2022–23 Asia League Ice Hockey season

Sports season

2022–23 ALIH season

League| Asia League Ice Hockey
Sport| Ice hockey
Duration| 3 September 2022 – 26 March 2023
Number of games| 40
Number of teams| 6
Regular season
Leaders Flag| HL Anyang
Runners-up| Red Eagles Hokkaido
Top scorer| Shogo Nakajima (REH)
Playoffs
Playoffs MVP| Kang Yoon-Seok (HLA)
Finals champions| HL Anyang
Runners-up| Red Eagles Hokkaido
Asia League Ice Hockey seasons

← 2021–22(Japan Cup)

2023–24 →

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.[1]

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.[2]

## Season changes

[edit]

The Oji Eagles rebranded as Red Eagles Hokkaido back in 2021.[3] 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.[4]

On 2 August 2022, the league voted to remove PSK Sakhalin in protest to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[5] On 15 September 2022, Anyang Halla announced that they rebranded to HL Anyang.

## Teams

[edit]

Only five teams from the 2019–20 season returned for the 2022–23 season, with the addition of expansion side Yokohama Grits.

Team  |  City/Town  |  Arena  |  Capacity

|
|
|

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

[edit]

The league's regular season began on 3 September 2022.

### Standings

[edit]

Pos | Team  | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | HL Anyang | 40  | 31  | 0  | 4  | 5  | 166  | 64  | +102  | 97  | Regular season champions
Qualification to playoffs
2  | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 40  | 24  | 6  | 2  | 8  | 167  | 84  | +83  | 86  | Qualification to playoffs
3  | Nikkō IceBucks | 40  | 17  | 5  | 3  | 15  | 126  | 114  | +12  | 64
4  | East Hokkaido Cranes | 40  | 12  | 4  | 3  | 21  | 116  | 142  | −26  | 47
5  | Tohoku Free Blades | 40  | 8  | 2  | 6  | 24  | 92  | 175  | −83  | 34  |
6  | Yokohama Grits | 40  | 8  | 3  | 2  | 27  | 98  | 186  | −88  | 32

Updated to match(es) played on 3 April 2023. Source: Asia League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Games won in regulation time; 3) Number of games won; 4) Head-to-head results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 5) Fewest regulation losses; 6) Away game results, ranked by criteria 1 to 3; 7) Goals scored; 8) Goal difference; 9) Fewest penalty minutes; 10) Drawing of lots.

### Results

[edit]

Home \ Away  | HLA | EHC | REH | NIB | TFB | YGR | HLA | EHC | REH | NIB | TFB | YGR | HLA | EHC | REH | NIB | TFB | YGR | HLA | EHC | REH | NIB | TFB | YGR | HLA | EHC | REH | NIB | TFB | YGR | HLA | EHC | REH | NIB | TFB | YGR

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

HL Anyang | —  | 1–2  | 2–3[a] | 1–4  | 4–0  | 9–2  | —  | 4–1  | 2–3[a] | 7–2  | 10–1  | 4–2  | —  | 3–2  | 4–2  |  |  |  | —  | 1–2[a] | 4–1  |  |  |  | —  |  |  |  |  |  | —  |  |  |  |  |
East Hokkaido Cranes | 5–8  | —  | 2–4  | 2–0  | 10–1  | 6–1  | 1–7  | —  | 2–7  | 4–1  | 4–1  | 6–2  | 2–3  | —  |  |  | 3–4[b] |  | 2–4  | —  |  |  | 4–1  |  |  | —  |  |  | 4–3[a] |  |  | —  |  |  | 4–1  |
Red Eagles Hokkaido | 3–5  |  | —  |  | 6–2  | 7–1  | 1–0  |  | —  |  | 2–3[b] | 7–1  | 1–3  |  | —  |  |  | 4–3[b] | 3–4  |  | —  |  |  | 6–1  |  |  | —  |  |  |  |  |  | —  |  |  |
Nikkō Ice Bucks | 0–4  | 4–0  | 2–3[a] | —  | 5–0  | 4–1  | 1–2  | 5–4  | 0–3  | —  | 6–1  | 4–5[b] |  |  | 3–2  | —  |  | 6–2  |  |  | 2–1  | —  |  | 5–1  |  |  |  | —  |  |  |  |  |  | —  |  |
Tohoku Free Blades |  | 3–4  | 5–7  | 0–2  | —  | 3–2  |  | 3–4[b] | 2–8  | 4–5[b] | —  | 1–2[b] |  | 3–4[b] |  | 1–2  | —  |  |  | 4–3  |  | 6–5  | —  |  |  |  |  |  | —  |  |  |  |  |  | —  |
Yokohama Grits | 0–2  | 4–5  | 2–3  | 3–6  | 4–2  | —  | 0–7  | 5–3  | 1–7  | 2–5  | 6–3  | —  |  |  |  | 3–4[b] |  | —  |  |  |  | 1–6  |  | —  |  |  |  |  |  | —  |  |  |  |  |  | —

