2022–23 Asia League Ice Hockey season

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.

2022–23 ALIH season
LeagueAsia League Ice Hockey
SportIce hockey
Duration3 September 2022 – 26 March 2023
Number of games40
Number of teams6
Regular season
Leaders FlagHL Anyang
  Runners-upRed Eagles Hokkaido
Top scorerShogo Nakajima (REH)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVPKang Yoon-Seok (HLA)
Finals championsHL Anyang
  Runners-upRed Eagles Hokkaido
Asia League Ice Hockey seasons

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 edit

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 edit

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

Team City/Town Arena Capacity
HL Anyang AnyangAnyang Ice Arena1,284
East Hokkaido Cranes KushiroKushiro Ice Arena2,539
Red Eagles Hokkaido TomakomaiHakucho Arena3,015
Nikkō Ice Bucks NikkōNikkō Kirifuri Ice Arena1,608
Tohoku Free Blades HachinoheFlat Hachinohe3,500
Yokohama Grits YokohamaKOSÉ Shin-Yokohama Skate Center2,500

Regular season edit

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

Standings edit

PosTeamPldWOTWOTLLGFGAGDPtsQualification
1HL Anyang403104516664+10297Regular season champions
Qualification to playoffs
2Red Eagles Hokkaido402462816784+8386Qualification to playoffs
3Nikkō IceBucks40175315126114+1264
4East Hokkaido Cranes40124321116142−2647
5Tohoku Free Blades408262492175−8334
6Yokohama Grits408322798186−8832
Updated to match(es) played on 3 April 2023. Source: Asia League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Goal difference; 9) Fewest penalty minutes; 10) Drawing of lots.

Results edit

Home \ AwayHLAEHCREHNIBTFBYGRHLAEHCREHNIBTFBYGRHLAEHCREHNIBTFBYGRHLAEHCREHNIBTFBYGRHLAEHCREHNIBTFBYGRHLAEHCREHNIBTFBYGR
HL Anyang1–22–3[a]1–44–09–24–12–3[a]7–210–14–23–24–21–2[a]4–1
East Hokkaido Cranes5–82–42–010–16–11–72–74–14–16–22–33–4[b]2–44–14–3[a]4–1
Red Eagles Hokkaido3–56–27–11–02–3[b]7–11–34–3[b]3–46–1
Nikkō Ice Bucks0–44–02–3[a]5–04–11–25–40–36–14–5[b]3–26–22–15–1
Tohoku Free Blades3–45–70–23–23–4[b]2–84–5[b]1–2[b]3–4[b]1–24–36–5
Yokohama Grits0–24–52–33–64–20–75–31–72–56–33–4[b]1–6
Updated to match(es) played on 25 December 2022. Source: ALIH
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Playoffs edit

Bracket edit

SemifinalFinal
      
1HL Anyang2
4East Hokkaido Cranes0
1HL Anyang3
2Red Eagles Hokkaido2
2Red Eagles Hokkaido2
3Nikkō IceBucks0

Semifinals edit

(1) HL Anyang vs. (4) East Hokkaido Cranes edit

9 March 2023East Hokkaido Cranes1 – 4HL AnyangAnyang Ice CenterRecap 
No scoringFirst period15:40 – Song Jong-hun (1)
No scoringSecond period6:58 – Lee Jong-min (1)
Sota Isogai (1) – 1:43Third period12:56 – ppAhn Jin-hui (1)
16:14 – Kang Yoon-seok (1)
Yuya Wakimoto (38 saves / 42 shots)Goalie statsMatt Dalton (22 saves / 23 shots)
11 March 2023East Hokkaido Cranes0 – 2HL AnyangAnyang Ice CenterRecap 
No scoringFirst period4:22 – ppAhn Jin-hui (2)
No scoringSecond periodNo scoring
No scoringThird period2:45 – Lee Jong-min (2)
Yuya Wakimoto (36 saves / 38 shots)Goalie statsMatt Dalton (29 saves / 29 shots)
HL Anyang won series 2–0


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

9 March 2023Nikkō Ice Bucks1 – 3Red Eagles HokkaidoNikkō Kirifuri Ice ArenaRecap 
No scoringFirst period11:36 – Kohei Mitamura (1)
No scoringSecond period2:01 – Yuto Osawa (1)
16:40 – Shuhei Kuji (1)
Tetsuya Saito (1) – 18:48Third periodNo scoring
Yutaka Fukufuji (28 saves / 31 shots)Goalie statsYuta Narisawa (20 saves / 21 shots)
11 March 2023Nikkō Ice Bucks1 – 2Red Eagles HokkaidoNikkō Kirifuri Ice ArenaRecap 
No scoringFirst periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond period6:23 – ppShuhei Kuji (2)
Yuta Suzuki (1) – pp – 12:36Third period4:26 – Kenta Takagi (1)
Yutaka Fukufuji (28 saves / 30 shots)Goalie statsYuta Narisawa (30 saves / 31 shots)
Hokkaido won series 2–0


