Austrian Ice Hockey League 2016/17

	Erste Bank Ice Hockey League
	◄ previous	Season 2016/17	next ►
Master:	UPC Vienna Capitals
• EBEL |  ↓ Alps Hockey League

The 2016/17 season of the Austrian Ice Hockey League started on September 15, 2016. On April 7, 2017, the Vienna Capitals won three sweeps against HC TWK Innsbruck (quarter-finals), HCB Südtirol (semi-finals) and EC KAC in the final for the second time in the club history of Austrian champions .

In advance

Participating teams

EC Graz 99ers EC KAC EC VSV EC Red Bull Salzburg Vienna Capitals EHC Linz HDD Olimpija Ljubljana Fehérvár AV19 Orli Znojmo Dornbirn EC HC Innsbruck HC Bolzano

Map of all club locations for the 2016/17 season

As in previous years, there were very early reports about a possible expansion of the league. As early as January 2016 it became known that the Italian club SV Ritten had applied for admission. In addition, five other candidate countries became known. With the MAC Budapest and DVTK Jegesmedvék , two further Hungarian representatives came into play. There was also the Kapfenberger Club KSV Eishockey , which had been active in the Inter-National League (INL) and thus the second highest division. Two other clubs wanted to remain anonymous for the time being, but a little later it became known that they were HC Pustertal and Hockey Milano Rossoblu .

After the Kapfenbergers withdrew their application and Miskolci JJSE was accepted into the Slovakian Extra League , only two candidates remained until April: the Slovenian club HDD Jesenice (successor to HK Jesenice , which was already active in the EBEL between 2006 and 2012) and MAC Budapest. As the plans for a possible EBEL2 became more specific, in which the clubs of the Italian Serie A were to be merged with those of the INL, there were no other applicants from Italy.

In April 2016 it was finally announced that regardless of the final solution and against the background of the ongoing financial problems of HDD Olimpija Ljubljana, only twelve and by no means fourteen teams would take part in the season. That was confirmed at the end of May. HDD Olimpija Ljubljana remained in the league under the condition that all open salaries from the previous season were paid by June 15. Otherwise, the league wanted to reserve the right to invite MAC Budapest to participate, which ultimately did not happen. The field of participants remained unchanged.

team	Previous year's placement	Home arena	capacity
EC Red Bull Salzburg	master	Volksgarten arena	3,500
Orli Znojmo	Runner-up	Hostan Arena	5,500
EHC Liwest Linz	Semi-final out	No worries ice arena	4,863
EC VSV	Semi-final out	Villach town hall	4,500
Vienna Capitals	Quarter final out	Albert Schultz Hall	7,022
HC Bolzano	Quarter final out	Ice wave	7,000
EC Dornbirn	Quarter final out	Dornbirn exhibition stadium	4,270
EC KAC	Quarter final out	Ice sports center Klagenfurt	5,088
HC Innsbruck	Rank 9	Tyrolean hydropower arena	3,200
Sapa Fehérvár AV19	Rank 10	Székesfehérvár ice rink	3,500
EC Graz 99ers	Rank 11	Ice rink Graz-Liebenau	4,050
HDD Olimpija Ljubljana	Rank 12	Hala Tivoli	5,000

Trainer

Several teams parted ways with their coaches at the end of the preseason. Jim Boni ended his engagement with the Vienna Capitals , while Alexander Mellitzer returned to the club's junior division at the EC KAC . Shortly after the end of the season, the Belgian Mike Pellegrims was hired as the new head coach. HC Innsbruck hired Rob Pallin as their new head coach in February , who had previously been active at Sapa Fehérvár AV19. Dan Ratushny ended his engagement with Masters Salzburg and switched to HC Lausanne in Switzerland instead . On May 25, 2016, Greg Poss was announced as the new head coach. At some other clubs, no decisions have been announced to date (as of June 3, 2016). At Székesfehérvár, head coach Tyler Dietrich asked for early termination of contract in August 2016 in order to be able to accept a better paid position in the Canadian association; he was replaced by Benoît Laporte .

The first change of coach during the current season took place at the Graz 99ers, where Ivo Jan and his assistant coach Teppo Kivelä were exchanged in mid-December after ten defeats from the previous eleven games. As a replacement Doug Mason was signed , who had been replaced by Alexander Mellitzer a year earlier at EC KAC. Just before New Year's Eve, Orli Znojmo fired Jiri Reznar and replaced him with Roman Šimíček .

team	Trainer	Remarks
EC Red Bull Salzburg	Greg Poss	Since May 2016
Vienna Capitals	Serge Aubin	Since June 2016
EHC Liwest Linz	Rob Daum	Since summer 2011
EC KAC	Mike Pellegrims	Since April 2016
Orli Znojmo	Jiri Reznar Roman Šimíček	Summer 2013 to December 2016 since December 2016
Sapa Fehérvár AV19	Benoît Laporte	Since August 2016
EC VSV	Greg Holst	Since November 2015
HC Bolzano	Tom Pokel	Since August 2015
EC Graz 99ers	Ivo Jan Doug Mason	October 2015 to December 2016 since December 2016
EC Dornbirn	Dave MacQueen	Since June 2012
HC Innsbruck	Rob Pallin	Since February 2016
HDD Olimpija Ljubljana	Bojan Zajc	Since June 2016

mode

The mode remained unchanged compared to previous years. The teams first played a double round trip (44 games) before the field was divided into two groups. The six best-placed teams played the home right for the playoffs (top four) or the right to vote for their quarter-final opponent (top three) in a simple round-trip round, while the remaining six teams played in the hope round for the remaining two playoff places. The playoffs were then played as quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals in a best-of-seven series.

