ICE Hockey League 2021-2022 (Salzburg wins championship)

[Eye of Ra]

If I had to vote for coaches of the year this season, I would vote the following way:

1) Dave Barr. Going by the roster, his Vienna squad had no business finishing 4th in the regular season and advancing to the semifinals.

2) Kevin Constantine. Just a great season for Fehervar all around, their best performance in league history.

3) Mitja Šivic. His Ljubljana team was expected to finish at the bottom of the table, yet they ended up 6th and gave Villach a hell of a playoff battle.

HM: Raimo Helminen. Hired in mid-November, he turned Pustertal from a bottom-dweller into a playoff team.

How about the best players then?

Would Christian Engstand and Johan Harju get any votes?

 

[Theokritos]

How about the best players then?

Would Christian Engstand and Johan Harju get any votes?

I don't think so. Here's the result of the actual MVP voting prior to the playoffs:

1) Peter Schneider (Salzburg) 40 points
2) T. J. Brennan (Salzburg) 38
3) John Hughes (Villach) and Radek Prokeš (Znojmo) 15 each
5) Thomas Sholl (Pustertal) 13

 

[Theokritos]

Season review for each team:

Salzburg
Highlights: 1st in the regular season, swept all three playoff series, won their first league championship since 2016. A great season all around.
Lowlights: Losing 1-3 against Rouen and being eliminated by them in the CHL.

Fehervar
Highlights: Just a very good season all around. Beating Villach in the SFs probably takes the cake though.
Lowlights: A rough stretch in December with 5 defeats in 7 games (GD -17). Getting swept in the finals has to hurt.

Villach
Highlights: Finishing 2nd in the regular season.
Lowlights: Three humilliating defeats against the traditional rival Klagenfurt with the scores of 0-4, 1-9 and 0-6.

Vienna
Highlights: Considering the roster? Everything from late October to late March. In particular, the crucial upset win over Klagenfurt in Game 7 of the QFs.
Lowlights: The preseason and the first month of the regular season were a disaster.

Znojmo
Highlights: High-scoring wins like 6-0 vs Klagenfurt, 10-2 vs Bolzano, 8-0 vs Ljubljana. Making the playoffs.
Lowlights: Some bad defeats like 1-6 vs Villach, 1-7 vs Fehervar and 1-6 vs Pustertal.

Pustertal
Highlights: Making the top 6 after a surge from December on.
Lowlights: October to November were weak. Getting swept in the playoff QFs.

Ljubljana
Highlights: Leading the league during the first few months. Late February to late March (playoffs) was also very decent.
Lowlights: Almost everything from December to February.

Klagenfurt
Highlights: Beating Villach three times with humiliating scores. Winning the CHL home game against Leksand 4-0.
Lowlights: A few bad losses in the regular season (0-6 vs Znojmo, 0-7 vs Fehervar). Lots of inconsistency over the season. The first few QFs games weren't good and the loss in Game 7 was disastrous.

Bolzano
Highlights: The stretch from late December to mid-February was good.
Lowlights: A bad start, a bad finish. A 2-10 defeat against Znojmo. Finishing 9th and getting eliminated by Klagenfurt in the preplayoffs.

Graz
Highlights: A great stretch in December with 23 points in 9 games.
Lowlights: Much of the rest of the season.

Innsbruck
Highlights: A great stretch from early October to early November (25 points in 11 games).
Lowlights: The long Covid break (early November to early December) that killed the momentum and chemistry. Ending up outside of the top 10.

Dornbirn
Highlights: A great stretch in October with 11 points in 5 games.
Lowlights: The rest of the season. First they started losing despite playing decent hockey and as the streak went on the wheels fell off.

Linz
Highlights: None.
Lowlights: The entire season was a letdown and a nightmare.