Metal Ligaen

Metal Ligaen

Current season, competition or edition: 2023–24 Metal Ligaen season
Sport	Ice hockey
Founded	1954;70 years ago (1954)
No. of teams	9
Country	Denmark
Most recent champion(s)	Aalborg Pirates (3)
Most titles	Herning (16)
TV partner(s)	TV2 Sport
Related competitions	Danish Division 1 Danish Cup
Official website	metalligaen.dk

The Superisligaen, known as the Metal Ligaen for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level ice hockey league in Denmark. The league consists of 9 professional teams.

Teams from the Superisligaen can participate in the IIHF's annual Champions Hockey League (CHL), competing for the European Trophy. Participation is based on the strength of the various leagues in Europe (excluding the European/Asian Kontinental Hockey League). Going into the 2022–23 CHL season, the Superisligaen was ranked the No. 13 league in Europe, allowing them to send their top team to compete in the CHL.

History

The Danish Ice hockey league has become a springboard for foreign players and a place to start their European careers, before traveling to other bigger leagues such as the Swedish Hockey League or DEL. The teams rely mostly on foreign talent, but there are still a lot of skilled professional Danish players. Mostly the older Danish players are full-time professional. Most younger players are semi-professional because of the tight economy in Danish hockey, and most of the money is spent on more talented foreign players.

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 As a result, the Herlev Hornets and the Rungsted Cobras have withdrawn from the league, reducing the number of active teams from 10 to 8.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.

On 9 January 2015 TV2 Sport debuted as a new sports channel on Danish TV. Same day, HockeyNight also aired for the first time, with a match between Odense Bulldogs and Rungsted. Since 2015 TV2 Sport has been the place to watch icehockey and other sports.

On 18 June 2016, it was made clear that the foreign player limit of 8 was against EU law and was therefore removed. The 2016–17 season was the first time, since 2009, that a Danish ice hockey team could have an unlimited number of foreign players. ^[1] The salary cap was created in order to regulate the league, and was 6 million DKK for the 2016–17 season . ^[2]

On June 3, 2017, Metal Ligaen was expanded once again, to an historic number of 11 teams. Hvidovre Fighters, who had previously left the league in 2013 because of bankruptcy, got their submitted papers approved, making them the 11th team of the 2017/18 season. ^[3]

League format

The league consists of 9 teams. The latest expansion was in 2014, when Gentofte Stars joined the league after being relegated in 1999. The league format has changed many times. The current structure was implemented in the 2011–12 season. Often it is changed depending on how many teams are represented in the league. There has never been more than 10 teams in the Danish ice hockey league, making it a fairly small league compared to other leagues in Europe.

The Danish hockey league is structured so that the teams meet 5 times, making the seasons after 2014 45 games long. The season typically starts in September and ends in February. The top 8 teams of the regular season make the playoffs. First place gets to pick who they want to play in the quarterfinals. second place picks next and so on. The Metal Ligaen playoffs consists of 3 rounds: quarterfinals, semifinals, and the finals. The winner will raise The Prince Henrik's Cup.

As of the 2017/18 Metal Ligaen expansion, the Metal Ligaen regular season was extended from 45 games to a historic 50 games. The playoff format was also changed, where previously the top 8 teams made the playoffs. Now the top 6 teams advanced directly to the Quarterfinals and teams ranking from 7 to 10 play for the last two wildcard spots. ^[4]

Metal Cup

The Metal Cup is a tournament held every year. It consists of 12 teams, where all Metal Ligaen teams are represented. Two teams from the 1.division are also represented. The top 4 teams the year before will go straight to the quarterfinals. The 8 other teams will by draw be divided into 4 groups each one of them with a letter from A to D. 4 teams will advance on from first round to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals the last seasons champs will play the winner of group A, second-place winner of group B and so on. Games in the quarterfinals and semifinals consists of two games. The winner of the tournament will receive the Metal Cup.