Youth Leagues

As in previous years, the following supranational junior leagues will be organized by Erste Bank Eishockey Liga:

league	Last year's champion	Season start	Attendees
U20 Erste Bank Young Stars League	EC Red Bull Salzburg	4th September 2016	18th
U18 Erste Bank Juniors League	SAPA Fehérvár AV19	3rd September 2016	15th

Season preparation

As in previous seasons, the Champions Hockey League was the most important tournament in preparation for the season this year . From the EBEL, the reigning champions EC Red Bull Salzburg , runner-up Orli Znojmo , as well as the Vienna Capitals and the EHC Linz were qualified. In addition, the teams played a number of club tournaments.

Note: EBEL teams are shown in bold .

competition	Attendees	Results
Vinschgau Cup August 12-14, 2016	EHC Linz ERC Ingolstadt ( DEL ) SCL Tigers ( NLA )	1. ERC Ingolstadt (2 wins) 2. SCL Tigers (1 win) 3. EHC Linz (0 wins)
Rudi Hiti-Cup 10th to 13th August 2016	Vienna Capitals Graz 99ers Stavanger Oilers ( GET-ligaen ) Rapaces de Gap ( Ligue Magnus )	1. Stavanger Oilers (2 wins) 2. Vienna Capitals (1 win) 3. Graz 99ers (1 win) 4. Rapaces de Gap (0 wins)
Dolomiten-Cup August 12-14, 2016	EC KAC Augsburger Panther ( DEL ) Nürnberg Ice Tigers (DEL) HC Kometa Brno ( Tipsport Extraliga )	1. Augsburg Panther 2. Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers 3. EC KAC 4. HC Kometa Brno

Basic round

Main round

The basic round of the season began on September 15, 2016 with the encounter between the Vienna Capitals and the EHC Linz, which was also the first game broadcast by the pay-TV broadcaster Sky Austria since the 2009/10 season . At the start of the season and together with ServusTV, the broadcaster took over the TV exploitation of the games.

In the following weeks, a three-way battle developed at the top of the table between the Vienna Capitals, the EHC Linz and the EC Red Bull Salzburg, who ultimately won the former. HC Bozen and HC Innsbruck were able to hold their own in the midfield. The Graz 99ers fell to about the middle of the main round due to a losing streak in the table back, eventually leading to the dismissal of head coach Ivo January led. The VSV also had major problems, not least because of the many injuries, and slipped out of the top six despite a good phase in the middle of the season. Conversely, the EC KAC managed to place in the top half of the table in time for the end of the main round thanks to a winning streak of 13 games.

Last year's runner-up Orli Znojmo was unable to follow up on the success and quickly lost contact with the top positions. Although the performance improved after the return of some players (including top scorer Colton Yellow Horn strengthened the team again after he moved to HC Plzeň in the summer ), this did not change anything in the table.

EC Dornbirn also had problems, with almost all of the defense made up of legionnaires for a large part of the season and, due to injuries, only five players. In addition, goalkeeper Florian Hardy was unable to continue his performance from the previous season, so the team regularly had to accept a high number of goals.

Sapa Fehérvár AV19 also stayed in the bottom third of the table for most of the time and could only set a few accents. As expected, HDD Olimpija Ljubljana found themselves at the bottom of the table, where there were still serious problems with budget and debts, so that again many players left the team due to outstanding salary payments during the current season.

