Austrian Ice Hockey League 2003/04

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Master:	EC KAC
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The Austrian Ice Hockey League 2003/2004 was held with seven clubs, because the EHC Lustenau was relegated for financial reasons, but no club wanted to be promoted. The championship was for the 28th time in its club history the EC KAC , which narrowly prevailed in the final against the local rival EC VSV .

General

In April 2003 it was announced that Erste Bank would act as the league's name sponsor, initially with a three-year contract. The league was named Erste Bank Eishockey Liga .

mode

EC Graz 99ers EC KAC (Klagenfurt) EC VSV (Villach) Vienna Capitals EHC Black Wings Linz HC Innsbruck VEU Feldkirch

Map of all club locations for the 2003/04 season

The seven clubs played against each other 8 times in the regular season, whereby after the first half of the season the points scored up to then were halved. One win brought two points. 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 shootout was decided. The winner thus determined received two points, the loser one.

A play-off was then played among the four best-placed teams , with all matches being played in best-of-five mode. In the semifinals, the 1st of the basic round met the 4th and the 2nd against the 3rd - the two winners of the encounters contested the final.

Attendees

The 2003/04 season was the last season until 2012 in which a Vorarlber club participated in the league. With the voluntary relegation of the VEU Feldkirch after the season, a trend continued that made the league more and more easterly in the following years, while the clubs from Vorarlberg in particular dominated the national league and their successors.

Listed according to previous year's placement

team	Preseason	Trainer
EHC Linz	master	Veli-Pekka Ketola (until December 16, 2003) Stanislav Barda (from December 18, 2003)
EC VSV	Runner-up	Greg Holst
HC Innsbruck	Semi-final out	Lars-Erik Lundström (until December 7, 2003) Douglas Bradley (from December 9, 2003)
EC KAC	Semi-final out	Jorma Siitarinen
Supergau Feldkirch	Quarter final out	Tom Coolen (until November 25, 2003) Tom Pokel (from December 2003)
Vienna Capitals	Quarter final out	Jim bonuses
EC Graz 99ers	Quarter final out	Mike slip of paper

Basic round

The regular season began on September 25, 2003 with the game of Vienna Capitals against EC KAC, which the guests won 2-1 after a shootout. In the period that followed, the Klagenfurt team dominated events in the league and scored points above all with their balanced line-up. While the pursuers with the EHC Linz and the VSV had to leave a rather large gap to the KAC, a tough battle for the remaining playoff places emerged in the midfield. With HC Innsbruck and VEU Feldkirch, the bottom of the table gradually emerged. Towards the end of the regular round, only the Graz 99ers and the Capitals dueled for fourth place, the race finally made the Grazers.

In the course of the basic round it became clear that Feldkirch, another EBEL participant, would be lost, which ultimately turned out to be true. In the end, it was primarily financial difficulties that led Vorarlberg to relegate to the national league . Although there were coordinated attempts on the part of the fans to enable the club to remain in the Bundesliga through extensive campaigns, these unfortunately did not show the necessary success in the end.

Table after the basic round

space	team	SP	S.	N	SNV	NNV	T	GT	TVH	PKT
1	EC KAC	48	23	12	8th	5	162	119	+43	53
2	EHC Linz	48	24	18th	3	3	147	119	+28	43
3	EC VSV	48	23	19th	3	3	148	134	+14	40
4th	EC Graz 99ers	48	21st	20th	4th	3	141	147	−6	38
5	Vienna Capitals	48	19th	22nd	3	4th	113	128	−15	37
6th	Supergau Feldkirch	48	16	24	3	5	116	133	−17	33
7th	HC Innsbruck	48	14th	25th	4th	5	108	155	−47	32

statistics

Top scorer

Rk	player	team	GP	G	A.	PTS	+/-	PIM	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG
1	Anthony Iob	KAC	47	29	35	64	+21	74	9	12	2	1	6th
2	Sean Selmser	VSV	48	14th	41	55	+8	76	4th	13	0	1	2
3	Warren Norris	Graz	48	22nd	32	54	+18	103	4th	11	1	2	4th
4th	Thomas Koch	KAC	47	22nd	29	51	+20	34	11	10	1	1	5
5	Kent Salfi	Linz	48	21st	27	48	+10	34	6th	3	2	2	5
6th	Ivo Jan	Graz	37	32	15th	47	+22	26th	8th	4th	4th	1	8th
7th	Matti Kaipainen	KAC	46	22nd	25th	47	+12	30th	5	15th	0	3	6th
8th	Herbert Hohenberger	VSV	52	13	34	47	+16	102	4th	8th	2	1	4th
9	Mike Craig	Capitals	46	24	22nd	46	+5	76	8th	10	2	1	4th
10	Günther Lanzinger	VSV	45	18th	28	46	+13	94	3	7th	0	1	3

