ICE Young Stars League
The ICE Hockey League Young Stars League starts the season 2019/20 with a new format. In addition to an Austrian championship consisting of six teams, the U20 International Tournament Championship will also be held. In total thirteen teams take part in this transnational comparison. Teams from Zagreb (CRO) and Maribor (SLO) will first have to play pre-qualifying matches to qualify for the main draw.
Six teams contest in Austrian U20 championship
Six Austrian teams called for the 2019/20 Erste Bank Young Star League in the new mode. In addition to the current Austrian champion EC VSV and his runner-up UPC Vienna Capitals, the EC Red Bull Salzburg, the HC TWK Innsbruck "The Haie", the Ice Hockey Academy Styria and the Okanagan Hockey Club Europe take part in the new season. The basic round consists of 25 games per team, which means that each team faces five times. Subsequently, the teams in the places three to six contest the pre-playoffs (3rd vs. 6th and 4th vs. 5th). In a home and away series of two games the semifinalists will be ascertained. The two best teams after the group stage qualify directly for the top 4 and have the right to pick their opponent. The following semifinals will be played "best-of-3" (H/A/H), the final for the Austrian U20-championship title will be played in the mode "best-of-5" (H/H/A/A/H) ,
U20 International Tournament Championship promotes international comparison
In addition to the purely Austrian championship, the U20 International Tournament Championship will be held next season. Eleven teams, six from Austria, four from Hungary and one from Slovenia, are already qualified for this international comparison. Zagreb (CRO) and Maribor (SLO) play for the last place in the tournament in a two game series. Afterwards, mid-September and mid-October will be played on two tournament weekends for participation in the final tournament (14-16 February in Salzburg). The 12-team-field is split into an "Austrian" and an "international" group. Each team then plays six games against all teams from the other group. After completing the two preliminary rounds, the two best teams from the two pools qualify for the final tournament and compete there for winning the U20 International Tournament Championship.
In addition to the winner of the Pre-Qualification Games, defending champions Hydro Fehérvár AV19, MAC Budapest, VASAS SC Budapest, UTE Budapest (all Hungarians) and Team Ljubljana have already been admitted.
"Together with the associations, we have now increasingly focused our attention on the U16, the U18 and the Alps Hockey League. That's why there have been massive restructurings in the ICE Hockey League Young Stars League. Nevertheless, to give the Austrian championship an international component, the International Tournament Championship was introduced. I think we have created an interesting format," Commissioner Michael Suttnig said.