Crosstab

Home team	Visiting team
	Salzburg	Znojmo	Linz	Villach	Vienna	Bolzano	Dornbirn	Klagenfurt	innsbruck	Fehérvár	Graz	Ljubljana
Salzburg	-	3-0 4-2	5: 3 8: 2	4: 2 2: 1	4: 3 a.d. 2: 4	1: 2 5: 2	2: 0 5: 4 a.d.	2: 0 4: 3 a.d.	4: 3 a.d. 1: 5	3: 4 n.P. 2: 3 n.P.	5: 3 3: 1	5: 1 7: 2
Znojmo	2: 5 1: 2 n.p.	-	5: 2 3: 2	3: 4 3: 1	2: 4 3: 2	2: 3 n.P. 1: 3	4: 3 3: 4	0: 1 3: 4	2: 1 a.d. 2: 3	3: 2 1: 3	5: 1 3: 4 a.d.	2: 3 4: 3 n.v.
Linz	1: 4 5: 2	4: 3 7: 2	-	4: 3 n.P. 3: 4 n.V.	2: 3 a.d. 1: 3	4: 3 4: 3 n.v.	5: 2 4: 3	4: 3 n.P. 4: 5	5: 4 5: 2	5: 2 4: 1	4: 2 4: 5	4: 3 a.d. 3: 1
Villach	1: 4 3: 2 a.d.	6-0 5-1	2: 3 a.d. 2: 5	-	2: 3 3: 2 n.v.	0: 4 2: 5	5: 4 n.P. 6: 5	3: 0 1: 2	6: 5 a.d. 3: 2	8: 5 5: 3	1: 4 4: 2	5: 1 8: 2
Vienna	5: 3 4: 0	3: 2 2: 3 a.d.	4: 3 a.d. 2: 3	1: 3 2: 1	-	4: 3 n.P. 6: 4	3: 2 a.d. 4: 1	4: 2 3: 4 n.v.	7: 9 4: 1	3: 4 3: 0	5: 2 1: 3	4: 1 5: 0
Bolzano	4: 3 1: 2 n.v.	2: 3 3: 1	0: 5 5: 4	2: 1 4: 0	4: 3 n.V. 2: 3 n.P.	-	1: 2 3: 5	3: 2 4: 2	3: 2 6: 4	4: 1 5: 4 a.d.	1: 3 2: 1	4: 1 6: 1
Dornbirn	3: 4 a.d. 1: 4	3: 4 4: 1	2: 3 a.d. 1: 6	3: 4 2: 3 a.d.	2: 3 0: 4	2: 4 3: 1	-	3: 1 3: 6	5: 1 5: 1	2: 3 n.P. 4: 0	1: 4 3: 1	4: 2 7: 2
Klagenfurt	4: 3 n.P. 2: 3 n.V.	5: 1 2: 4	4: 6 3: 2	5: 3 3: 1	1: 3 5: 4 n.p.	1: 3 5: 4 nP	5: 2 3: 2 n.v.	-	3: 2 4: 3	5: 0 2: 4	2: 4 1: 2	4: 2 5: 3
innsbruck	5: 4 a.d. 7: 0	2: 3 n.P. 1: 4	2: 1 a.d. 1: 5	4: 3 0: 3	2: 4 1: 4	8: 7 6: 2	5: 2 3: 2	3: 2 5: 1	-	6: 3 4: 5	4: 3 3: 2	7: 2 3: 4 n.P.
Fehérvár	1: 3 2: 8	3: 4 a.d. 5: 3	2: 5 6: 5 a.d.	3: 2 a.d. 3: 2 a.d.	2: 3 2: 3 a.d.	2: 4 3: 2 n.p.	5: 1 0: 2	2: 1 5: 2	3: 4 2: 4	-	5: 1 1: 5	2: 1 5: 6 a.d.
Graz	4: 3 0: 4	0: 1 1: 3	1: 2 1: 3	8: 3 5: 2	2: 4 0: 2	3-0 2: 5	5: 1 6: 3	4: 3 a.d. 1: 4	1: 2 a.d. 9: 2	3-0 3: 4	-	4-0 5-0
Ljubljana	2:10 3: 4	2: 3 1: 4	3: 8 2: 4	1: 6 4: 3 a.d.	2: 5 0: 5	0: 4 1: 0	2: 3 2: 4	3: 6 0: 3	3: 1 2: 3 a.d.	2: 1 a.d. 3: 2 a.d.	4: 3 a.d. 2: 3	-
n / a - victory after extra time; nP - Victory after penalty shootout

table

rank	team	Sp	S.	N	SNV	NNV	T	GT	TVH	Points
1	UPC Vienna Capitals	44	27	6th	6th	5	151	95	+56	98
2	EC Red Bull Salzburg	44	22nd	9	8th	5	158	111	+47	87
3	EHC Black Wings Linz	44	23	10	6th	5	168	127	+41	86
4th	HC Bolzano	44	22nd	13	3	6th	137	118	+19	78
5	HC Innsbruck	44	18th	17th	3	6th	148	152	−4	66
6th	EC KAC	44	18th	18th	4th	4th	128	123	+5	66
7th	EC VSV	44	15th	18th	6th	5	136	133	+3	62
8th	EC Graz 99ers	44	18th	21st	2	3	124	114	+10	61
9	Orli Znojmo	44	15th	21st	5	3	109	128	−19	58
10	EC Dornbirn	44	15th	21st	0	8th	120	143	−23	53
11	Sapa Fehérvár AV19	44	11	21st	8th	4th	119	151	−32	53
12	HDD Olimpija Ljubljana	44	2	32	6th	3	85	188	−103	24

Placement round ; Qualifying round

Top scorer

player	team	Gates	Assists	Points
Dan DaSilva	EHC Linz	29	31	60
Corey Locke	EC VSV	11	47	58
John Hughes	EC Red Bull Salzburg	26th	27	53
Andrew Clark	HC Innsbruck	21st	32	53
John Lammers	HC Innsbruck	20th	30th	50

goalkeeper

player	society	ATM	Catch quota
David Kickert	Vienna Capitals	1.85	93.2%
Sebastian Dahm	Graz 99ers	2.24	93.1%
Olivier Roy	EC VSV	2.59	92.7%
Luka Gračnar	EC Red Bull Salzburg	2.16	92.5%
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux	Vienna Capitals	2.17	92.4%

Development of the table rank in the main round

Ranking according to the round results on the league homepage The game dates and results of round 21 and 31 were exchanged between the Graz 99ers and HDD Olimpija Ljubljana.

Placement round

The four best-placed teams in the regular round received bonus points for the placement round. The EC KAC proved to be the most successful team, winning eight of their ten games and thus moving up to third place. Vienna Capitals and EC Red Bull Salzburg defend their first and second place respectively, while EHC Linz slipped out of the top three with partly mixed performances. HC Innsbruck was just as unable to stabilize the defense as HC Bozen, which is why both teams lost games with a high number of goals conceded.