Final edit

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

18 March 2023HL Anyang1 – 4Red Eagles HokkaidoNikkō Kirifuri Ice ArenaRecap 
No scoringFirst period15:05 – Ryo Hashimoto (1)
16:10 – pp – Ryo Hashimoto (2)
No scoringSecond periodNo scoring
Jeon Jung-woo (1) – 8:30Third period11:51 – ppYushi Nakayashiki (1)
16:50 – Shogo Nakajima (1)
Matt Dalton (19 saves / 23 shots)Goalie statsTakuto Onoda (25 saves / 26 shots)
19 March 2023HL Anyang4 – 1Red Eagles HokkaidoNikkō Kirifuri Ice ArenaRecap 
Kim Sang-wook (1) – 11:28First periodNo scoring
Lee Juh-yung (1) – 6:15
Lee Young-jun (1) – 7:32
Second period13:13 – Shogo Nakajima (2)
Song Hyeong-cheol (1) – pp – 8:46Third periodNo scoring
Matt Dalton (28 saves / 29 shots)Goalie statsTakuto Onoda (22 saves / 26 shots)
23 March 2023Red Eagles Hokkaido2 – 5HL AnyangAnyang Ice CenterRecap 
No scoringFirst period2:19 – Lee Juh-yung (2)
Kazumasa Sasaki (1) – 13:05Second period13:23 – Kim Ki-sung (1)
Yushi Nakayashiki (2) – 0:50Third period6:18 – Kim Ki-sung (2)
15:41 – ppLee Young-jun (2)
19:18 – enLee Jong-min (3)
Yuta Narisawa (28 saves / 33 shots)Goalie statsMatt Dalton (22 saves / 24 shots)
25 March 2023Red Eagles Hokkaido1 – 0HL AnyangAnyang Ice CenterRecap 
Ryo Hashimoto (3) – 3:05First periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond periodNo scoring
No scoringThird periodNo scoring
Yuta Narisawa (28 saves / 28 shots)Goalie statsMatt Dalton (32 saves / 33 shots)
25 March 2023Red Eagles Hokkaido1 – 22OTHL AnyangAnyang Ice CenterRecap 
No scoringFirst period4:00 – Kim Ki-sung (3)
Ryo Hashimoto (3) – 3:05Second periodNo scoring
No scoringThird periodNo scoring
No scoringSecond overtime period10:13 – Kang Yoon-seok (1)
Yuta Narisawa (48 saves / 50 shots)Goalie statsMatt Dalton (31 saves / 32 shots)
Anyang won series 3–2


Statistics edit

Scoring leaders edit

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

PlayerTeamGPGAPts+/–PIM
Shogo NakajimaRed Eagles Hokkaido40225375+318
Makuru FuruhashiNikkō Ice Bucks40273158+228
Kim Sang-wookHL Anyang40124254+718
Kento SuzukiNikkō Ice Bucks40302252+226
Kim Ki-sungHL Anyang40252550+144
Yuto OsawaRed Eagles Hokkaido40183149+312
Ryo HashimotoRed Eagles Hokkaido4044448+314
Seiji TakahashiRed Eagles Hokkaido37202646+416
Yushi NakayashikiRed Eagles Hokkaido39291443+339
Kosuke OhtsuEast Hokkaido Cranes40192443+124

Leading goaltenders edit

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]

PlayerTeamGPTOIGASv%GAA
Matt DaltonHL Anyang372198:335394.221.45
Yuta NarisawaRed Eagles Hokkaido331946:476592.172.00
Roman BengertNikkō Ice Bucks201162:486488.933.30
Yuya WakimotoEast Hokkaido Cranes241290:217389.123.39
Michikazu HataTohoku Free Blades251377:409390.114.05

Awards edit

AwardWinner
League champions HL Anyang
Most valuable player Matt Dalton, HL Anyang
Best goaltenderMatt Dalton, HL Anyang
Rookie of the yearKanata 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 edit

First Team[8]

References edit

  1. ^ "Putting the Grit in Yokohama". Japan Forward. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Anyang Halla wins Asia League". eurohockey.com. 26 March 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Sparking consistent local interest in hockey key part of Japan's Winter Olympic future". The Japan Times. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  4. ^ "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 (in Japanese). 22 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  5. ^ "HOCKEYThe club from Russia was kicked out of the international league. Champions become a victim of politics". sportish.co. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  6. ^ "Point Ranking 2022/2023". Asia League Ice Hockey. ALIH. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  7. ^ "GK SP Ranking 2022/2023". Asia League Ice Hockey. ALIH. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Asia League Ice Hockey 2022-2023: Announcement of Regular Season Awards". Asia League Ice Hockey. 9 March 2023.