Asia League Ice Hockey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Asia League Ice Hockey | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Sport | Ice Hockey |
| Founded | 2003 |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country(ies) |  China Japan South Korea |
| Most recent champion(s) |
Oji Paper |
The Asia League Ice Hockey is a professional ice hockey league based in East Asia, with teams from Japan, China, South Korea, and formerly the Russian Far East. The league was formed from an expansion of the Japan Ice Hockey League to other countries in 2003. Several National Hockey League players, have played in the league, including Yutaka Fukufuji, Esa Tikkanen, Shjon Podein, Derek Plante, Steve McKenna, Joel Prpic, Tyson Nash, Jamie McLennan and Shane Endicott. As of 2007-08, seven teams play a thirty-game schedule, with the top six teams advancing to the playoffs which are played in a best-of-five format.
Contents |
[edit] Teams
| Current teams | City | Country | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| China Sharks | Beijing | China | Formed by merger of Hosa and Changchun Fuao in 2007 |
| Seibu Prince Rabbits | Nishi-Tokyo | Japan | Founding member in 2003 Formerly known as Kokudo Ice Hockey Team (2003-06) |
| Nikkō Ice Bucks | Nikkō | Japan | Founding member in 2003 Formerly known as Nikkō Kobe IceBucks (2005-07) |
| Nippon Paper Cranes | Kushiro | Japan | Founding member in 2003 |
| Oji Paper | Tomakomai | Japan | Founding member in 2003 |
| Anyang Halla | Anyang | South Korea | Founding member in 2003 Formerly known as Anyang Halla Winia (2003-05) |
| High1 | Chuncheon | South Korea | Formerly known as Kangwon Land (2005-07) |
| Defunct teams | City | Country | Notes |
| Golden Amur | Khabarovsk | Russia | Played one season only (2004-05) |
| Nordic Vikings | Beijing | China | Played one season only (2005-06) |
| Changchun Fuao | Changchun | China | Merged into China Sharks with Hosa Previously played in Qiqihar (2004-06) |
| Hosa | Beijing | China | Merged into China Sharks with Changchun Fuao Previously played in Harbin (2004-06) |
[edit] History
The Asia League Ice Hockey was formed out an expansion of the Japan Ice Hockey League in 2003-2004, with the remaining four members of the Japan Ice Hockey League playing half a season (16 games) with the Anyang Halla Winia. The addition of non-Japanese teams was deemed such a success that the JIHL was disbanded, and three teams, two Chinese teams in Qiqihar and Harbin, and the Golden Amur who played in Khabarovsk, Russia joined for the next season. Though they finished third in the league, financial troubles caused the Golden Amur to withdraw from the league after only a single season.
Two teams joined for the 2005-06 season, Kangwon Land from Gangwon Province in South Korea and the Nordic Vikings of Beijing, China. This brought the number of teams in the league to nine. The Nordic Vikings team consisted of young Scandinavian players as well as six players from Qiqihar and Harbin, in an effort to raise the skill levels of those teams.
For the 2006-07 season, the Qiqihar franchise moved to Changchun, and the Harbin franchise moved to Beijing. The Nordic Vikings franchise left the league due to mounting financial losses and proposed sponsorship deals falling through. Also, the Kokudo team was renamed Seibu.
In 2007-08, both China-based teams were merged to become the China Sharks, who play in Beijing. The Kangwon Land team was renamed High1.
