Plenty of Nothing

2022 Men's Hockey Playoff Champions

Flyers. Source.

KHL: CSKA

Swedish SHL: Färjestad

Finnish Liiga: Tappara

Swiss NL: Zug came back from three games down to win.

Deutsche Eishockey Liga: Eisbären Berlin

Czech Extraliga: Třinec

Slovak Extraliga: Slovan Bratislava

Austrian ICE Hockey League: Red Bull Salzburg

Belarus: Metallurg Zhlobin

British EIHL: Cardiff Devils

BeNe League: Unis Flyers Heerenveen

Denmark: Aalborg Pirates

France: Brûleurs de Loups

Alps Hockey League: Asiago

Norway: Stavanger Oilers

Poland: GKS Katowice

Hungarian Erste Liga: HSC Csíkszereda 

Latvia: "Zemgale"/LLU

Iceland: Skautafélag Akureyrar

Japan: Red Eagles Hokkaido

Ukraine: cancelled due to Putin

Allan Cup: cancelled due to Covid

Ligue Nord-Américaine de Hockey: by May 21

2022 Women's Hockey Champions

Mikyla Grant-Mentis of Toronto Six, the only women's professional hockey franchise in Canada. Source.

Isobel Cup: Boston Pride

The NWHL is now the Premier Hockey Federation.

U Sports: Concordia Stingers

NCAA: Ohio State

Russia: KRS Vanke Rays Shenzhen

Sweden: Luleå

Finland: Kiekko-Espoo

Switzerland: ZSC Lions Frauen

Germany: ERC Ingolstadt

EWHL: KMH Budapest

France: Tours

Iceland: Skauta­fé­lag Ak­ur­eyr­ar Kvenna

Norway: Hasle-Løren

Japan: cancelled due to Covid

SC Riessersee versus Hannover Scorpions

Stephan Wilhelm has played for Hannover Scorpions and SC Riessersee. Source.

It's the Oberliga playoffs, eighth-finals. SC Riessersee are playing Hannover Scorpions who finished second in the Oberliga Nord. Today is game four of the best-of-five series. The results of games one to three were:

March 18: Scorpions 3 - 4 Riessersee

March 20: Riessersee 1 - 3 Scorpions

March 22: Scorpions 5 - 0 Riessersee

[March 25: Riessersee 3 - 6 Scorpions

Hannover win the series. Riessersee head for the golf course.]

Hannover Scorpions were founded in 1975 as ESC Wedemark. They played in the Regionalliga Nord until 1991, the Oberliga from 1991-92 till 1993-94, 1. Liga in 1994-95 and 1995-96, and then the DEL from 1996-97 till 2012-13. They were champions of Germany in 2010. Due to financial problems they dropped down to the Oberliga in 2013, where they've been ever since.

Detroit versus Canadiens, 1960

Detroit versus Canadians, 1960 by Philip Surrey. Source.

41st All Japan Women's Hockey Championship

#9 for Obihiro Cranes Ladies, Rin Murakami (村上凛). Source.

The 41st All Japan Women's Hockey Championship is cancelled due to Covid. The championships of Groups A, B and C were to have happened simultaneously, A and B in Obihiro, and C in Sapporo.

The participants were:

SEIBU プリンセスラビッツ、 VORTEX SAPPORO アイスホッケークラブ、 ウェンディーズ（女子）、 クリスタルブレイズ、 ハセガワウイッチーズ、 ミネルヴァ福岡、 レディースラビッツ、 中日レディース、 埼玉氷球ガールズ、 帯広クレインズレディース、 広島コレクターズ、 日本体育大学スケート部女子アイスホッケー部門、 札幌インフィニティーズ、 柏原キャレッツ(女子)、 真駒内レディースアイスホッケークラブ、 西宮アイスホッケークラブ、 軽井沢フェアリーズ、 道路建設ペリグリン、 釧路ベアーズ、 高須クリニック御影グレッズ、 Ｄａｉｓｈｉｎ 、 ＦＩＯＲＥ　ＴＯＲＳＰＯ、 ＴＯＹＯＴＡ　ＣＹＧＮＵＳ（トヨタシグナス）、 Ｔｗｅｅｄｉａ　Ｃｒｅｓｔ

SEIBU Princess Rabbits, VORTEX SAPPORO Ice Hockey Club, Wendy's (Women's), Crystal Blaze, Hasegawa Witches, Minerva Fukuoka, Ladies Rabbits, Chunichi Ladies, Saitama Ice Ball Girls, Obihiro Cranes Ladies, Hiroshima Collectors, Japan Sports University Skating Club Women's Ice Hockey Division, Sapporo Infinities, Kashiwabara Calets (Women), Makomauchi Ladies Ice Hockey Club, Nishinomiya Ice Hockey Club, Karuizawa Fairies, Road Construction Peregrine, Kushiro Bears, Takasu Clinic Mikage Gretz, Daishin, Fiore Torspo, Toyota Cygnus, Tweedia Crest.

