The Austrian Ice Hockey League 2002/2003 was held with eight clubs. Champion was the first time in the club's history of the EHC Black Wings Linz , which defeated the defending champion EC VSV in the final .
After the previous season, EK Zell am See was relegated to the National League voluntarily for financial reasons . The KSV ice hockey club also had to move into the second division after being placed at the bottom of the table. With the national league champions EC Supergau Feldkirch , however, another club was added.
The eight clubs played against each other 6 times in the regular season, with the points halved after the first half of the season. In the event of a tie, a 5-minute extension ( Sudden Victory Overtime ) was played with four field players each. If this ended goalless, a penalty shoot-out was decided. The winner thus determined received two points, the loser one.
A play-off was then played, with all matches being played in the best of five mode. In the quarter-finals, the 1st of the basic round met the 8th, the 2nd against the 7th, the 3rd against the 6th and the 4th against the 5th.
The quarterfinals largely brought wins for the favorites. Leader of the table Linz defeated the EHC Lustenau with 3-0 victories and secured, like the HC Innsbruck, the participation in the semi-finals early. The series between the EC VSV and the Vienna Capitals ran for the full length and was ultimately won with three home wins by the EC VSV. Only the series between Feldkirch and the EC KAC was more surprising. The Klagenfurt team gained the home advantage in the first game and were finally able to achieve the necessary third victory in the third game, also on foreign ice.
For EHC Lustenau, the 4-0 defeat in Linz was the last Bundesliga appearance to date, as the team was relegated to the second division after the season , where they are still active today.
EHC Linz (1) - EHC Lustenau (8)
March 14, 2003
EHC Linz - EHC Lustenau
2: 1
(0: 0, 2: 1, 0: 0)
March 16, 2003
EHC Lustenau - EHC Linz
2: 5
(0: 1, 2: 4, 0: 0)
March 18, 2003
EHC Linz - EHC Lustenau
4-0
(0: 0, 2: 0, 2: 0)
EHC Linz wins the series with 3-0 victories.
HC Innsbruck (2) - EC Graz 99ers (7)
March 14, 2003
HC Innsbruck - EC Graz 99ers
9: 3
(2: 1, 3: 2, 4: 0)
March 16, 2003
EC Graz 99ers - HC Innsbruck
2: 5
(1: 1, 1: 2, 0: 2)
March 19, 2003
HC Innsbruck - EC Graz 99ers
4: 2
(0: 0, 2: 1, 2: 1)
HC Innsbruck wins the series with 3-0 victories.
EC VSV (3) - Vienna Capitals (6)
March 14, 2003
EC VSV - Vienna Capitals
3: 1
(0: 0, 2: 0, 1: 1)
March 16, 2003
Vienna Capitals - EC VSV
7: 5
(3: 4, 3: 0, 1: 1)
March 18, 2003
EC VSV - Vienna Capitals
5: 1
(2: 0, 2: 0, 1: 1)
March 21, 2003
Vienna Capitals - EC VSV
5: 1
(2: 0, 3: 1, 0: 0)
March 23, 2003
EC VSV - Vienna Capitals
2-0
(0: 0, 0: 0, 2: 0)
The EC VSV wins the series with 3: 2 victories.
Supergau Feldkirch (4) - EC KAC (5)
March 14, 2003
Supergau Feldkirch - EC KAC
1: 3
(1: 0, 0: 1, 0: 2)
March 16, 2003
EC KAC - Supergau Feldkirch
8-0
(1: 0, 4: 0, 3: 0)
March 18, 2003
Supergau Feldkirch - EC KAC
0: 3
(0: 1, 0: 2, 0: 0)
The EC KAC wins the series with 3-0 victories.
Semifinals
The semifinals brought little surprise from Linz's point of view. The EC KAC was clearly defeated 3-0, with only the second game in Carinthia bringing a close result. The second series, where the EC VSV won the opening game in Innsbruck and did not give up the home advantage they had fought for, was a bit more surprising. Thus the title defense for the Carinthians was in the realm of possibility.
EHC Linz (1) - EC KAC (5)
March 25, 2003
EHC Linz - EC KAC
4: 1
(2: 0, 1: 1, 1: 0)
March 28, 2003
EC KAC - EHC Linz
5: 6
(2: 3, 1: 2, 2: 1)
March 30, 2003
EHC Linz - EC KAC
5: 1
(1: 1, 2: 0, 2: 0)
EHC Linz wins the series with 3-0 victories.
HC Innsbruck (2) - EC VSV (3)
March 25, 2003
HC Innsbruck - EC VSV
1: 4
(0: 2, 1: 1, 0: 1)
March 28, 2003
EC VSV - HC Innsbruck
4: 2
(1: 0, 3: 1, 0: 1)
March 30, 2003
HC Innsbruck - EC VSV
4: 3
(0: 0, 4: 2, 0: 1)
April 1, 2003
EC VSV - HC Innsbruck
4: 2
(2: 0, 1: 0, 1: 2)
The EC VSV wins the series with 3: 1 victories.
final
In the final, the EHC Linz prevailed against the defending champion from Carinthia and thus brought the first championship title to the Upper Austrian capital. Although the opening game was lost in the penalty shoot-out after a 2-0 lead in the meantime ( Kent Salfi on Villach's side was the only shooter who had scored), the Linz team regained their home advantage in the following match in Villach and were equal in the Series from. Here, too, the Linz team had initially given a 2-0 lead, but a late goal by Andreas Judex one minute and 34 seconds before the end ensured success.
In the third encounter it was the Villach who gave away a lead. After the Carinthians had turned a 0: 1 deficit into a lead, the Linz team turned the game around again in the second section and finally scored 4: 2 in the final third. The matchpuck in Villach was ultimately fiercely contested. After 46 minutes there was an even intermediate score of 2: 2, Mark Szücs finally scored the game winning goal after 53 minutes. The empty net goal by Ralph Intranuovo had only statistical value.
EHC Linz (1) - EC VSV (3)
March 13th
EHC Linz - EC VSV
2: 3 n.p.
(2: 0, 0: 1, 0: 1, 0: 0, 0: 1)
March 16
EC VSV - EHC Linz
2: 3
(0: 0, 0: 2, 2: 1)
March 18th
EHC Linz - EC VSV
4: 2
(1: 1, 2: 1, 1: 0)
March, 20th
EC VSV - EHC Linz
2: 4
(1: 0, 0: 2, 1: 2)
The EHC Linz wins the series with 3-1 victories.
statistics
Note: The statistics listed here cover both the regular season and the playoffs, as separate statistics are not yet available.
