# 2022–23 Asia League Ice Hockey season

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.
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.

## Season changes

The Oji Eagles rebranded as Red Eagles Hokkaido back in 2021. 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.
On 2 August 2022, the league voted to remove PSK Sakhalin in protest to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On 15 September 2022, Anyang Halla announced that they rebranded to HL Anyang.

## Teams

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

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

### Standings

| 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 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 4 | East Hokkaido Cranes | 40 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 116 | 142 | −26 | 47 | Qualification to playoffs |
| 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 | |

### Results

| 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 | 1–4 | 4–0 | 9–2 | — | 4–1 | 2–3 | 7–2 | 10–1 | 4–2 | — | 3–2 | 4–2 | | | | — | 1–2 | 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 | | 2–4 | — | | | 4–1 | | | — | | | 4–3 | | | — | | | 4–1 | |
| Red Eagles Hokkaido | 3–5 | | — | | 6–2 | 7–1 | 1–0 | | — | | 2–3 | 7–1 | 1–3 | | — | | | 4–3 | 3–4 | | — | | | 6–1 | | | — | | | | | | — | | | |
| Nikkō Ice Bucks | 0–4 | 4–0 | 2–3 | — | 5–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 5–4 | 0–3 | — | 6–1 | 4–5 | | | 3–2 | — | | 6–2 | | | 2–1 | — | | 5–1 | | | | — | | | | | | — | | |
| Tohoku Free Blades | | 3–4 | 5–7 | 0–2 | — | 3–2 | | 3–4 | 2–8 | 4–5 | — | 1–2 | | 3–4 | | 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 | | — | | | | 1–6 | | — | | | | | | — | | | | | | — |
* 1 2 3 4 5 Shootout
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Overtime

## Playoffs
### Bracket

| Semifinal | Semifinal | Semifinal | Final | Final | Final |
| 1 | HL Anyang | 2 | | | |
| 4 | East Hokkaido Cranes | 0 | | | |
| 4 | East Hokkaido Cranes | 0 | 1 | HL Anyang | 3 |
| | | | 2 | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 2 |
| 2 | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 2 | 2 | Red Eagles Hokkaido | 2 |
| 3 | Nikkō IceBucks | 0 | | | |

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

* HL Anyang won series 2–0

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

* Hokkaido won series 2–0

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

* Anyang won series 3–2

## Statistics
### Scoring leaders

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

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.
| 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

| 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

First Team
* 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