Previous Plenty of Nothing coverage of the All Japan Women's Hockey Championship:

40th (2021), won by Peregrine.

39th (2020), cancelled.

38th (2019), won by Peregrine.

H is for Hockey

Illustration from A Winter Sports Alphabet (1926) by Joyce Dennys. See the whole book here.

Riessersee versus Füssen

Füssen, 1949. Source.

Riessersee host Füssen. As SC Riessersee have been around since 1920 and EV Füssen since 1922 they have a long history. (See below.)

Füssen is in the German Alps, about 20 km west of Garmisch-Partenkircken. The town's coat of arms and the club's crest both use a Manx-style tristelion of three legs, a medieval rebus on the town's name which in German means feet.

Füssen were German champion sixteen times from 1949 to 1973, and they won the Spengler Cup in 1952 and 1964.

Today's game is the final regular season game for both teams. The number of Covid postponements, which are still happening, has made it impractical to finish the full schedule, and the final standings will be based on points per game. The relegation round has been cancelled, but promotion to DEL2 is still possible.

Riessersee will move on to the pre-playoffs against either Lindau or Füssen.

[Riessersee 2 - 1 Füssen.]

[March 9: Riessersee finish seventh and Füssen tenth. They'll meet in a best-of-three pre-playoff Altmeisterduell. If Riessersee win they will play Memmingen in the next round.] [No, the Oberliga Nord and Süd playoffs interlock. If Riessersee win they will play Hannover Scorpions.]

[March 11: Riessersee 4 - 1 Füssen]

[March 13: Füssen 0 - 4 Riessersee]

Riessersee and Füssen in the same league:

2020-21    Riessersee (5th) Füssen (11th)     Oberliga Süd

2019-20    Füssen (5th) Riessersee (6th)      Oberliga Süd

2010/11    Riessersee (2nd) Füssen (3rd)      Oberliga Süd

2006-07    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (9th)       Oberliga

2005-06    Riessersee (7th) Füssen (12th)     Oberliga

2004-05    Riessersee (7th) Füssen (9th)       Oberliga Süd-West

1994-95    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (12th)     1.Liga Süd

1993-94    Füssen (8th) Riessersee (12th)    Oberliga Süd

1991-92    Riessersee (4th) Füssen (9th)       2.Bundesliga Süd

1990-91    Riessersee (5th) Füssen (7th)       2.Bundesliga Süd

1989-90    Füssen (7th) Riessersee (8th)      2.Bundesliga Süd

1988-89    Füssen (6th) Riessersee (8th)      2.Bundesliga Süd

1987-88    Füssen (3rd) Riessersee (7th)      2.Bundesliga Süd

1982-83    Riessersee (7th) Füssen (10th)     Bundesliga

1981-82    Riessersee (4th) Füssen (10th)     Bundesliga

1980-81    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (8th)       Bundesliga

1979-80    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (7th)       Bundesliga

1978-79    Riessersee (3rd) Füssen (9th)       Bundesliga

1977-78    Riessersee (2nd) Füssen (8th)      Bundesliga

1976-77    Riessersee (7th) Füssen (8th)       Bundesliga

1975-76    Füssen (5th) Riessersee (9th)      Bundesliga

1974-75    Füssen (5th) Riessersee (8th)      Bundesliga

1973-74    Füssen (5th) Riessersee (6th)      Bundesliga

1972-73    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (5th)      Bundesliga

1971-72    Füssen (2nd) Riessersee (3rd)     Bundesliga

1970-71    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (5th)      Bundesliga

1969-70    Füssen (2nd) Riessersee (4th)     Bundesliga

1968-69    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (5th)      Bundesliga Süd

1966-67    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (4th)      Bundesliga Süd

1965-66    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (10th)    Bundesliga

1964-65    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (5th)      Bundesliga

1963-64    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (4th)      Bundesliga

1962-63    Füssen (2nd) Riessersee (4th)     Bundesliga

1961-62    Füssen (2nd) Riessersee (3rd)     Bundesliga

1960-61    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (3rd)      Bundesliga