In 2017, the Metal Cup format was changed. Because of Hvidovre Fighters joining the league, the format would now only consist of teams from the Metal Ligaen and, instead of a playout format, the top 4 teams after 20 regular season games would be invited to a final four tournament.

Names and sponsorship

The Danish Ice Hockey Union officially recognizes the league as the Superisligaen. ^[5] Through the years, the naming rights of the league has been leased to a series of sponsors, resulting in numerous name changes.

Period	Name	Sponsor
1960–1998	Superisligaen	none
1998–2001	Codan Ligaen	Codan A/S
1998–2002	Sanistål Ligaen	Sanistål A/S
2002–2004	SuperBest Ligaen	SuperBest
2004–2007	Oddset Ligaen	Danske Spil
2007–2013	AL-Bank Ligaen	Arbejdernes Landsbank
2013–2014 (half-season)	Superisligaen	none
2014–	Metal Ligaen	Danish Union of Metalworkers

Teams

Herlev

Esbjerg Energy

Frederikshavn White Hawks

Herning Blue Fox

Odense Bulldogs

Rødovre

SønderjyskE Ishockey

Aalborg Pirates

Rungsted

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Teams currently in the Metal Ligaen.

Team	City	Founded	Arena	Capacity	Opened
Aalborg Pirates [6]	Aalborg	1967	Bentax Isarena	5000	2007
Esbjerg Energy [7]	Esbjerg	1964	Granly Hockey Arena	4200	1976
Frederikshavn White Hawks [8]	Frederikshavn	1964	Nordjyske Bank Arena	4000	2015
Herning Blue Fox [9]	Herning	1947	KVIK Hockey Arena	4100	1988
Herlev Eagles [10]	Herlev	1968	PM Montage Arena	1740	1977
Odense Bulldogs [11]	Odense	1978	Spar Nord Arena	3280	1999
Rungsted Seier Capital [12]	Rungsted	1941	Bitcoin Arena	2460	1971
Rødovre Mighty Bulls [13]	Rødovre	1964	Rødovre Centrum Arena	3600	1995
SønderjyskE Ishockey [14]	Vojens	1963	Frøs Arena	5000	2011

Notable players

List of notable players who have played in the Danish ice hockey league.

Frederik Andersen Valeri Bragin (USSR) Robert Burakovsky (Sweden) Jannik Hansen Morten Madsen

Frans Nielsen Peter Regin Kent Simpson (Canada) Juha Riihijärvi (Finland) Colin Greening (Canada)

Petri Skriko (Finland) Todd Simpson (Canada) Kim Staal Kirill Starkov Oliver Bjorkstrand

