| Asia League Ice Hockey | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Sport | Ice Hockey |
| Founded | 2003 |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country(ies) |  China Japan South Korea |
| Most recent champion(s) | Nippon Paper Cranes |
The Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH) is an ice hockey league that has teams from Japan, China, and South Korea. As of 2007-08, seven teams play a 30-game schedule, with the top 6 teams advancing to the playoffs which are played in a best-of-5 format.
Contents |
Teams
Active Teams
(Home City, Year Joined League)
- Chinese Team
- China Sharks (Beijing, 2007) - merger of Hosa and Changchun Fuao
- Japanese Teams
- Seibu Prince Rabbits (Nishi-Tokyo, 2006) - formerly Kokudo Ice Hockey Team (2003-06)
- HC Nikko IceBucks (Nikkō, 2003) - known as Nikko Kobe IceBucks between 2005-07
- Nippon Paper Cranes (Kushiro, 2003)
- Oji Paper (Tomakomai, 2003)
- South Korean Teams
- Anyang Halla (Anyang, 2003)
- High1 (Chuncheon, 2007) - formerly Kangwon Land (2005-07)
Defunct Teams
(Years in League)
- Golden Amur (Khabarovsk, 2004-2005)
- Nordic Vikings (Beijing, 2005-06)
- Changchun Fuao (Changchun, 2006-07) - formerly Qiqihar Ice Hockey Team (2004-06)
- Hosa (Beijing, 2006-07) - formerly Harbin Ice Hockey Team (2004-06)
NHL players
Esa Tikkanen, Shjon Podein, Derek Plante, Steve Mckenna, Joel Prpic, Tyson Nash, Jamie McLennan, Shane Endicott
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 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 and Harbin franchises moved to Changchun and Beijing, respectively. 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.
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
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 (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
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 (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)
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 (4) | 16 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 55 | 58 | 17 |
| HC Nikkō IceBucks (5) | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 38 | 67 | 8 |
No Playoffs
External links
- Meltzer, Bill "Asia Hockey League: Pioneering Hockey's Great Frontier" at NHL.com. Retrieved 06-15-2006.
- Asia League Ice Hockey - Official site
| Asia League Ice Hockey | |
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Anyang Halla |