The first two teams, Vienna and Salzburg, qualify for the 2017/18 Champions Hockey League .

rank	team	Sp	S.	N	SNV	NNV	T	GT	TVH	PKT (BPKT)
1	UPC Vienna Capitals	10	6th	3	0	1	30th	24	+6	25 (6)
2	EC Red Bull Salzburg	10	6th	2	1	1	46	31	+15	25 (4)
3	EC-KAC	10	7th	2	1	0	41	19th	+22	23 (0)
4th	EHC Linz	10	4th	6th	0	0	29	36	−7	14 (2)
5	HC Innsbruck	10	3	7th	0	0	31	45	−14	9 (0)
6th	HC Bolzano	10	2	8th	0	0	28	50	−22	7 (1)

Qualifying round

As in the placement round, the teams also received bonus points in the qualifying round according to their placement in the final table of the main round. Here the Graz 99ers and last year's finalist Orli Znojmo proved to be the most successful teams, while the best-placed EC VSV slipped out of the two qualifying places for the playoffs , also due to an injury to goalkeeper Olivier Roy . The EC Dornbirn was able to improve its performance compared to the main round, but did not qualify. The worst team, contrary to all expectations, was not the HDD Olimpija Ljubljana, but Sapa Fehérvár AV19, who could only win two games and thus ended up in last place.

rank	team	Sp	S.	N	SNV	NNV	T	GT	TVH	PKT (BPKT)
1	EC Graz 99ers	10	7th	3	0	0	32	21st	+11	25 (4)
2	Orli Znojmo	10	7th	3	0	0	36	24	+12	23 (2)
3	EC Dornbirn	10	5	3	1	1	32	23	+9	19 (1)
4th	EC VSV	10	3	6th	1	0	35	37	−2	17 (6)
5	HDD Olimpija Ljubljana	10	2	5	2	1	21st	39	−18	11 (0)
6th	Sapa Fehérvár AV19	10	2	6th	0	2	26th	38	−12	8 (0)

Basic run statistics

The following are the statistics for the entire regular round (main round and placement and qualification round).

Top scorer

(sorted by points)

player	team	GP	G	A.	PTS	PIM	+/-	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG	SO-CALLED	SG%	FOW	FOL	FO%
Corey Locke	EC VSV	52	12	65	77	24	+16	7th	24	1	0	2	133	9.0%	453	572	44.2%
Dan DaSilva	EHC Linz	53	31	39	70	16	+12	8th	13	0	0	3	167	18.6%	9	4th	69.2%
John Hughes	EC Red Bull Salzburg	53	32	33	65	54	+37	6th	6th	0	0	10	145	22.1%	1	4th	20.0%
Oliver Setzinger	EC Graz 99ers	53	20th	41	61	48	+17	2	9	0	1	4th	145	13.8%	3	5	37.5%
John Lammers	HC Innsbruck	52	22nd	36	58	22nd	−2	6th	10	0	0	4th	157	14.0%	6th	10	37.5%
Andrew Clark	HC Innsbruck	49	23	34	57	47	−1	5	12	1	0	3	157	14.6%	466	437	49.9%
Brian Lebler	EHC Linz	51	32	25th	57	48	+12	10	7th	0	0	3	198	16.2%	1	2	33.3%
Austin Smith	HC Innsbruck	54	27	28	55	36	+7	6th	6th	0	0	4th	151	17.9%	5	2	71.4%
Riley crab apple	Vienna Capitals	54	22nd	31	53	20th	+16	6th	1	0	0	6th	150	14.7%	450	440	50.6%
Jamie Lundmark	EC KAC	51	26th	25th	51	48	+16	6th	4th	3	0	5	170	15.3%	149	124	54.6%

Legend: GP = games, G = goals, A = assists, PTS = points, +/- = plus minus, PIM = penalty minutes, PPG = power play goals, PPA = power play assists, SHG = underpaid goals, SHA = underpaid assists, GWG = winning goals, SOG = shots on goal , SG% = shot efficiency, FO = faceoffs (won / total), FO% = faceoff win rate

goalkeeper

(sorted by catch quota)

player	team	GP	GPI	GS	MIN	GA	ATM	SO-CALLED	SVS	SVS%	SO	W.	L.	OTL
David Kickert	Vienna Capitals	54	16	14th	904: 44	28	1.86	420	392	93.33	3	11	2	2
Sebastian Dahm	Graz 99ers	53	47	46	2772: 15	103	2.23	1525	1422	93.25	5	25th	18th	3
Olivier Roy	EC VSV	37	35	35	2047: 29	88	2.58	1202	1114	92.68	3	19th	12	3
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux	Vienna Capitals	54	40	40	2373: 38	88	2.22	1152	1064	92.36	4th	28	7th	4th
Luka Gračnar	EC Red Bull Salzburg	54	29	29	1684: 25	67	2.39	818	751	91.81	4th	18th	7th	3
Michael Ouzas	EHC Linz	48	42	42	2479: 08	118	2.86	1391	1273	91.52	1	26th	13	3
Patrik Nechvátal	Orli Znojmo	54	29	23	1572: 11	66	2.52	776	710	91.49	1	12	10	1
David Madlener	EC KAC	53	22nd	21st	1237: 44	51	2.47	585	534	91.28	1	14th	5	2
Tomáš Duba	EC KAC	49	34	33	2029: 20	85	2.51	949	864	91.04	2	16	15th	2
Florian Hardy	EC Dornbirn	54	52	52	3036: 27	150	2.96	1670	1520	91.02	4th	21st	22nd	9
Zoltán Hetényi	Sapa Fehérvár AV19	53	27	25th	1544: 24	84	3.26	909	825	90.76	0	12	12	3
Marek Black	Orli Znojmo	54	31	31	1695: 29	84	2.97	889	805	90.55	1	15th	14th	2
Lukas Duke	EC VSV	53	20th	17th	1121: 27	66	3.53	680	614	90.29	0	5	11	2
Miklós Rajna	Sapa Fehérvár AV19	48	28	27	1599: 16	90	3.38	927	837	90.29	0	8th	14th	3
Bernhard Starkbaum	EC Red Bull Salzburg	54	28	25th	1622: 55	71	2.62	720	649	90.14	0	19th	4th	3
Jeff Frazee	HDD Olimpija Ljubljana	48	45	45	2622: 27	169	3.87	1695	1526	90.03	0	11	30th	4th
Andy Chiodo	HC Innsbruck	52	52	52	3135: 50	181	3.46	1793	1612	89.91	1	24	22nd	6th
Florian Janny	EHC Linz	46	13	11	716: 32	38	3.18	370	332	89.73	0	7th	3	1
Marcel Melicherčík	HC Bolzano	53	46	46	2757: 26	138	3.00	1340	1202	89.70	3	24	16	6th