1959-60    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (2nd)      Bundesliga

1958-59    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (4th)       Bundesliga

1957-58    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (2nd)      Oberliga Süd

1956-57    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (2nd)      Oberliga Süd

1955-56    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (2nd)      Oberliga

1954-55    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (3rd)       Oberliga

1953-54    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (5th)       Oberliga

1952-53    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (2nd)      Oberliga

1951-52    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (2nd)      Oberliga Süd

1950-51    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (2nd)      Oberliga Süd

1949-50    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (3rd)        Oberliga

1948-49    Füssen (1st) Riessersee (3rd)       Oberliga

1947-48    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (2nd)       Meisterschaft

1946-47    Riessersee (2nd) Füssen (3rd)       Meisterschaft

1940-41    Riessersee (1st) Füssen (3rd)        Meisterschaft, Gruppe IV

1940         Riessersee (2nd) Füssen (4th)       Meisterschaft, Gruppe B

(In cases where the season was made up of more than one round I've just shown the first round. Don't @ me.)

Markus Gleich

Markus Gleich has played for both Peiting (his home town) and Riessersee, but here he is in the guise of Grizzly Adams Wolfsburg. Source.

EC Peiting host Riessersee. Peiting is the old man of the Oberliga Süd, having been a member continuously since the year 2000 (if you include the years when the Oberliga only had one division). They won the Oberliga Süd in 2012, 2013 and 2019.

EC Peiting first played in 1967. See the club history here. They wear red and blue.

Peiting have a Canadian player, Ty Morris, who was once a Victoria Salmon King.

Pieting is in the Alpine foothills of Upper Bavaria. All of its famous sons and daughters are either mountain-climbers or Catholic theologians or both.

This game was originally scheduled for early January but was postponed due to Covid.

Games so far:

2021/11/7      Riessersee 3 - 7 Peiting

2021/12/19    Peiting 4 - 2 Riessersee

2022/3/1        Riessersee 3 - 0 Peiting

[Peiting 4 - 5 Riessersee.]

Which teams are in the 2021-22 Oberliga Süd, when did they last join, and was it from above or below?

2020    Landsberg (below)

2020    Passau (below)

2019    Deggendorfer (above)

2019    Fussen (below)

2018    Riessersee (above)

2018    Hochstadter (below)

2017    Rosenheim (above)

2017    Memmingen (below)

2016    Lindau (below)

2012    Weiden (below)

2010    Regensberg (below)

2000    Peiting (below)

 

2021-22 Champions Hockey League Final

Olli Palola played for Tappara from 2011 till 2014, but now he's on the Rögle squad.

It's Rögle BK versus Tappara in the Champions Hockey League final. Neither club has made it to the final of this cup before.

Rögle got here by winning Group D, which included Red Bull München, EV Zug and SønderjyskE, then beating ZSC Lions in the eighth-finals, Sparta Praha in the quarter-finals, and Frölunda in the semi-finals.

Tappara got here by winning Group E, which included Skellefteå, Eisbären Berlin and HC Lugano, by beating Växjö Lakers in the eighth-finals and Dragons de Rouen in the quarter-finals, and then getting waved past Red Bull München who had Covid and couldn't play their semi-final.

[Rögle 2 - 1 Tappara. Rögle are the champions.]

Newfoundland Growlers at Lions de Trois-Rivières

Growlers and Lions. Source.

The ECHL is the third tier of pro hockey in North America. This season there are two Canadian teams in the league: the Newfoundland Growlers and the Lions de Trois-Rivières.

The Growlers started in 2018-19, filling in at the 7,000-seat Mile One Centre after the AHL's ST. John's Ice Caps relocated to Laval and became the Rockets. Despite their Pittsburgh colours the Growlers are affiliates of the Leafs and the AHL Marlies. In Newfoundland a growler is a chunk of sea ice, but the brand designers have deployed a pun to tie it in to the Newfoundland dog.

Lions de Trois-Rivières are new this season. They're affliated with the Habs and those Laval Rockets. Their crest attractively combines a lion with the fleur-de-lys.

Tonight the Growlers and the Lions meet at Trois-Rivières' new Colisée Vidéotron, which just opened and replaces the venerable Colisée de Trois-Rivières, built in 1938.

Lions vs Growlers so far this season:

2021/12/12    Growlers 4 - 5 Lions

2021/12/11    Growlers 5 - 4 Lions

2021/12/10    Growlers 2 - 3 Lions

(Home team is shown first.)

[Lions 1 - 6 Growlers.]