[edit] 2007-2008 standings
| GP | W | OW | T | OTL | L | GF | GA | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seibu Prince Rabbits (1) | 30 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 138 | 73 | 61 |
| High1 (2) | 30 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 118 | 89 | 58 |
| Oji Paper (3) | 30 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 112 | 74 | 57 |
| Nippon Paper Cranes (4) | 30 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 97 | 85 | 50 |
| Anyang Halla (5) | 30 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 93 | 92 | 44 |
| Nikkō Ice Bucks (6) | 30 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 60 | 109 | 30 |
| China Sharks (7) | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 63 | 159 | 10 |
Playoffs (bold advance):
- Quarter-finals:
- Oji Paper 3-0 Ice Bucks
- Nippon Paper Cranes 3-0 Anyang Halla
- Semi-finals:
- Seibu Prince Rabbits 1-3 Nippon Paper Cranes
- High1 0-3 Oji Paper
- Finals:
- Oji Paper 3-0 Nippon Paper Cranes
[edit] 2006-2007 standings
| GP | W | OW | T | OTL | L | GF | GA | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nippon Paper Cranes (1) | 34 | 27 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 198 | 79 | 86 |
| Seibu Prince Rabbits (2) | 34 | 21 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 173 | 71 | 75 |
| Oji Paper (3) | 34 | 20 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 151 | 80 | 65 |
| Kangwon Land (4) | 34 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 153 | 110 | 62 |
| Anyang Halla (5) | 34 | 16 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 146 | 117 | 51 |
| Nikkō Kobe IceBucks (6) | 34 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 90 | 158 | 37 |
| Hosa (7) | 34 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 86 | 188 | 19 |
| Changchun Fuao (8) | 34 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 41 | 235 | 6 |
Playoffs (bold advance):
- Quarter-finals:
- Icebucks 3-1 Oji Paper
- Kangwon Land 3-0 Anyang Halla
- Semi-finals:
- Nippon Paper Cranes 3-0 Kangwon Land
- Seibu Prince Rabbits 3-0 Icebucks
- Finals:
- Seibu Prince Rabbits 1-3 Nippon Paper Cranes
[edit] 2005-2006 standings
| GP | W | OW | T | OTL | L | GF | GA | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nippon Paper Cranes (1) | 38 | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 240 | 66 | 95 |
| Anyang Halla (2) | 38 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 164 | 100 | 78 |
| Kokudo (3) | 38 | 25 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 156 | 78 | 77 |
| Oji Paper (4) | 38 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 159 | 87 | 72 |
| Nordic Vikings (5) | 38 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 129 | 108 | 65 |
| Nikkō Kobe IceBucks (6) | 38 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 103 | 118 | 55 |
| Kangwon Land (7) | 38 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 26 | 96 | 143 | 28 |
| Harbin (8) | 38 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 68 | 198 | 24 |
| Qiqihar (9) | 38 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 61 | 278 | 11 |
Playoffs (bold advance):
- Quarter-finals:
- Oji 3-1 Nordic Vikings
- Kokudo 3-0 Icebucks
- Semi-finals:
- Nippon Paper Cranes 3-0 Oji
- Kokudo 3-1 Anyang Halla
- Finals:
- Nippon Paper Cranes 2-3 Kokudo
[edit] 2004-2005 standings
| GP | W | OW | T | OTL | L | GF | GA | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nippon Paper Cranes (1) | 42 | 31 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 206 | 85 | 98 |
| Kokudo (2) | 42 | 31 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 208 | 90 | 98 |
| Golden Amur (3) | 42 | 26 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 11 | 204 | 90 | 84 |
| Oji Paper (4) | 42 | 24 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 181 | 124 | 79 |
| Anyang Halla Winia (5) | 42 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 18 | 152 | 140 | 59 |
| HC Nikkō IceBucks (6) | 42 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 24 | 110 | 125 | 45 |
| Harbin (7) | 42 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 91 | 225 | 26 |
| Qiqihar (8) | 42 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 53 | 326 | 4 |
Playoffs (bold advance):
- Semi-finals:
- Nippon Paper Cranes 3-1 Oji Ice Hockey Team (2-3, 3-2, 2-1, 5-4)
- Kokudo Ice Hockey Team 3-0 Golden Amur (3-0, 4-3, 2-1)
- Finals:
- Nippon Paper Cranes 1-3 Kokudo Ice Hockey Team (2-0, 4-6, 1-2, 2-5)
[edit] 2003-2004 standings
| GP | W | OW | T | OTL | L | GF | GA | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nippon Paper Cranes (1) | 16 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 80 | 49 | 39 |
| Kokudo (2) | 16 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 78 | 36 | 37 |
| Halla Winia (3) | 16 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 45 | 86 | 17 |
| Oji Paper (4) | 16 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 55 | 58 | 17 |
| HC Nikkō IceBucks (5) | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 38 | 67 | 8 |
There were no playoff series due to the half-season schedule.
[edit] References
- Meltzer, Bill "Asia Hockey League: Pioneering Hockey's Great Frontier" at NHL.com. Retrieved 06-15-2006.
- Asia League Ice Hockey archives
[edit] External links
- Asia League Ice Hockey - Official site
- Japan Ice Hockey Federation
- Chinese Ice Hockey association
- Korea Ice Hockey association
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