( Legend for the goalkeeper statistics: GP or Sp = total games; W or S = wins; L or N = defeats; T or U or OT = draws or overtime or shootout defeats; min. = Minutes; SOG or SaT = shots on goal; GA or GT = goals conceded; SO = shutouts ; GAA or GTS = goals conceded ; Sv% or SVS% = catch quota ; EN = empty net goal ; ¹  play-downs / relegation ; italics : statistics not complete)

Playoffs

Playoff tree

After the last games of the intermediate round, the three best-placed teams in the placement round selected their opponents for the quarter-finals in a live broadcast on February 21, 2017, which resulted in the following tournament tree for the playoffs.

Quarter finals

Semifinals

final

PL1

UPC Vienna Capitals

4th

PL5

HC TWK Innsbruck

0

PL1

UPC Vienna Capitals

4th

PL6

HCB South Tyrol

0

PL4

Liwest Black Wings Linz

1

PL6

HCB South Tyrol

4th

PL1

UPC Vienna Capitals

4th

PL3

EC-KAC

0

PL3

EC-KAC

4th

QU2

HC Orli Znojmo

0

PL3

EC-KAC

4th

PL2

EC Red Bull Salzburg

2

PL2

EC Red Bull Salzburg

4th

QU1

Moser Medical Graz 99ers

1

Quarter finals

Vienna Capitals vs. HC Innsbruck

Two of the four quarter-final series ended with a sweep, i.e. without a victory for the ultimately defeated team. HC Innsbruck, which reached the playoffs for the first time since being promoted back to the EBEL, could not prevail against the Vienna Capitals thanks to a weak defense and lost the two away games with a large number of goals against. The closest game turned out to be the first home game, which the Haie only lost after 103: 55 minutes in overtime with a goal from Taylor Vause . The game became the second longest game in EBEL history to date after an encounter between EC VSV and EC Salzburg on March 13, 2015, which ended 1: 2 after 111: 39 minutes.

EC Red Bull Salzburg vs. Moser Medical Graz 99ers

In the series between the EC Red Bull Salzburg and the Graz 99ers, Salzburg was the clear favorite and confirmed this assessment over long stretches. Only game four fell out of line; The Graz team celebrated a 4-0 home win and the only victory with Sebastian Dahm in goal, but lost the series in the subsequent game five on Salzburg ice.

EC-KAC vs. HC Orli Znojmo

Like the Capitals, the EC KAC also reached the semi-finals by sweeping. For a long time the series was closer than the result reflects - Orli Znojmo only lost two of the four matches in overtime - but the KAC had been able to preserve the form from the second round better and with the quarter-finals won seven to ten wins en suite can.

EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz vs. HCB South Tyrol

The encounter between EHC Linz and HC Bozen was the only one in which the better placed team did not choose its opponent. Nevertheless, before the start of the series, the Linzers were considered favorites, not least because of the better squad. In the course of the series, however, the tactics of the Bozen coach Tom Pokel proved to be successful, who defended his team with all means and waited for a counterattack. The EHC Linz did not find their way into the game for the entire series and ultimately lost 4-1 despite having won the opening game.

Semifinals

Vienna Capitals vs. HC Bolzano

The Vienna Capitals remained unbeaten in the second playoff round and defeated HC Bozen with a sweep. The series was characterized by a clear dominance of the Viennese club, although the results of the second and third matches were only very close. Especially in game two, which was only decided in the second overtime and after 86:21 minutes, Bolzano also performed well, but ultimately had no chance against the favorites.

Vienna Capitals (PL1) - HC Bozen (PL6) Direct season balance: 6 games, 5: 1 wins, 26:14 goals
March 14, 2017	Vienna Capitals - HC Bozen	4: 2 (0: 1, 1: 1, 3: 0)
17th March 2017	HC Bozen - Vienna Capitals	2: 3 n.V. (1: 1, 1: 1, 0: 0, 0: 1)
19th March 2017	Vienna Capitals - HC Bozen	1: 0 (0: 0, 1: 0, 0: 0)
March 21, 2017	HC Bozen - Vienna Capitals	1: 4 (0: 0, 1: 2, 0: 2)
Final score in the series: 4-0

EC Red Bull Salzburg vs. EC KAC

In the second semifinal series, the favorite defending champion EC Red Bull Salzburg started with two wins against EC KAC. In the third game, KAC coach Mike Pellegrim's goalkeeper Tomáš Duba replaced his nominal backup David Madlener , whereupon the team won away for the first time. The team from Klagenfurt then equalized the series and was able to present for the first time in the fifth game. The parallel to last year's quarter-finals also received a lot of media attention; In contrast to the previous year, however, this time the EC KAC achieved the necessary fourth win on home ice, which is the first time the club has been in the final since winning the title in 2013.