Updated to match(es) played on 25 December 2022. Source: ALIH
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

1. ^ a b c d e Shootout
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Overtime

## Playoffs

[edit]

### Bracket

[edit]

| Semifinal | | | Final |

|
|
|
|
|

|  |  |  | | |  |  |  |
| 1 | HL Anyang | 2 | |
| 4 | East Hokkaido Cranes | 0 |
| | 1 | HL Anyang | 3 |
|  |
| | | 2 | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 2 |
| 2 | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 2 |

| 3 | Nikkō IceBucks | 0 |

### Semifinals

[edit]

#### (1) HL Anyang vs. (4) East Hokkaido Cranes

[edit]

9 March 2023  | East Hokkaido Cranes  |  | 1 – 4 |  | HL Anyang | Anyang Ice Center | Recap |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

No scoring | First period | 15:40 – Song Jong-hun (1)
No scoring | Second period | 6:58 – Lee Jong-min (1)
Sota Isogai (1) – 1:43  | Third period | 12:56 – pp – Ahn Jin-hui (1)
16:14 – Kang Yoon-seok (1)
Yuya Wakimoto (38 saves / 42 shots)  | Goalie stats | Matt Dalton (22 saves / 23 shots)
11 March 2023  | East Hokkaido Cranes  |  | 0 – 2 |  | HL Anyang | Anyang Ice Center | Recap |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

No scoring | First period | 4:22 – pp – Ahn Jin-hui (2)
No scoring | Second period | No scoring
No scoring | Third period | 2:45 – Lee Jong-min (2)
Yuya Wakimoto (36 saves / 38 shots)  | Goalie stats | Matt Dalton (29 saves / 29 shots)
HL Anyang won series 2–0 |

|

#### (2) Red Eagles Hokkaido vs. (3) Nikkō Ice Bucks

[edit]

9 March 2023  | Nikkō Ice Bucks  |  | 1 – 3 |  | Red Eagles Hokkaido | Nikkō Kirifuri Ice Arena | Recap |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

No scoring | First period | 11:36 – Kohei Mitamura (1)
No scoring | Second period | 2:01 – Yuto Osawa (1)
16:40 – Shuhei Kuji (1)
Tetsuya Saito (1) – 18:48  | Third period | No scoring
Yutaka Fukufuji (28 saves / 31 shots)  | Goalie stats | Yuta Narisawa (20 saves / 21 shots)
11 March 2023  | Nikkō Ice Bucks  |  | 1 – 2 |  | Red Eagles Hokkaido | Nikkō Kirifuri Ice Arena | Recap |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

No scoring | First period | No scoring
No scoring | Second period | 6:23 – pp – Shuhei Kuji (2)
Yuta Suzuki (1) – pp – 12:36  | Third period | 4:26 – Kenta Takagi (1)
Yutaka Fukufuji (28 saves / 30 shots)  | Goalie stats | Yuta Narisawa (30 saves / 31 shots)
Hokkaido won series 2–0 |

|

### Final

[edit]

