AL-Bank Ligaen

Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1954
No. of teams	8
Country(ies)	Denmark
Most recent champion(s)	SønderjyskE
Most titles	Herning
Official website	http://www.al-bankligaen.dk/

AL-Bank Ligaen is the premier league in Danish ice hockey. The teams are semi-professional with only the best Danish and foreign players being fully professional.

History

The name is a result of a sponsorship deal with a Danish bank Arbejdernes Landsbank. It is also known as Superisligaen or Eliteserien, which is the name used in the past and in times where no naming rights agreement is in place.

In the past, the league has consisted of as many as 10 teams. Despite the introduction of a salary cap as well as a limit to the number of import players allowed, several teams have struggled financially in recent years. As a result, the Herlev Hornets and the Rungsted Cobras have withdrawn from the league, reducing the number of active teams from 10 to 8. Teams from the second tier league were offered the empty spots, but no team were able to accept the offer, citing financial issues as their main concern.

League format

The reduced number of teams have led to a revised league format for the 2010-11 season:

The regular season will see each team play every club five times with an additional four games against geographically determined 'derby' teams for a total of 39 games. The top six teams will progress to the next round. The six teams will be divided into two pools where they will play in a home and home round-robin format. The top teams in each group will carry over three points while the second-placed teams will carry over one point. At the conclusion of the group stage, the top two teams in each group will move on to the semifinals which will be played in the best-of-seven format.League format (in Danish)

The derby pools are:

• Hvidovre and Rødovre
• Frederikshavn and AaB Aalborg
• Herning, Esbjerg, SønderjyskE and Odense.

Teams

List of teams

Team	City/Area	Arena	Founded
EfB Ishockey	Esbjerg	Granly Hockey Arena	1964
Frederikshavn White Hawks	Frederikshavn	Scanel Hockey Arena	1964
Herning Blue Fox	Herning	KVIK Hockey Arena	1947
Hvidovre Ligahockey	Hvidovre	Hvidovre Skøjtehal	1966
Odense Bulldogs	Odense	Odense Isstadion	1978
Rødovre Mighty Bulls	Rødovre	Rødovre Skøjte Arena	1964
SønderjyskE Ishockey	Vojens	Syd Energi Arena	1963
AaB Ishockey	Aalborg	Gigantium Isarena	1967

Notable players

List of notable players who have played in the AL-Bank Ligaen.

Valeri Bragin Robert Burakovsky Jannik Hansen Morten Madsen

Frans Nielsen Peter Regin Kent Simpson

Petri Skriko Kim Staal Kirill Starkov

Danish Champions

Season	Winner
1955	Rungsted IK
1956	KSF København
1957–1959	not played
1960	KSF København
1961	KSF København
1962	KSF København
1963	Rungsted IK
1964	KSF København
1965	KSF København
1966	KSF København
1967	Gladsaxe SF
1968	Gladsaxe SF
1969	Esbjerg
1970	KSF København
1971	Gladsaxe SF
1972	KSF København
1973	Herning IK
1974	Gladsaxe SF
1975	Gladsaxe SF
1976	KSF København
1977	Herning IK
1978	Rødovre SIK
1979	Vojens IK
1980	Vojens IK
1981	Aalborg BK
1982	Vojens IK
1983	Rødovre SIK
1984	Herlev IK
1985	Rødovre SIK
1986	Rødovre SIK
1987	Herning IK
1988	Esbjerg
1989	Frederikshavn IK
1990	Rødovre SIK
1991	Herning IK
1992	Herning IK
1993	Esbjerg
1994	Herning IK
1995	Herning IK
1996	Esbjerg
1997	Herning IK
1998	Herning Blue Fox
1999	Rødovre Mighty Bulls
2000	Frederikshavn White Hawks
2001	Herning Blue Fox
2002	Rungsted Cobras
2003	Herning Blue Fox
2004	EfB
2005	Herning Blue Fox
2006	SønderjyskE
2007	Herning Blue Fox
2008	Herning Blue Fox
2009	SønderjyskE
2010	SønderjyskE
2011	Herning Blue Fox

External links

• League website