EC Red Bull Salzburg (PL2) - EC KAC (PL3) Direct season record : 6 games, 4: 2 wins, 18:14 goals
March 14, 2017	EC Red Bull Salzburg - EC KAC	4: 1 (1: 0, 1: 0, 2: 1)
17th March 2017	EC KAC - EC Red Bull Salzburg	1: 4 (0: 2, 0: 0, 1: 2)
19th March 2017	EC Red Bull Salzburg - EC KAC	2: 3 (2: 2, 0: 0, 0: 1)
March 21, 2017	EC KAC - EC Red Bull Salzburg	4: 1 (1: 0, 1: 0, 2: 1)
March 24, 2017	EC Red Bull Salzburg - EC KAC	3: 4 n.V. (0: 1, 1: 1, 2: 1, 0: 1)
March 26, 2017	EC KAC - EC Red Bull Salzburg	4: 0 (0: 0, 1: 0, 3: 0)
Final score in the series: 2: 4

final

The final match between the Vienna Capitals and the EC KAC was the third overall since the EBEL was founded in 2003. In the 2004/05 season , after six away wins in the series, the Capitals prevailed with the only home win and won the title. In 2013 , the EC KAC achieved the only final sweep in league history against the capital club.

The Capitals continued their winning run in the playoffs in the end unhindered and also won the final series in four games without defeat. At the same time, they set a record in EBEL history, as they were the first team in modern league history to finish the post-season not only in the minimum number of games required, but also without defeat. It was the second championship title of the Capitals after 2005.

Final: Vienna Capitals (PL 1) - EC KAC (PL 3)
March 31, 2017, 8:15 p.m. Albert-Schultz-Halle 7,022 spectators	Vienna Capitals	4: 1 (2: 0, 1: 1, 1: 0)	EC KAC
	Taylor Vause (06:16, Andreas Nödl , Rafael Rotter ) 1: 0 Riley Holzapfel (19:22, Aaron Brocklehurst , Kelsey Tessier ) 2: 0 Aaron Brocklehurst (36:16, power play , Riley Holzapfel , Rafael Rotter ) 3: 1 Jerry Pollastrone (55:54, Philippe Lakos , MacGregor Sharp ) 4: 1	Penalty minutes: 6 or 10 goalkeepers: Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Capitals, 60:00, 30 shots, 1 goal) David Madlener (KAC, 56:40, 20 shots, 4 goals)	2: 1 Stefan Geier (30:16, Powerplay , Manuel Ganahl , Kevin Kapstad )
April 2, 2017, 5 p.m. Stadthalle Klagenfurt, 4,945 spectators	EC KAC	4: 5 n.V. (3: 0, 0: 1, 1: 3, 0: 1)	Vienna Capitals
	Jamie Lundmark (04:46, power play , David Fischer , Manuel Ganahl ) 1: 0 Thomas Koch (10:49, Žiga Pance , Jamie Lundmark ) 2: 0 Matthew Neal (14:25, power play, S. Geier , Manuel Ganahl ) 3: 0 Marco Brucker (41:15, Thomas Hundertpfund , Thomas Vallant ) 4: 1	Penalty minutes: 4 or 14 goalkeepers: David Madlener (KAC, 71:44, 43 shots, 5 goals) Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Capitals, 41:15, 20 shots, 4 goals) David Kickert (Capitals, 30:29, 8 Shots, 0 goals)	3: 1 Aaron Brocklehurst (33:09, Kelsey Tessier , Tyler Cuma ) 4: 2 Ryan McKiernan (43:28, Sascha Bauer ) 4: 3 Jamie Fraser (57:20) 4: 4 Kelsey Tessier (58:18, Rafael Rotter , Jerry Pollastrone ) 4: 5 Jerry Pollastrone (71:44, Jamie Fraser , Riley Holzapfel )
April 4, 2017, 8:15 p.m. Albert-Schultz-Halle 7,022 spectators	Vienna Capitals	7: 5 (4: 3, 1: 2, 2: 0)	EC KAC
	Jonathan Ferland (01:05, MacGregor Sharp , Nikolaus Hartl ) 1: 0 MacGregor Sharp (08:26, Powerplay , Ryan McKiernan , Aaron Brocklehurst ) 2: 2 Rafael Rotter (14:46, Taylor Vause ) 3: 2 Riley Holzapfel ( 15:57, Kelsey Tessier ) 4: 2 Taylor Vause (23:16, Jamie Fraser , Rafael Rotter ) 5: 3 Collin Bowman (48:34, Jamie Fraser , Taylor Vause ) 6: 5 Riley Holzapfel (59:46, Empty Net , Taylor Vause , Kelsey Tessier ) 7: 5	Penalty minutes: 12 or 12 goalkeepers: Jean-Philippe Lamoureux (Capitals, 27:02, 26 shots, 4 goals) David Kickert (Capitals, 32:58, 13 shots, 1 goal) David Madlener (KAC, 20:00, 21 Shots, 4 goals) Tomáš Duba (KAC, 40:00, 19 shots, 2 goals)	1: 1 Martin Schumnig (03:45, Powerplay , D. Fischer , T. Koch ) 1: 2 Patrick Harand (04:17, Thomas Hundertpfund , Thomas Vallant ) 4: 3 Manuel Ganahl (19:53, Matthew Neal , Jamie Lundmark ) 5: 4 Manuel Geier (27:02, Stefan Geier , T. Koch ) 5: 5 Kevin Kapstad (36:31, power play )
April 7, 2017, 8:15 p.m. Stadthalle Klagenfurt, 4,925 spectators	EC KAC	2: 3 (2: 2, 0: 1, 0: 0)	Vienna Capitals
	Matthew Neal (00:33, Jamie Lundmark ) 1: 0 Žiga Pance (19:09, power play , T. Koch , Martin Schumnig ) 2: 2	Penalty minutes: 8 or 10 goalkeepers: David Madlener (KAC, 58:28, 25 shots, 3 goals) David Kickert (Capitals, 60:00, 42 shots, 2 goals)	1: 1 Rafael Rotter (03:16, Ryan McKiernan , Andreas Nödl ) 1: 2 Andreas Nödl (06:09, shorthanded , Taylor Vause ) 2: 3 Ryan McKiernan (25:38, power play , Kelsey Tessier , MacGregor Sharp )
Final score in the series: 4-0