Legend:
GP = games, G = goals, A = assists, PTS = scorer points, +/- = plus-minus value, PIM = penalty minutes, PPG = power play goals, PPA = power play assists, SHG = underpaid goals, SHA = underpaid assists, GWG = victory goals

goalkeeper

Rk	player	team	GP	MIP	GA	ATM	SO-CALLED	SVS	SVS%	SO	W.	L.	OTL
1	Walter Bartholomew	Capitals	17th	939	33	2.11	478	445	93.10	3	11	4th	1
2	Gert Prohaska	VSV	42	2455	108	2.64	1495	1386	92.71	4th	24	17th	1
3	Andrew Verner	KAC	46	2771	109	2.36	1464	1355	92.55	4th	29	12	5
4th	Mark McArthur	VEU	37	2102	96	2.74	1197	1101	91.98	4th	11	20th	5
5	Pavel Nešťák	Linz	45	2642	101	2.29	1251	1150	91.93	4th	27	15th	3
6th	Jürgen Penker	VEU	16	789	33	2.51	389	356	91.52	0	8th	4th	0
7th	Marko Leinonen	Capitals	34	1952	93	2.86	1078	985	91.37	1	11	18th	3
8th	Claus Dalpiaz	innsbruck	48	2837	148	3.13	1553	1405	90.47	3	18th	24	5
9	Patrick Machreich	Graz	33	1980	94	2.85	963	869	90.24	1	19th	12	2
10	Rastislav Rovnianek	Graz	15th	913	49	3.22	479	430	89.77	0	6th	8th	1

Legend:
GP = games, MIP = minutes of play, GA = goals conceded, GAA = goals against goals per 60 minutes, SOG = shots on goal, SVS = shots saved, SVS% = catch rate, SO = shutouts, W = wins, L = defeats, OTL = defeats after extra time or penalty shootout

Playoffs

Playoff tree

	Semifinals					final
	1	EC KAC	3
	4th	EC Graz 99ers	0
						1	EC KAC	3
						3	EC VSV	2
	2	EHC Linz	0
	3	EC VSV	3

Semifinals

EC KAC - EC Graz 99ers

The series between the EC KAC and the Graz 99ers was very one-sided in favor of the EC KAC, which finally won 3-0 against the Styrians. The Graz team started highly motivated in the first game and were able to hold a draw until the end of the second period. At the beginning of the final third, however, the EC KAC decided the game with a double strike by Harald Ofner and Anthony Iob . In the second game, the KAC took the lead in the fourth minute, but only had to accept the equalizer one minute later. At a crucial moment came in the 18th minute when Dave Chyzowski the Klagenfurt defender Igor Ivanov with the floor went under the visor and it received a Game Misconduct. Although the Graz team took the lead at the beginning of the middle third, the KAC turned the game around with a double strike by Philippe-Michael Horsky and Iob, the latter sealing the second victory with a second goal in the final third. In the last game, goalkeeper Andrew Verner showed his class and was able to defuse all 29 shots of the Grazer, so that two hits were enough for the KAC to reach the final.

Semi-finals: EC KAC - EC Graz 99ers
March 23, 2004 Stadthalle Klagenfurt 3,500 spectators	EC KAC A. Iob (16:56, Powerplay , T. Koch ) M. Kaipainen (27:36, G. Hager , G. Ressmann ) H. Ofner (42:19, D. Schuller ) A. Iob (43: 19, D. Welser )	4: 2 (1: 0, 1: 2, 2: 0) Penalty minutes: 16:49 Goalkeeper: A. Verner (KAC, 60 min., 26 shots, 2 goals) P. Machreich (Graz, 60 min., 61 Shots, 4 goals)	EC Graz 99ers I. Jan (28:21, Powerplay , R. Schurian , J. Rebek ) I. Jan (36:05, W. Norris , R. Schurian)
March 26, 2004 Ice rink Liebenau 4,000 spectators	EC Graz 99ers D. Chyzowski (05:12, power play , I. Jan, J. Rebek) G. Göttfried (24:23, power play , J. Mattie , W. Kerth )	2: 4 (1: 1, 1: 2, 0: 1) Penalty minutes: 89:30 Goalkeeper: P. Machreich (Graz, 58 min., 23 shots, 4 goals) A. Verner (KAC, 60 min., 31 Shots, 2 goals)	EC KAC D. Welser (03:07, Powerplay , T. Koch, J. Reichel ) P. Horsky (35:53) A. Iob (36:29, J. Reichel, G. Hager) A. Iob (46: 24)
March 28, 2004 Stadthalle Klagenfurt 4,400 spectators	EC KAC I. Iwanow (00:37, G. Ressmann, G. Hager) A. Iob (26:20, D. Welser, T. Koch)	2: 0 (1: 0, 1: 0, 0: 0) Penalty minutes: 18:20 Goalkeeper: A. Verner (KAC, 60 min., 29 shots, 0 goals) P. Machreich (KAC, 60 min., 36 Shots, 2 goals)	EC Graz 99ers No goals
The EC KAC wins the series with 3-0 victories.