#### (1) HL Anyang vs. (2) Red Eagles Hokkaido

[edit]

18 March 2023  | HL Anyang  |  | 1 – 4 |  | Red Eagles Hokkaido | Nikkō Kirifuri Ice Arena | Recap |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

No scoring | First period | 15:05 – Ryo Hashimoto (1)
16:10 – pp – Ryo Hashimoto (2)
No scoring | Second period | No scoring
Jeon Jung-woo (1) – 8:30  | Third period | 11:51 – pp – Yushi Nakayashiki (1)
16:50 – Shogo Nakajima (1)
Matt Dalton (19 saves / 23 shots)  | Goalie stats | Takuto Onoda (25 saves / 26 shots)
19 March 2023  | HL Anyang |  | 4 – 1 |  | Red Eagles Hokkaido  | Nikkō Kirifuri Ice Arena | Recap |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Kim Sang-wook (1) – 11:28  | First period | No scoring
Lee Juh-yung (1) – 6:15
Lee Young-jun (1) – 7:32  | Second period | 13:13 – Shogo Nakajima (2)
Song Hyeong-cheol (1) – pp – 8:46  | Third period | No scoring
Matt Dalton (28 saves / 29 shots)  | Goalie stats | Takuto Onoda (22 saves / 26 shots)
23 March 2023  | Red Eagles Hokkaido  |  | 2 – 5 |  | HL Anyang | Anyang Ice Center | Recap |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

No scoring | First period | 2:19 – Lee Juh-yung (2)
Kazumasa Sasaki (1) – 13:05  | Second period | 13:23 – Kim Ki-sung (1)
Yushi Nakayashiki (2) – 0:50  | Third period | 6:18 – Kim Ki-sung (2)
15:41 – pp – Lee Young-jun (2)
19:18 – en – Lee Jong-min (3)
Yuta Narisawa (28 saves / 33 shots)  | Goalie stats | Matt Dalton (22 saves / 24 shots)
25 March 2023  | Red Eagles Hokkaido |  | 1 – 0 |  | HL Anyang  | Anyang Ice Center | Recap |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Ryo Hashimoto (3) – 3:05  | First period | No scoring
No scoring | Second period | No scoring
No scoring | Third period | No scoring
Yuta Narisawa (28 saves / 28 shots)  | Goalie stats | Matt Dalton (32 saves / 33 shots)
25 March 2023  | Red Eagles Hokkaido  |  | 1 – 2 | 2OT | HL Anyang | Anyang Ice Center | Recap |

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

No scoring | First period | 4:00 – Kim Ki-sung (3)
Ryo Hashimoto (3) – 3:05  | Second period | No scoring
No scoring | Third period | No scoring
No scoring | Second overtime period | 10:13 – Kang Yoon-seok (1)
Yuta Narisawa (48 saves / 50 shots)  | Goalie stats | Matt Dalton (31 saves / 32 shots)
Anyang won series 3–2 |

|

## Statistics

[edit]

### Scoring leaders

[edit]

The following shows the top players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of matches played on 5 March 2023.[6]

Player  | Team  | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Shogo Nakajima | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 40  | 22  | 53  | 75  | +3  | 18
Makuru Furuhashi | Nikkō Ice Bucks | 40  | 27  | 31  | 58  | +2  | 28
Kim Sang-wook | HL Anyang | 40  | 12  | 42  | 54  | +7  | 18
Kento Suzuki | Nikkō Ice Bucks | 40  | 30  | 22  | 52  | +2  | 26
Kim Ki-sung | HL Anyang | 40  | 25  | 25  | 50  | +14  | 4
Yuto Osawa | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 40  | 18  | 31  | 49  | +3  | 12
Ryo Hashimoto | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 40  | 4  | 44  | 48  | +3  | 14
Seiji Takahashi | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 37  | 20  | 26  | 46  | +4  | 16
Yushi Nakayashiki | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 39  | 29  | 14  | 43  | +3  | 39
Kosuke Ohtsu | East Hokkaido Cranes | 40  | 19  | 24  | 43  | +1  | 24