Playoff statistics

Top scorer

(sorted by points and goals)

player	team	GP	G	A.	PTS	PIM	+/-	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG	SO-CALLED	SG%	FOW	FOL	FO%
Riley crab apple	Capitals	12	12	11	23	8th	+8	5	5	0	0	1	39	30.77	75	90	45.45
Kelsey Tessier	Capitals	12	6th	13	19th	2	+10	4th	4th	0	0	0	50	12.00	42	63	40.00
Rafael Rotter	Capitals	12	3	14th	17th	26th	+5	1	7th	0	0	0	30th	10.00	4th	3	57.14
Stefan Geier	KAC	14th	9	5	14th	10	0	2	2	1	0	1	32	28.13	0	0	0.00
Thomas Koch	KAC	14th	3	10	13	6th	+2	0	7th	0	0	1	32	9.38	151	145	51.01
Jamie Fraser	Capitals	12	2	10	12	6th	+3	1	4th	0	0	0	23	8.70	0	0	0.00
Aaron Brocklehurst	Capitals	12	3	9	12	16	+9	2	7th	0	0	0	28	10.71	0	0	0.00
Ryan Duncan	Salzburg	11	5	5	10	4th	+ 1	1	1	0	0	1	29	17.24	114	110	50.89
Thomas Raffl	Salzburg	11	5	5	10	2	−1	1	1	0	0	2	36	13.89	2	4th	33.33
Taylor Vause	Capitals	12	6th	4th	10	4th	+6	1	0	0	1	2	30th	20.00	94	89	51.37

Legend:
GP = games played, G = goals, A = assists, PTS = points, PIM = penalty minutes, +/− = plus minus , PPG = power play goals, PPA = power play assists, SHG = underpaid goals, SHA = underpaid assists, GWG = Winning goals, SOG = shots on goal, SG% = goal shooting efficiency, FOW = won face-offs, FOL = lost face-offs, FO% = face-off efficiency

goalkeeper

(sorted by catch quota)

player	team	GP	GPI	GS	MIN	GA	ATM	SO-CALLED	SVS	SVS%	SO	W.	L.	OTL
David Kickert	Capitals	12	3	1	122: 34	3	1.47	63	60	95.24	0	3	0	0
Bernhard Starkbaum	Salzburg	11	11	11	660: 43	23	2.09	365	342	93.70	1	6th	4th	1
Marcel Melicherčík	Bolzano	9	9	9	581: 37	22nd	2.27	330	308	93.33	1	4th	3	2
Tomáš Duba	KAC	14th	7th	6th	436: 43	16	2.20	223	207	92.83	1	4th	3	0
Sebastian Dahm	99ers	5	5	5	298: 53	14th	2.81	189	175	92.59	1	1	4th	0
Jean-Philippe Lamoureux	Capitals	12	11	11	678: 33	23	2.03	273	250	91.58	2	9	0	0
Michael Ouzas	Linz	5	5	5	315: 50	13	2.47	144	131	90.97	0	1	3	1
Marek Black	Znojmo	4th	4th	4th	279: 13	13	2.79	144	131	90.97	0	0	2	2
David Madlener	KAC	14th	8th	8th	455: 04	22nd	2.90	228	206	90.35	1	4th	2	1
Andy Chiodo	innsbruck	4th	4th	4th	283: 55	19th	4.02	162	143	88.27	0	0	3	1

Legend:
GP = players at the match report, GPI = actual stakes, GS = games started, TOI = game minutes, GA = goals conceded, GAA = goals conceded , SOG = shots on goal, SVS = shots saved, SVS% = catch rate , SO = games without a goal, W = games won, L = games lost in regular time, OTL = games lost in overtime

Squad of the Austrian champions

Austrian master EBEL master Vienna Capitals

Goalkeepers: David Kickert , Jean-Philippe Lamoureux Defenders: Collin Bowman , Aaron Brocklehurst , Tyler Cuma , Jamie Fraser , Dominic Hackl , Philippe Lakos , Ryan McKiernan , Patrick Peter Attackers: Sascha Bauer , Patrick Bolterle , Jonathan Ferland , Mario Fischer , Julian Großlercher , Nikolaus Hartl , Riley Holzapfel , Felix Maxa , Benjamin Nissner , Andreas Nödl , Jerry Pollastrone , Rafael Rotter , MacGregor Sharp , Kelsey Tessier , Taylor Vause , Ali Wukovits Coaching staff: Serge Aubin , Craig Streu

spectator

The following table shows the attendance figures for the clubs and the entire league. Home and away games as well as the totals are listed.

