The ICE Hockey League starts on Friday with 14 teams. The league and the players' union duel before the first face-off.
The Corona forecasts hang like a sword of Damocles over the halls of the International Central European Hockey League (ICEHL). At the start of the league on Friday, the hundreds of ghost games from last season should be forgotten. There are hardly any restrictions in the eight Austrian arenas, but the prospect of autumn tarnishes the mood a little.
A conflict between the league and the players is also causing a stir. Because, as in the previous year, the main actors should sign a waiver of liability under the Covid provisions. Some did that, but the majority of the professionals organized in the “Ice Hockey Players Union” did not. They were threatened that they would not get a registration with the league if they did not sign. But the union sees the waiver of liability as “immoral”. Especially players from Dornbirn, Linz, Villach and the Vienna Capitals refused to sign.
The question of negligence
“Even if the league deliberately or grossly negligently is to blame for a Covid disease of the players, it does not want to take responsibility for it,” says Union Chairman Alexander Tomanek. The union's offer to obtain an amendment that would at least exclude negligence from the waiver of liability went unanswered by the league.
The question of who sits on the longer branch should soon be clarified. But if both sides are stubborn, then the first Puls24 games between KAC and the Capitals (Friday) and Villach against Linz (Sunday) cannot take place because no players are registered.
League President Jochen Pildner Steinburg cannot understand the excitement: “We want to protect the players with this concept. You are our most important asset. If there were gross negligence and claims, then it will surely go through in every court. ”
Rotter (Linz) and Schneider (Salzburg)
14 teams at the start
If this happens by Friday, nothing stands in the way of a championship with a few innovations. With Pustertal, Ljubljana and Znojmo there are now 14 teams from six nations at the start. That allows for a better mode. The unpopular intermediate round is omitted. After a double round-trip round with 52 games for each team, the pre-play-offs begin in which the teams from ranks 7 to 10 play off the two remaining quarter-finalists in best-of-three series.
Salzburg and KAC, the favorites
The favorites are the usual suspects: Salzburg have massively upgraded and want to win the first league title since 2016. The KAC has won the last two championships in 2019 and 2021 and has certainly not gotten any weaker, as the four wins in the four Champions League games have shown. In the CHL, the ICEHL representatives do really well. After the four rounds, Salzburg, KAC and Bozen ensured third place in the league ranking.
There is also good news from the financial side: Thanks to the sports league fund of the ministry, the corona-related loss of income could be compensated.