### Leading goaltenders

[edit]

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.[7]

Player  | Team  | GP | TOI | GA | Sv% | GAA

|
|
|
|
|
|

Matt Dalton | HL Anyang | 37  | 2198:33  | 53  | 94.22  | 1.45
Yuta Narisawa | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 33  | 1946:47  | 65  | 92.17  | 2.00
Roman Bengert | Nikkō Ice Bucks | 20  | 1162:48  | 64  | 88.93  | 3.30
Yuya Wakimoto | East Hokkaido Cranes | 24  | 1290:21  | 73  | 89.12  | 3.39
Michikazu Hata | Tohoku Free Blades | 25  | 1377:40  | 93  | 90.11  | 4.05

## Awards

[edit]

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

[edit]

First Team[8]

* 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

[edit]

1. ^ "Putting the Grit in Yokohama". Japan Forward. 1 November 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
2. ^ "Anyang Halla wins Asia League". eurohockey.com. 26 March 2023. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
3. ^ "Sparking consistent local interest in hockey key part of Japan's Winter Olympic future". The Japan Times. 4 February 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
4. ^ "アジアリーグアイスホッケー 2022-2023：試合日程のお知らせ". asiaicehockey.com (in Japanese). 22 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
5. ^ "HOCKEYThe club from Russia was kicked out of the international league. Champions become a victim of politics". sportish.co. 3 August 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
6. ^ "Point Ranking 2022/2023". Asia League Ice Hockey. ALIH. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
7. ^ "GK SP Ranking 2022/2023". Asia League Ice Hockey. ALIH. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
8. ^ "Asia League Ice Hockey 2022-2023: Announcement of Regular Season Awards". Asia League Ice Hockey. 9 March 2023.

* v
* t
* e

Asia League Ice Hockey

2025–26 teams|

* HL Anyang
* Nikkō Ice Bucks
* Red Eagles Hokkaido
* Stars Kobe
* Tohoku Free Blades
* Yokohama Grits

Former teams|

* Changchun Fuao
* China Dragon
* Daemyung Killer Whales
* Daemyung Sangmu
* East Hokkaido Cranes
* Golden Amur
* High1
* Hosa
* Nippon Paper Cranes
* Nordic Vikings
* PSK Sakhalin
* Seibu Prince Rabbits

Seasons|

* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* ~~2020–21~~
* ~~2021–22~~
* 2022–23
* 2023–24
* 2024–25
* 2025–26

Related articles|

* JIHF
* KIHA
* RIHF

* v
* t
* e

2022–23 in men's ice hockey

International|

* World Championships
* Championship
* Rosters
* Group A
* Group B
* Playoff round
* Final
* Division I
* Division II
* Division III
* Division IV
* Under-20
* Division I
* Division II
* Division III
* Under-18
* Division I
* Division II
* Division III

Leagues|

| International|

* National Hockey League
* AHL
* ECHL
* Kontinental Hockey League
* Supreme Hockey League
* Mestis
* Champions Hockey League
* Continental Cup
* Austria League
* Asia League
* Erste Liga
* Alps Hockey League

|

Domestic|

* Australia
* '22
* '23
* Belarus
* Bulgaria
* Czech Republic
* 2nd tier
* Denmark
* Estonia
* Finland
* France
* 2nd tier
* Germany
* 2nd tier
* Italy
* Kazakhstan
* Latvia
* New Zealand
* '22
* '23
* Norway
* 2nd tier
* Poland
* Slovakia
* 2nd tier
* Spain
* Sweden
* 2nd tier
* Switzerland
* 2nd tier
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom

*[Pos]: Position
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[OTW]: Won in overtime or shootout
*[OTL]: Lost in overtime or shootout
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[Pts]: Points
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template