		Home games			Away games			total
rank	team	SP	TO	SCHN	SP	TO	SCHN	SP	TO	SCHN
1	EHC Linz	30th	140.385	4,679	29	84,983	2,930	59	225,368	3,819
2	Vienna Capitals	33	145.866	4,420	33	103.272	3.129	66	249.138	3,774
3	EC KAC	34	124,798	3,670	34	116.393	3,423	68	241.191	3,546
4th	HC Bolzano	31	97.930	3.159	32	99,447	3,107	63	197,377	3.132
5	EC VSV	27	80,687	2,988	27	78,538	2,908	54	159,225	2,948
6th	Sapa Fehérvár AV19	27	78,691	2914	27	66,074	2,447	54	144.765	2,680
7th	EC Red Bull Salzburg	33	90.120	2,730	32	106,590	3,330	65	196.710	3,026
8th	Orli Znojmo	29	78,748	2,715	29	77,691	2,679	58	156,439	2,697
9	EC Graz 99ers	29	67,979	2,344	30th	81.209	2,706	59	149.188	2,528
10	EC Dornbirn	27	62,953	2,331	27	73.139	2,708	54	136.092	2,520
11	HC Innsbruck	29	63,750	2,198	29	92,108	3.176	58	155.858	2,687
12	HDD Olimpija Ljubljana	27	16,195	599	27	68,658	2,542	54	84,853	1,571
	League total	356	1,048,102	2,944	356	1,048,102	2,944	712	2,096,204	2,944

referee

The following referees formed the squad for the games of the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga:

# 44		Vladimir Babic	# 6		Patrick Gruber	# 20		Kristijan Nikolic	# 40		Christoph Sternat
# 17		Thomas Berneker	# 19		Roland waiter	# 22		Manuel Nikolic	# 21		Miroslav Stolc
# 45		Miha Bulovec	# 18		Greg Kimmerly	# 29		Trpimir Piragic	# 4		Viktor Trilar
# 7		Patrick Fichtner	# 33		Gergely Kincses	# 23		Stefan Siegel	# 16		Milan Zrnic
# 28		Daniel Gamper	# 14		Mark Lemelin	# 3		Ladislav Smetana

media

After only ServusTV had broadcast league games live in previous years , the pay-TV broadcaster Sky Austria , which had been the league's TV partner until 2010 , returned with the start of the season . ServusTV had also extended the existing contract to 2019 with an option for two more years and planned to broadcast around 40 games. Sky should bring 50 more encounters on TV.

In addition, the games of the two Carinthian clubs EC KAC and EC VSV were also broadcast by Radio Carinthia as part of the Carinthian ice hockey magazine.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Six new EBEL applications ( memento from April 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), report on hockey-news.info from January 16, 2016
2. ↑ Other clubs from Italy want to join the EBEL , report on hockeyfans.at from January 20, 2016
3. ↑ Kapfenberg withdraws EBEL application again , report on hockeyfans.at from March 8, 2016
4. ↑ Only two teams left in the EBEL race , report on hockeyfans.at from April 5, 2016
5. ↑ League chief no longer excludes EBEL2 , report on hockeyfans.at from February 18, 2016
6. ↑ EBEL also in 2016/17 with 12 teams ( memento from April 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), report on hockey-news.info from April 13, 2016
7. ↑ With conditions - Laibach remains in the league, for the time being no expansion , report on hockeyfans.at from May 17, 2016
8. ↑ Him Boni throws in the towel ( Memento from March 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), report on hockey-news.info from March 7, 2016
9. ↑ Mellitzer switches back to the next generation ( memento from April 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), report on hockey-news.info from March 24, 2016
10. ↑ Dan Ratushny leaves Meister Salzburg , report on hockeyfans.at from April 26, 2016
11. ↑ Székesfehérvár has a new trainer , report on hockeyfans.at from August 25, 2016
12. ↑ Knalleffekt in Graz - trainer team is gone ( memento from January 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ), report on hocke-ynews.info from December 15, 2016
13. ↑ Vice- champion Znojmo fires his trainer , report on hockeyfans.at from December 29, 2016
14. ↑ Greg Poss new head coach of Red Bulls Salzburg , report on ecrbs.redbulls.com from May 25, 2016
15. ↑ Serge Aubin is the new caps head coach, report on vienna-capitals.at from June 7, 2016
16. ↑ Mike Pellegrim's new Head Coach of the EC KAC , report on kac.at from April 29, 2016
17. ↑ Rob Pallin new head coach in Innsbruck , report on hockeyfans.at from February 19, 2016
18. ↑ News from Olimpija Ljubljana , report on eishockey-online.com from June 27, 2016
19. ^ Preparatory tournament in South Tyrol ( Memento from April 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), report on the EHC Linz homepage
20. ↑ ERC Ingolstadt wins Vinschgau Cup , report on hockeyweb.de from August 15, 2016
21. ↑ Ingolstadt home win at the Vinschgau Cup , report on vinschgerwind.it from 23 August 2016
22. ↑ Treningskamper i Maribor, Slovenia ( Memento from June 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), report on the Stavanger Oilers homepage (in Norwegian)
23. ↑ Program of the Dolomitencup ( Memento of August 27, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) on www.dolomitencup.com
24. ↑ Bernd Freimüller checks the Qualification Round , report on laola1.at from January 20, 2017
25. ↑ Schedule
26. ↑ After 103 minutes, the Capitals won in Innsbruck , report on kurier.at from March 1, 2017
27. ↑ Master Salzburg jumps the Graz hurdle , report on hockeyfans.at from March 8, 2017
28. ↑ Koch shoots KAC into the semi-finals , report on hockeyfans.at from March 5, 2017
29. ↑ Bolzano throws Linz out of the playoffs , report on hockeyfans.at from March 7, 2017
30. ↑ EBEL referee on eishockeyschiedsrichter.at
31. ↑ Servus TV extends with EBEL, Sky is a new partner , report on www.nachrichten.at from April 8, 2016