EHC Linz - EC VSV

The EC VSV made it into the final with a similarly confident approach and equalized the home advantage of the opponent and defending champion EHC Linz. Already in the first game the Villach dominated the action on the ice for forty minutes and moved away to 4: 1. Linz only found its form towards the end of the game after some very moderate defensive performances and was able to make up three goals, but the VSV also scored twice and clearly won 6: 4. Three of the six goals were achieved by Wolfgang Kromp . The second game in Villach was much tighter. The VSV took the lead after just two minutes and 34 seconds through Sean Selmser , but Pavel Nešťák in the Linz goal thwarted all further attempts. Instead, the guests equalized at halftime. The 1: 1 remained until the end. It was only after almost three minutes of overtime that Mike Stewart shot the VSV from the blue line for a second win. The decision brought game number three in Linz. Here the home side presented themselves optically superior for a long time, while the VSV was only dangerous on counterattacks, but could use almost every chance. After sixty minutes the score was 3: 3. Since the overtime did not bring a decision either, it went to the penalty shootout, where Stephané Roy fixed the final for Villach.

Semi-finals: EHC Linz - EC VSV
March 23, 2004 Ice rink Linz 3,800 spectators	EHC Linz T. Eichberger (10:27, R. Lukas ) R. Lukas (41:17, Powerplay , P. Lukas ) T. Eichberger (52:14, K. Salfi , J. Ihantola ) C. Perthaler (58: 41, R. Lukas)	4: 6 (1: 2, 0: 2, 3: 2) Penalty minutes: 8:10 Goalkeeper: P. Nešťák (Linz, 58 min., 32 shots, 5 goals) G. Prohaska (VSV, 60 min., 44 Shots, 4 goals)	EC VSV W. Kromp (03:08, Marco Pewal , H. Hohenberger ) S. Selmser (15:38, Powerplay , S. Roy , T. Searle ) Marco Pewal (26:26, G. Lanzinger ) W. Kromp ( 31:28, S. Roy) W. Kromp (54:38, Marco Pewal) T. Searle (59:58, shorthanded, empty net )
March 26, 2004 Villach town hall 4,200 spectators	EC VSV S. Selmser (02:34, Powerplay , S. Herzog , S. Roy) M. Stewart (62:55, W. Kromp, R. Kaspitz )	2: 1 a.s. (1: 0, 0: 1, 0: 0, 1: 0) Penalty minutes: 8: 8 Goalkeeper: G. Prohaska (VSV, 60 minutes, 32 shots, 1 goal) P. Nešťák (Linz, 60 min., 20 shots, 2 goals)	EHC Linz A. Judex (27:29, Powerplay , C. Perthaler)
March 28, 2004 Ice rink Linz 3,800 spectators	EHC Linz M. Szücs (04:21, T. Eichberger, J. Miner ) J. Miner (15:54, K. Salfi, M. Szücs) R. Divis (56:26, power play , J. Miner)	3: 4 n.P. (2: 1, 0: 2, 1: 0, 0: 0, 0: 1) Penalty minutes: 8:12 Goalkeeper: P. Nešťák (Linz, 65 min., 31 shots, 4 goals ) G. Prohaska (VSV, 65 min., 42 shots, 3 goals)	EC VSV S. Selmser (06:50, S. Herzog, S. Roy) G. Lanzinger (36:13, R. Steinwender , S. Herzog) S. Selmser (37:33, S. Roy, S. Herzog) S. Roy (65:00, decisive penalty )
The EC VSV wins the series with 3-0 victories.

final

The final of the 2003/04 season saw the last Carinthian ice hockey derby in the form of a playoff series. In the first encounter, the EC KAC took the lead with two quick goals and had already produced a 2-0 lead after six minutes and 25 seconds. Herbert Hohenberger was able to reduce it to 2: 1 in the first third, but Thomas Koch restored the lead at the beginning of the middle section . The game went goalless until the end, the guests from Villach only scored a second goal one minute before the end, but the final offensive remained unrewarded.

