March 10th and September 30th. A second aid-package for revenue losses from October 1st on (which would be most relevant for ice hockey) is still up to debate. Next week, a meeting between the health minister and the league is scheduled where this will probably be talked about along with the definite attendance restrictions. After the meeting, an end of the league-wide transfer freeze can be expected.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rigafan and KTl

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->