2022–23 Asia League Ice Hockey season explained

2022–23 ALIH season
League:Asia League Ice Hockey
Sport:Ice hockey
Duration:3 September 2022 – 26 March 2023
No Of Games:40
No Of Teams:6
Season:Regular season
Season Champ Name:Regular season champion
League Champs:HL Anyang
League Champ Name:Leaders Flag
Second Place:Red Eagles Hokkaido
Top Scorer:Shogo Nakajima (REH)
Playoffs:Playoffs
Playoffs Mvp:Kang Yoon-Seok (HLA)
Finals Champ:HL Anyang
Finals Runner-Up:Red Eagles Hokkaido
Seasonslistnames:Asia League Ice Hockey
Prevseason Link:2021 Japan Cup ice Hockey (Asia League Ice Hockey)
Prevseason Year:2021–22(Japan Cup)
Nextseason Link:2023–24 Asia League Ice Hockey season
Nextseason Year:2023–24

The 2022–23 Asia League Ice Hockey season was the 20th season of operation (18th season of play) of the Asia League Ice Hockey. The league returned after the past two seasons were only Japanese clubs played due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The regular season began on 3 September 2022, when the East Hokkaido Cranes hosted HL Anyang.[1]

The playoffs concluded on 25 March, with HL Anyang defeating Red Eagles Hokkaido in the finals in five games, winning their seventh league championship in franchise history.[2]

Season changes

The Oji Eagles rebranded as Red Eagles Hokkaido back in 2021.[3] The Daemyung Killer Whales folded in 2021. The Yokohama Grits make their league debut this season after their initial debut was postponed with the cancelation for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons.[4]

On 2 August 2022, the league voted to remove PSK Sakhalin in protest to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5] On 15 September 2022, Anyang Halla announced that they rebranded to HL Anyang.

Teams

Only five teams from the 2019–20 season returned for the 2022–23 season, with the addition of expansion side Yokohama Grits.

1,284
2,539
3,015
1,608
3,500
2,500

Regular season

The league's regular season began on 3 September 2022.

Results

Playoffs

Semifinals

(2) Red Eagles Hokkaido vs. (3) Nikkō Ice Bucks

Final

(1) HL Anyang vs. (2) Red Eagles Hokkaido

Statistics

Scoring leaders

The following shows the top players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of matches played on 5 March 2023.[6]

PlayerTeam
Red Eagles Hokkaido40225375+318
Nikkō Ice Bucks40273158+228
HL Anyang40124254+718
Nikkō Ice Bucks40302252+226
HL Anyang40252550+144
Red Eagles Hokkaido40183149+312
Red Eagles Hokkaido4044448+314
Red Eagles Hokkaido37202646+416
Red Eagles Hokkaido39291443+339
East Hokkaido Cranes40192443+124

Leading goaltenders

The following shows the top goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of matches played on 5 March 2023.[7]

PlayerTeam<--(s)-->
HL Anyang372198:335394.221.45
Red Eagles Hokkaido331946:476592.172.00
Nikkō Ice Bucks201162:486488.933.30
East Hokkaido Cranes241290:217389.123.39
Tohoku Free Blades251377:409390.114.05

Awards

Award Winner
League champions HL Anyang
Most valuable player Matt Dalton, HL Anyang
Best goaltender Matt Dalton, HL Anyang
Rookie of the year Kanata Isoya, East Hokkaido Cranes
Leading scorer (Regular season) Kento Suzuki, Nikkō IceBucks
Leading assists (Regular season) Shogo Nakajima, Red Eagles Hokkaido
Leading points (Regular season) Shogo Nakajima, Red Eagles Hokkaido

Team of the year

First Team[8]

Notes and References

  1. News: Putting the Grit in Yokohama. Japan Forward. 1 November 2021. 10 August 2022.
  2. News: Anyang Halla wins Asia League. eurohockey.com. 26 March 2023. 19 April 2023.
  3. News: Sparking consistent local interest in hockey key part of Japan's Winter Olympic future. The Japan Times. 4 February 2022. 10 August 2022.
  4. News: アジアリーグアイスホッケー 2022-2023:試合日程のお知らせ. asiaicehockey.com. Japanese. 22 July 2022. 10 August 2022.
  5. News: HOCKEYThe club from Russia was kicked out of the international league. Champions become a victim of politics. sportish.co. 3 August 2022. 10 August 2022.
  6. Web site: Point Ranking 2022/2023 . . ALIH . 4 September 2022.
  7. Web site: GK SP Ranking 2022/2023 . . ALIH . 4 September 2022.
  8. Web site: Asia League Ice Hockey 2022-2023: Announcement of Regular Season Awards . Asia League Ice Hockey . 9 March 2023.