Next team gone

A heavy blow for Austria’s ice hockey

There will be no more duels between Zell (right) and Linz.(Bild: JohannesRadlwimmer)

With strong performances, the Austrian men's national ice hockey team lit a new fire in Austria. However, this threatens to go out again quickly. There are fewer and fewer places where players can play in a professional environment.  

The Austrian men's national ice hockey team has sparked a new fire with strong performances. However, this threatens to go out again quickly. There are fewer and fewer places where players can play in a professional environment.

The Alps Hockey League, which is an important intermediate step for many young cracks, is slowly disintegrating into its individual parts. The Steel Wings Linz withdrew their nomination at short notice on Tuesday. "I'm shocked and disappointed, they had good quality and developed players," Zell managing director Patrick Schwarz was surprised. As was Bulls manager Heli Schlögl: "It's a great pity and especially not easy for the players." The Stahlstädter are the fourth club to drop out of the league this year. As so often, the costs were too high.

"There is no alternative to the AHL"
That leaves just one red-white-red quartet. Clearly too few for development to progress in the country. The league finds itself in a dilemma. "There is no alternative to the Alps Hockey League," explains Schwarz. And rightly so, because a purely Austrian league would not have the quality to help young cracks progress, not to mention that too few teams are interested in it. On the other hand, the Alps Hockey League in its current form is drifting towards an abyss. Ice hockey Austria needs to think about something as soon as possible.