Ice hockey is alive and kicking in Italy. The nine team Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio Serie A1 competes over a forty game season followed by a three round playdown. Each playoff series is in the best-of-seven format. Eight of the nine teams make the playoffs. The teams are mostly from the northern part of the country in cities bordering Switzerland, Austria and Germany.
This year, 2010-11, Val Pusteria was the number one seed over the regular season. HC Asiago was next up in 2nd position and Cortina won the booby prize for finishing last and out of the playoffs.
The top teams remained the best through the playoffs, Asiago and Val Pusteria faced off in the playoff finals and Asiago proved to be the stronger, winning the series four games to two. It was Asiago’s second consecutive playoff championship having won in 2010, as well.
The LIHG’s Player of the Year for the 2010-11 season was Matt Kelly of Val Pusteria. Kelly, a Canadian, played his junior hockey with the Ontario Hockey League’s Belleville Bulls.
Kelly was certainly not the lone OHL grad in the Lega Italiana Hockey Ghiaccio this season. Seven of the top twenty point getters in the LIHG had some hockey experience in the Ontario Hockey League with numerous others also playing in the league.
The Canadians don't just come from Ontario. The top ten point getters in the LIHG are Canadian. In fact, fifteen of the top twenty in total points came from Canada.
Ice hockey is not at all a new passtime in Italy. The championship that Asiago and Val Pusteria just competed for has been around since the 1920’s. There were war years when it wasn't contested but has been pretty consistent since the late 1940's. A tier 2 league exists below the elite Serie A1, appropriately called the Serie A2. Canada is also well represented in the Serie A2.
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