In the second encounter, the first goal came in the 26th minute when Stephané Roy put the VSV in the front. At the beginning of the final third, Daniel Welser equalized . The score remained until the end of regular time. Since the overtime did not produce a winner either, the decision was made in the penalty shoot-out, where Andrew Verner was able to defuse all attempts by the Villach players, while Koch and Anthony Iob scored for the KAC, which thus led 2-0 in the series. However, the EC VSV found their way back into the series and, after an early goal in the third game and the following 2-0, held the lead until the end despite the interim Klagenfurt goal. The fourth encounter finally brought the equalizer in the series: although the EC KAC were 3-2 in front after the second period in Villach, the home side were able to turn the game around with three goals in the final section and thus force the match puck.

The fifth and final game is still one of the most dramatic games in the playoff history of the Austrian ice hockey league. The EC VSV scored twice, and twice the EC KAC was able to equalize within a very short time. At the end of regular time it was 2: 2, which meant that an endless overtime had to decide the master. Here the EC VSV limited itself to the occasional counterattack, while the EC KAC emphatically went on the offensive. Exactly after 65 minutes and 13 seconds David Schuller broke through the defense of the EC VSV and shot the decisive hit into Gert Prohaska's goal in the fall .

Final: EC KAC - EC VSV
April 4, 2004 Stadthalle Klagenfurt 5,100 spectators	EC KAC D. Schuller (04:03) A. Iob (06:25, power play ) T. Koch (24:26, power play , M. Kaipainen )	3: 2 (2: 1, 1: 0, 0: 1) Penalty minutes: 22:26 Goalkeepers: A. Verner (KAC, 60 min., 37 shots, 2 goals) G. Prohaska (VSV, 60 min., 43 Shots, 3 goals)	EC VSV H. Hohenberger (15:38, S. Roy ) Marco Pewal (58:44, Powerplay , H. Hohenberger)
April 6, 2004 Villach town hall 4,500 spectators	EC VSV S. Roy (25:35, N. Martin , S. Selmser )	1: 2 n.P. (0: 0, 1: 0, 0: 1, 0: 0, 0: 1) Penalty minutes: 18:20 Goalkeeper: G. Prohaska (VSV, 65 min., 33 shots, 2 goals ) A. Verner (KAC, 65 min., 28 shots, 1 goal)	EC KAC D. Welser (43:59, A. Iob, C. Bartolone ) A. Iob (65:00, decisive penalty )
April 8, 2004 Stadthalle Klagenfurt 5,100 spectators	EC KAC P. Horsky (37:19, H. Ratz , H. Ofner )	1: 2 (0: 2, 1: 0, 0: 0) Penalty minutes: 6:14 Goalkeeper: A. Verner (KAC, 59 min., 26 shots, 2 goals) G. Prohaska (VSV, 60 min., 41 Shots, 1 goal)	EC VSV G. Lanzinger (03:34, S. Roy) S. Selmser (15:27, H. Hohenberger, Marco Pewal)
April 11, 2004 Villach town hall 4,500 spectators	EC VSV N. Martin (19:38, Powerplay , M. Stewart , W. Kromp ) M. Grabner (27:13, S. Roy, M. Stewart) R. Kaspitz (45:12, G. Lanzinger, H. Hohenberger) Marco Pewal (48:39, W. Kromp, H. Hohenberger) S. Selmser (59:59, Empty Net , N. Martin, S. Roy)	5: 3 (1: 0, 1: 3, 3: 0) Penalty minutes: 10:14 Goalkeeper: G. Prohaska (VSV, 60 min., 40 shots, 3 goals) A. Verner (KAC, 58 min., 33 Shots, 4 goals)	EC KAC A. Iob (22:30, E. Viveiros , T. Koch) A. Iob (25:12, D. Welser, T. Koch) G. Ressmann (34:55, C. Bartolone)
April 13, 2004 Stadthalle Klagenfurt 5,200 spectators	EC KAC M. Kaipainen (27:13, Powerplay , A. Iob) T. Koch (51:14, A. Iob) D. Schuller (65:13)	3: 2 a.s. (0: 1, 1: 0, 1: 1, 1: 0) Penalty minutes: 16:26 Goalkeeper: A. Verner (KAC, 65 min., 36 shots, 2 goals) G. Prohaska (VSV, 65 min., 44 shots, 3 goals)	EC VSV S. Selmser (18:48, Marco Pewal) G. Lanzinger (50:54, W. Kromp)
The EC KAC wins the series with 3-2 victories.

