Sport Ice hockey CEO Karl Safron | Founded 1923 No. of teams 12 | |
 | ||
Country Austria (8 teams)
Slovenia (1 team)
Hungary (1 team)
Czech Republic (1 team)
Italy (1 team) Most recent
champion(s) EC Red Bull Salzburg
(7th title) | ||
The Austrian Hockey League (German: Österreichische Eishockey-Liga), called the Erste Bank Eishockey Liga (English: First Bank Hockey League) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Austria.
Contents
History
The roots of the EBEL league go back to 1923 and various Championships, whose winner is officially recognized as the Austrian Champion. There was no Austrian competition between 1939 and 1945. During World War II, a number of Austrian teams competed in the German Ice Hockey Championship, which is why the EK Engelmann Wien and Vienna EV list German Championships in their history.
The league exists in today's form since the 1965–66 season.
Until 2005–06 the league consisted solely of Austrian teams. Since then the league has added teams from Slovenia (starting 2006–07 and 2007–08), Hungary (starting 2007–08), Croatia (starting 2009–10 season), the Czech Republic (starting in 2011–12) and Italy (starting 2013–14 season).
The non-Austrian teams are competing for the "EBEL Champion" title. Only Austrian teams in this league are additionally eligible for the "Austrian Champion" title. The league has had different sponsors, and the current naming rights have been held by "Sparkasse Bank" and its Erste Bank brand since the 2003–04 season.
In 2013–14, Italy's Bolzano Foxes became the first non-Austrian team to win the EBEL title when they beat the Salzburg Red Bulls 3 games to 2 in their best-of-five final. Such success is not unheard of for an Italian outfit, but previous similar results took place in the Alpenliga and the Cup of the European Leagues, standalone competitions whose postseason tournaments were distinct from the Austrian playoffs.
EBEL Playoffs
With their victory in the 2013/2014 season, HC Bolzano is the first non-Austrian team to claim the league title. Formerly the best non-Austrian team result was the HDD Olimpija Ljubljana managing to get into the finals in 2007–08 season, losing the EBEL championship to EC Red Bull Salzburg.
Winter classics
Bolded teams denote winners
Austrian Champions
bold – seasons in which league had teams outside Austria