The 2022–23 Asia League Ice Hockey season was the 20th season of operation (18th season of play) of the Asia League Ice Hockey. The league returned after the past two seasons were only Japanese clubs played due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The regular season began on 3 September 2022, when the East Hokkaido Cranes hosted HL Anyang.
The playoffs concluded on 25 March, with HL Anyang defeating Red Eagles Hokkaido in the finals in five games, winning their seventh league championship in franchise history.
Season changes The Oji Eagles rebranded as Red Eagles Hokkaido back in 2021. The Daemyung Killer Whales folded in 2021. The Yokohama Grits make their league debut this season after their initial debut was postponed with the cancelation for the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons.
On 2 August 2022, the league voted to remove PSK Sakhalin in protest to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 15 September 2022, Anyang Halla announced that they rebranded to HL Anyang.
Teams Only five teams from the 2019–20 season returned for the 2022–23 season, with the addition of expansion side Yokohama Grits.
HL Anyang Anyang Anyang Ice Arena 1,284 East Hokkaido Cranes Kushiro Kushiro Ice Arena 2,539 Red Eagles Hokkaido Tomakomai Hakucho Arena 3,015 Nikkō Ice Bucks Nikkō Nikkō Kirifuri Ice Arena 1,608 Tohoku Free Blades Hachinohe Flat Hachinohe 3,500 Yokohama Grits Yokohama KOSÉ Shin-Yokohama Skate Center 2,500
Regular season The league's regular season began on 3 September 2022.
Standings
Results
Playoffs
Bracket
Semifinals (1) HL Anyang vs. (4) East Hokkaido Cranes
(2) Red Eagles Hokkaido vs. (3) Nikkō Ice Bucks
Final (1) HL Anyang vs. (2) Red Eagles Hokkaido
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following shows the top players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of matches played on 5 March 2023.
Player Team Red Eagles Hokkaido 40 22 53 75 +3 18 Nikkō Ice Bucks 40 27 31 58 +2 28 HL Anyang 40 12 42 54 +7 18 Nikkō Ice Bucks 40 30 22 52 +2 26 HL Anyang 40 25 25 50 +14 4 Red Eagles Hokkaido 40 18 31 49 +3 12 Red Eagles Hokkaido 40 4 44 48 +3 14 Red Eagles Hokkaido 37 20 26 46 +4 16 Red Eagles Hokkaido 39 29 14 43 +3 39 East Hokkaido Cranes 40 19 24 43 +1 24
Leading goaltenders The following shows the top goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of matches played on 5 March 2023.
Player Team HL Anyang 37 2198:33 53 94.22 1.45 Red Eagles Hokkaido 33 1946:47 65 92.17 2.00 Nikkō Ice Bucks 20 1162:48 64 88.93 3.30 East Hokkaido Cranes 24 1290:21 73 89.12 3.39 Tohoku Free Blades 25 1377:40 93 90.11 4.05
Awards Award Winner League champions HL Anyang Most valuable player Matt Dalton, HL Anyang Best goaltender Matt Dalton, HL Anyang Rookie of the year Kanata Isoya, East Hokkaido Cranes Leading scorer (Regular season) Kento Suzuki, Nikkō IceBucks Leading assists (Regular season) Shogo Nakajima, Red Eagles Hokkaido Leading points (Regular season) Shogo Nakajima, Red Eagles Hokkaido
Team of the year First Team Matt Dalton (G) – HL Anyang Ryo Hashimoto (D) – Red Eagles Hokkaido Lee Don-ku (D) – HL Anyang Shogo Nakajima (F) – Red Eagles Hokkaido Kento Suzuki (F) – Nikkō IceBucks Kim Ki-sung (F) – HL Anyang
References