Playoff statistics

Top scorer

Rk	player	team	GP	G	A.	PTS	+/-	PIM	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG
1	Anthony Iob	KAC	8th	9	3	12	+5	10	2	1	0	0	2
2	Stephané Roy	VSV	8th	2	9	11	+5	8th	0	2	0	0	1
3	Sean Selmser	VSV	8th	7th	1	8th	+4	24	2	0	0	0	1
4th	Wolfgang Kromp	VSV	8th	3	4th	7th	+6	4th	0	1	0	0	1
	Marco Pewal	VSV	8th	3	4th	7th	+3	2	1	0	0	0	1
6th	Thomas Koch	KAC	8th	2	5	7th	+2	4th	1	2	0	0	1
7th	Herbert Hohenberger	VSV	8th	1	5	6th	+3	10	0	1	0	0	0
8th	Günther Lanzinger	VSV	8th	3	2	5	+6	4th	0	0	0	0	0
9	Daniel Welser	KAC	8th	2	3	5	+1	22nd	1	1	0	0	0
10	Stefan Herzog	VSV	4th	0	4th	4th	+3	2	0	1	0	0	0

Legend:
GP = games, G = goals, A = assists, PTS = scorer points, +/- = plus-minus value, PIM = penalty minutes, PPG = power play goals, PPA = power play assists, SHG = underpaid goals, SHA = underpaid assists, GWG = victory goals

goalkeeper

Rk	player	team	GP	MIP	GA	ATM	SO-CALLED	SVS	SVS%	SO	W.	L.	OTL
1	Andrew Verner	KAC	8th	487	15th	1.85	246	231	93.90	1	6th	2	0
2	Gert Prohaska	VSV	8th	498	20th	2.41	319	299	93.73	0	5	1	2
3	Patrick Machreich	Graz	3	178	10	3.37	120	110	91.67	0	0	3	0
4th	Pavel Nešťák	Linz	3	186	11	3.55	83	72	86.75	0	0	1	2

Legend:
GP = games, MIP = minutes of play, GA = goals conceded, GAA = goals against goals per 60 minutes, SOG = shots on goal, SVS = shots saved, SVS% = catch rate, SO = shutouts, W = wins, L = defeats, OTL = defeats after extra time or penalty shootout

Championship final result

1. EC KAC
2. EC VSV
3. EHC Linz
4. EC Graz 99ers
5. Vienna Capitals
6. VEU Feldkirch
7. HC Innsbruck

Squad of the Austrian champions

Austrian champion EC KAC

Goalkeepers: Andrew Verner , Hannes Enzenhofer Defenders: Emanuel Viveiros , Jaako Niskavaara , Herbert Ratz , Igor Iwanow , Johannes Reichel , Johannes Kirisits , Christopher Bartolone , Christian Sintschnig , Christoph Quantschnig Attackers: Anthony Iob , Thomas Koch , Matti Kaipainen , Gerald Ressmann , Daniel Welser , David Schuller , Gregor Hager , Philippe-Michael Horsky , Harald Ofner , Christian Ban , Jens-Felix Kraiger , Mario Schaden , Philipp Winzig , Christoph Ibounig , Harry Lange , Manuel Ferrara , Christof Peternell , Paul Schellander , David Wechselberger Coach team: Jorma Siitarinen

spectator

A total of 179 games were played with 514,302 spectators. This was the first time in the history of the league that half a million viewers were exceeded. The resulting average of 2,873 spectators per game was also a record up until then.

		At home
rank	team	Games	spectator	average
1	EHC Linz	26th	96,500	3.712
2	Vienna Capitals	24	86,150	3,590
3	EC KAC	29	93,700	3,232
4th	EC VSV	27	79,450	2,943
5	EC Graz 99ers	25th	69,600	2,784
6th	Supergau Feldkirch	24	49,676	2,070
7th	HC Innsbruck	24	43,200	1,800

Web links

• Official Statistics Bundesliga ( Memento from March 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 350 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Erste Bank new main sponsor of the league , report on news.at from April 9, 2003
2. ↑ Master Linz dismisses coach Ketola , report on hockeyfans.at from December 16, 2003
3. ↑ Stanislav Barda is again a trainer in Linz , report on hockeyfans.at from December 18, 2003
4. ↑ Innsbruck no longer has a coach , report on hockeyfans.at dated December 7, 2003
5. ^ Doug Bradley new Innsbruck coach , report on news.at from December 9, 2003
6. ↑ Feldkirch fires coach Coolen , report on hockeyfans.at from November 25, 2003
7. ↑ Chronicle on the VEU Feldkirch homepage
8. ↑ Playoff preview at www.hockeyfans.at
9. ↑ Open letter of Feldkirch Fanplattform to the EC Feldkirch