Alps Hockey League

The Alps Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in Central Europe. Currently the league is made up of teams representing three nations: Austria, Italy and Slovenia, whilst a team from Croatia is also considering joining. The league formed as a result of a merger between Serie A and the Inter-National League.

Formation
The Alps Hockey League was founded in the spring of 2016, and is a joint venture between the Austrian Ice Hockey Association, the Federazione Italiana Sport del Ghiaccio as well as the Ice Hockey Federation of Slovenia. The three national governing bodies have stated that they are keen to ensure that the league is both of a high standard, and financially viable in the long term. The league will consist of a maximum of 10 teams apiece from both Austria and Italy, whilst a maximum of 5 further teams will be based in Slovenia.

In addition, the league has also stated that it is open to teams from other nations, including Czech Republic, Germany and Slovakia joining in the future.

Regarding players, each team can sign a maximum for 4 foreign born players. The AHL will operate a points based system similar to that of the EBEL, with each team having 16 points at their disposal. As a result of this, the league aims to focus on the development of young players from the participating countries.

Teams
The AHL will consist of 16 teams, 8 of which are based in Italy, 7 based in Austria, and a further team representing Slovenia. As yet, it is currently unknown if the teams will be divided up into groups, or if they will play in a 16 team league format. Two of the teams due to play in the AHL will act as developmental teams for senior teams within the EBEL.

Austria
 * 🇦🇹 EHC Bregenzerwald
 * 🇦🇹 VEU Feldkirch
 * 🇦🇹 EC KAC II
 * 🇦🇹 EC Kitzbühel
 * 🇦🇹 EHC Lustenau
 * 🇦🇹 EC Red Bull Salzburg U20
 * 🇦🇹 EK Zell am See

Italy
 * 🇮🇹 HC Asiago
 * 🇮🇹 SG Cortina
 * 🇮🇹 HC Fassa
 * 🇮🇹 HC Gherdëina
 * 🇮🇹 HC Neumarkt-Egna
 * 🇮🇹 HC Pustertal Wölfe
 * 🇮🇹 Ritten Sport
 * 🇮🇹 WSV Sterzing Broncos

Slovenia
 * HDD Jesenice