Danish Champions

Season	Winner	Finalist	Bronze	Cup Champion
1954–55	Rungsted IK	KSF København	Silkeborg	not yet played
1955–56	KSF København	Rungsted IK	not played	not yet played
1956–57	not played	not played	not played	not yet played
1957–58	not played	not played	not played	not yet played
1958–59	not played	not played	not played	not yet played
1959–60	KSF København	Rungsted IK	Silkeborg	not yet played
1960–61	KSF København	Rungsted IK	Esbjerg IK	not yet played
1961–62	KSF København	Rungsted IK	not played	not yet played
1962–63	Rungsted IK	Esbjerg IK	KSF København	not yet played
1963–64	KSF København	Rungsted IK	Esbjerg IK	not yet played
1964–65	KSF København	Esbjerg IK	Gladsaxe SF	not yet played
1965–66	KSF København	Gladsaxe SF	Esbjerg IK	not yet played
1966–67	Gladsaxe SF	KSF København	Esbjerg IK	not yet played
1967–68	Gladsaxe SF	Esbjerg IK	Rungsted IK	not yet played
1968–69	Esbjerg IK	Gladsaxe SF	Vojens IK	not yet played
1969–70	KSF København	Gladsaxe SF	Esbjerg IK	not yet played
1970–71	Gladsaxe SF	Rungsted IK	Esbjerg IK and Vojens IK	not yet played
1971–72	KSF København	Esbjerg IK	Gladsaxe SF	not yet played
1972–73	Herning IK	KSF København	Esbjerg IK	not yet played
1973–74	Gladsaxe SF	no playoff	no playoff	not yet played
1974–75	Gladsaxe SF	no playoff	no playoff	not yet played
1975–76	KSF København	no playoff	no playoff	not yet played
1976–77	Herning IK	no playoff	no playoff	not yet played
1977–78	Rødovre SIK	KSF København	Vojens IK	not yet played
1978–79	Vojens IK	Rødovre SIK	Aalborg IK	not yet played
1979–80	Vojens IK	Rungsted IK	Aalborg IK	not yet played
1980–81	Aalborg IK	Rødovre SIK	Herning IK	not yet played
1981–82	Vojens IK	Rødovre SIK	Aalborg IK	not yet played
1982–83	Rødovre SIK	Aalborg IK	Herlev IK	not yet played
1983–84	Herlev IK	Aalborg IK	Rungsted IK	not yet played
1984–85	Rødovre SIK	no playoff	no playoff	not yet played
1985–86	Rødovre SIK	no playoff	no playoff	not yet played
1986–87	Herning IK	no playoff	no playoff	not yet played
1987–88	Esbjerg IK	no playoff	no playoff	not yet played
1988–89	Frederikshavn IK	Aalborg IK	Herning IK	Esbjerg IK
1989–90	Rødovre SIK	Herning IK	Frederikshavn IK	not played
1990–91	Herning IK	Rødovre SIK	Aalborg IK	Esbjerg IK
1991–92	Herning IK	Esbjerg IK	Rødovre SIK	Esbjerg IK
1992–93	Esbjerg IK	Herning IK	Rødovre SIK	Esbjerg IK
1993–94	Herning IK	Esbjerg IK	Aalborg IK	Herning IK
1994–95	Herning IK	Esbjerg IK	Rungsted IK	not played
1995–96	Esbjerg IK	Rungsted IK	Herning IK	Herning IK
1996–97	Herning IK	Esbjerg IK	Rungsted IK	not played
1997–98	Herning Blue Fox	Rungsted IK	Frederikshavn White Hawks	Herning Blue Fox
1998–99	Rødovre Mighty Bulls	Frederikshavn White Hawks	Esbjerg IK	Frederikshavn IK
1999–2000	Frederikshavn White Hawks	Herning Blue Fox	Esbjerg IK	Rungsted Cobras
2000–01	Herning Blue Fox	Esbjerg IK	Rødovre Mighty Bulls	not played
2001–02	Rungsted Cobras	Odense IK	Herning Blue Fox	Frederikshavn IK
2002–03	Herning Blue Fox	Odense IK	Rungsted Cobras	Odense IK
2003–04	Esbjerg Oilers	Aab Ishockey	Odense IK	Rungsted Cobras
2004–05	Herning Blue Fox	Aab Ishockey	Frederikshavn White Hawks	Nordsjælland Cobras
2005–06	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Aab Ishockey	Herning Blue Fox	Odense Bulldogs
2006–07	Herning Blue Fox	Aab Ishockey	SønderjyskE Ishockey	AaB Ishockey
2007–08	Herning Blue Fox	Frederikshavn White Hawks	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Rødovre Mighty Bulls
2008–09	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Herning Blue Fox	Rødovre Mighty Bulls	Odense Bulldogs
2009–10	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Aab Ishockey	Frederikshavn White Hawks	SønderjyskE Ishockey
2010–11	Herning Blue Fox	Frederikshavn White Hawks	SønderjyskE Ishockey	SønderjyskE Ishockey
2011–12	Herning Blue Fox	Odense Bulldogs	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Herning Blue Fox
2012–13	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Frederikshavn White Hawks	Rødovre Mighty Bulls	SønderjyskE Ishockey
2013–14	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Herning Blue Fox	Frederikshavn White Hawks	Herning Blue Fox
2014–15	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Esbjerg Energy	Frederikshavn White Hawks	Herning Blue Fox
2015–16	Esbjerg Energy	Herning Blue Fox	Frederikshavn White Hawks	Odense Bulldogs
2016–17	Esbjerg Energy	Gentofte Stars	Frederikshavn White Hawks	Rungsted Seier Capital
2017–18	Aalborg Pirates	Herning Blue Fox	Rungsted Seier Capital	Aalborg Pirates
2018–19	Rungsted Seier Capital	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Frederikshavn White Hawks	Rungsted Seier Capital
2019–20	Cancelled due to Covid19	Cancelled due to Covid19	Cancelled due to Covid19	Frederikshavn White Hawks
2020–21	Rungsted Seier Capital	Aalborg Pirates	Esbjerg Energy	SønderjyskE Ishockey
2021–22	Aalborg Pirates	Rungsted Seier Capital	Odense Bulldogs	Aalborg Pirates
2022–23	Aalborg Pirates	Herning Blue Fox	Herlev Eagles	Herning Blue Fox
2023–24	SønderjyskE Ishockey	Esbjerg Energy	Aalborg Pirates	SønderjyskE Ishockey

