Inter-National League

Inter-National League

sport	ice Hockey
abbreviation	INL
Association	Austrian Ice Hockey Association, Slovenian Ice Hockey Association
League foundation	July 14, 2012
League dissolution	2016
Teams	9
Country countries	Austria 6 teams Slovenia 3 teams
Title holder	EHC Bregenzerwald
Record champions	EHC Bregenzerwald (2)
Website	international league
^ Erste Bank Ice Hockey League ↓ National Amateur Hockey League

The Inter-National-League (INL) was an Austrian - Slovenian ice hockey league and was founded on July 14, 2012 in Villach by representatives of the Austrian Ice Hockey Association (ÖEHV), the Slovenian Ice Hockey Association (HZS) and representatives of the clubs. It was one step below the international Erste Bank Ice Hockey League and was geared towards semi-professional clubs. The last champion was EHC Bregenzerwald in the 2015/16 season , which won the best-of-five final against EHC Lustenau 5-1. The Alps Hockey League was founded for the following season .

history

In 2012 seven of the eleven teams in the Austrian national league had left the league. The two teams of EC hagn_leone Dornbirn and HC TWK Innsbruck were accepted into the EBEL, while other teams withdrew into amateur sport. With only four remaining participants, the second league level in Austria was about to be dissolved.

At the same time, the Slohokej League , a cross-border competition under the EBEL with teams from Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, could not be continued due to a dispute between the Slovenian Ice Hockey Association and the Slohokej operating company. Following the bankruptcy of Acroni Jesenice remained HDD Olimpija Ljubljana as a single Slovenian team in the EBEL. This also worsened the situation of the Slovenian ice hockey substructure. Olimpija (and Jesenice) had previously entered the Slovenian championship play-offs and played the champions among themselves in the final.

As a result, the ÖEHV and the HZS decided to form a joint league for semi-professional clubs. In the first season, a total of six teams took part with the four Austrian clubs EHC Bregenzerwald , VEU Feldkirch , EHC Lustenau and EK Zell am See and the Slovenian clubs HK Slavija Ljubljana and HK Triglav Kranj . In the first round, all teams played against each other six times in three double rounds, which resulted in 36 games. The championship began on September 15, 2012, the last game in the regular season took place on March 2, 2013. The semi-finals and the final were played in the best of five mode .

The field of participants expanded massively in the 2013/14 season. There were also five teams from the second-class Italian A2 series, which had been renamed 2a Divisione . In addition, four other Slovenian teams got on board. A total of 15 teams therefore competed against each other.

Since the Italian federation did not give its clubs any further approval for the 2014/15 season and the HDK Maribor withdrew its participation, five Slovenian and six Austrian clubs contested this season. In the Austrian field of participants, the EC Kitzbühel and the newly founded Steelers Kapfenberg were added - after eight years of absence in the 2nd highest league .

For the 2015/16 season there was a further decline in participants with the withdrawal of Kranj and Bled. Nine teams contested this season, which turned out to be the last season. In spring 2016, the supranational Alps Hockey League was founded as a successor with participants from Austria, Slovenia and Italy .

Teams and placements

country	Club	12/13	13/14	14/15	15/16
Austria	EHC Bregenzerwald	M.	F.	V	M.
	VEU Feldkirch	5	V	F.	H
	EHC Lustenau	6th	V	M.	F.
	EK Zell am See	H	H	H	V
	EC Kitzbühel			V	V
	Steelers Kapfenberg			V
	KSV ice hockey				V
Slovenia	HK Slavija Ljubljana	F.	Q	V	9
	HK Triglav Kranj	H	Q	10
	HK MK Bled		Q	11
	HK Celje		Q	9	V
	HC / HDD Jesenice		V	H	H
	HDK Maribor		Q
Italy	HC Neumarkt		M.
	HC Gherdëina		H
	HC Eppan Pirates		V
	HC Merano		Q
	SV Kaltern ice hockey		Q

M : Master, F: Finalist, H: Semi-finalist, V: Quarter-finalist, S: Qualifying round, Number: Placement in the main round

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The National League becomes the Inter-National League. In: hockeyfans.at. July 14, 2012, accessed July 18, 2012 . 
2. ↑ Martin Merk: New Austro-Slovenian league: Inter-National-League to start one tier below EBEL. In: iihf.com. July 14, 2012, accessed October 20, 2017 . 
3. ↑ Davide tuniz: New Inter National League to replace Austrian National League and Slohokej. Finally Austrian and Slovenian clubs find an agreement to save their semi-professional leagues. In: eurohockey.com. July 16, 2012, accessed July 19, 2012 . 
4. ^ Foundation of the "Inter-National League". (No longer available online.) In: eishockey.at. July 14, 2012, archived from the original on October 20, 2017 ; accessed on October 20, 2017 (ÖEHV, Muschlin). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ The INL is dead, long live the IAHL , report on hockeyfans.at from April 29, 2016