By club

Club	Winners	Winning Years
Herning Blue Fox (earlier known as Herning IK)	16	1973, 1977, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012
KSF København	10	1956, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1976
SønderjyskE Ishockey (earlier known as Vojens IK)	10	1979, 1980, 1982, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2024
Esbjerg Energy (earlier known as Esbjerg Oilers and Esbjerg IK)	7	1969, 1988, 1993, 1996, 2004, 2016, 2017
Rødovre Mighty Bulls (earlier known as Rødovre SIK)	6	1978, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1990, 1999
Gladsaxe SF	5	1967, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1975
Rungsted Seier Capital (earlier known as Rungsted IK and Rungsted Cobras)	5	1955, 1963, 2002, 2019, 2021
Aalborg Pirates (earlier known as AAB Ishockey, Aalborg IK and AaB Ishockey)	4	1981, 2018, 2022, 2023
Frederikshavn White Hawks (earlier known as Frederikshavn IK)	2	1989, 2000
Herlev Hornets (earlier known as Herlev IK)	1	1984

References

1. "Farvel til udlændingeloftet i dansk ishockey – Faceoff.dk". www.faceoff.dk. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
2. "Liga-klubber får tildelt egenkapital frem til 2019 – lønloft stadig seks millioner – Faceoff.dk". www.faceoff.dk. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
3. "PM: Hvidovre godkendt! Metal Ligaen udvides fra 10 til 11 hold". Danmarks Ishockey Union (in Danish). Retrieved 2017-06-03.
4. "PM: Hvidovre godkendt! Metal Ligaen udvides fra 10 til 11 hold". Danmarks Ishockey Union (in Danish). Retrieved 2017-06-03.
5. Licensudvalgets bestemmelser | Uddrag af DIUs love og turneringsbestemmelser [Licensing Committee regulations | Extract from DIU's laws and tournament regulations](PDF) (Report) (in Danish). Danish Ice Hockey Union. 2023-02-01. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2023-02-01. Foreninger, som er sportsligt kvalificeret til at deltage i Superisligaen... skal søge om ligalicens for næste sæson inden hvert års 1. april. [Associations that are sportingly qualified to participate in the Superisligaen... must apply for a league license for the next season before April 1 each year.]
6. "Aalborg Pirates". al-bankligaen.dk. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
7. "Esbjerg Energy". al-bankligaen.dk. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
8. "Frederikshavn White Hawks". al-bankligaen.dk. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
9. "Blue Fox Herning". al-bankligaen.dk. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
10. "Herlev Eagles". al-bankligaen.dk. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
11. "Bulldogs Odense". al-bankligaen.dk. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
12. "Rungsted Seier Capital". al-bankligaen.dk. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
13. "Rødovre Mighty Bulls". al-bankligaen.dk. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-12.
14. "SønderjyskE". al-bankligaen.dk. Archived from the original on 2013-11-12. Retrieved 2013-11-12.

External links

• League website