Youth Hockey League (Asia Region)

Over the past few years, due to the impact of the pandemic, ice hockey events and exchanges such as the "Youth Hockey League (Asia Region)" were suspended. This year, the competition has resumed, attracting a total of 9 teams of U11 and U13 from four cities, including Taiyuan, Shenzhen, Wuhan, and Hong Kong.

In the U11 division, there were 5 participating teams. They first competed in a round-robin format, with the top two teams advancing to the finals. The Shenzhen Century Star team defeated the Wuhan Ice Dragons, Taiyuan Tigers Hockey Club, Empire Hockey, and LOHAS Polar Bears, securing a spot in the finals with 4 consecutive wins. The Wuhan Ice Dragons only lost to the Shenzhen Century Star in the group stage, and the two teams met again in the finals. Shenzhen won again with a score of 8:0, claiming the championship.

In the U13 division, there were 4 teams. They also competed in a round-robin format initially, followed by the semifinals where the top team faced the fourth-placed team, and the second-placed team faced the third-placed team. The Shenzhen Century Star won all 3 of their round-robin matches and advanced as the top seed. In the semifinals, they defeated the LOHAS Polar Bears with a score of 21:0. In the other semifinal, Empire Hockey narrowly defeated the Wuhan Ice Dragons with a score of 6:5. In the finals, the Shenzhen Century Star defeated Empire Hockey with a score of 9:4.

2019 Youth Hockey League (Asia Region) Wuhan Stop came to a fruitful conclusion on 14 December, 2019.

During the event, ice hockey professionals including official and coaches from Sweden, Canada and Russia conducted on-ice master training, positive coaching workshops, and officiating training (theory + on ice practical), in the hope of enhancing game competitiveness and fostering multi-cultural exchange through up-to-date and professional training system and game theory.

Former NHL player and General Manager (Coach) of HKAIH Mr. Barry Beck, renowned Russian coach Mr. Nikolaev Vladimir, together with Mr. Stefan Bergqvist from the Swedish Ice Hockey Association, joined hand to conduct on-ice master training and bring in cross-cultural coaching elements to the youth players.

Chief Executive of HKAIH Ms. Cecilia Hon and Mr. Barry Beck were invited to a sharing session on Positive Coaching at Maple Leaf International School-Wuhan. Through interactive presentation and Q&A session, parents and students were inspired about creating a more harmonious and loving growth atmosphere in the sport field.

Referee-in-Chief of the Swedish Ice Hockey Association Mr. Joel Hansson also gave a comprehensive lecture to young referees during officials training workshop. Based on theory sharing and combined with on-ice practical session, participants gain deeper understanding of ice hockey game officiating.

More on WeChat (Chinese only) -
冰力四射 青春飛揚 | 2019青少年冰球挑戰賽(亞洲區)武漢站圓滿落幕，精彩無限！
2019AYHL武漢站 | 以人為本，賽學相長，聚焦青少年冰球賽事多維度交流共進

Youth Hockey League (Asia Region) - Sapporo Stop 2019, organized by HKAIH, HKAHC and SIHF and co-organized by SGSC, has been held on August 3-4 at Sapporo Tsukisamu Gymnasium! Our players had a precious opportunity to compete against 5 teams from Japan and Korea.

In order to prepare the team for the tournaments over the weekend, pre-game training and exhibition game with Tsukisamu Stronger have been arranged on August 1-2 to build team camaraderie and enhance communication during the game.

During the journey, not only did the players learn from foreign teams and make new friends, but also watched curling game and did sightseeing in the city. Most importantly, the team kept calm when dealing with tough situations and communicated with compassion. This is the example of teamwork where "Together Everyone Achieves More".

Participating Teams (in arbitrary order):
- Korean Elementary Ice Hockey Association
- Hokkaido Barbarians Jr. IHC
- Sapporo Eagles
- Sapporo Hoshioki Ketters
- Tsukisamu Stronger
- Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey

Video Highlight

In conjunction with the great support from Hokkaido government, Sapporo city and Sapporo Ice Hockey Federation, 2018 Youth Hockey League (Asia Region) Sapporo stop has been held on March 3 to 4 at Sapporo Tsukisamu Gymnasium, the first Winter Olympic ice hockey rink in Asia!

During a 3-day journey, not only did Team HKAIH compete against 4 other Japanese teams, but also visited Okurayama Ski Jump Stadium and Sapporo Olympic Museum. With numerous valuable materials related to the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympic Games and additional materials on other international championships which Sapporo has hosted, the museum explains the history of winter sports to our young players.

For the first time the League is taken place in Hokkaido, it is encouraging to see that players from the Hong Kong School Ice Hockey League and Jockey Club Ice Hockey Generation Next Program are selected on the team to compete with overseas players and broaden their horizons.

HKAIH & HKAHC will strive to build a solid foundation for the ice hockey community and we believe that AYHL will become a renowned competition promoting Olympics spirit and ice hockey development in the region. 

Participating Teams (in arbitrary order):
- Hokkaido Barbarians Jr. IHC
- Hoshioki Ketters Jr.
- Tsukisamu Stronger
- Tomari Blue Marine Sharks
- Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey

The final stop of the 2016/17 Youth Hockey League (Asia Region) (AYHL) came to an end at Hokay Ice Centre in Beijing, China on January 16, 2017 at 11:30am. The Beijing team became the eventual champion of the AYHL and brought home the gold medals with a 5:1 victory. The Harbin team finished as the runner-up in the AYHL league. In addition to these two winning teams, both the Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey and Wuhan Dragons Ice Hockey Club also competed in Beijing, during which they brought the excitement of live hockey games to an audience.

In supporting the winter sport development in China, the Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey and the Hong Kong Amateur Hockey Club re-launched the AYHL in 2016. To achieve this aim, we invited the NHL Alumni Association to serve as a collaborating organisation to pass on ice hockey knowledge and culture as well as to provide teamwork experiences for players. During the AYHL league, various ice hockey activities and workshops were arranged, aiming to enrich young players with unique hockey experience.

Players involved in the 2016/17 AYHL are aged between 8 and 10.  After the first three stops in Shanghai, Taipei, and Hong Kong,  the last stop is finally reached in Beijing on January 14, 2017 for a 3-day of intense game. Led by the NHL Alumni Association member Barry Beck (former NHL New York Rangers Captain), Russia’s famous hockey coach Nikolaeav Vladimir, and former Chinese Women Ice Hockey Team member Tan Anqi, an ice hockey exchange clinic was hosted during the Beijing stop for the players to learn more about ice hockey skills from the pros.

Players from the AYHL were invited by the HC Kunlun Red Star to watch the KHL games live at LeSports Centre. A half-time show was delivered for the spectators to keep their attention and share their enthusiasm for ice hockey.

With our highly motivated AYHL event planning team, we look forward to more opportunities for our hockey players to broaden their vision and deepen their knowledge while getting involved in various international exchange activities.

The latest stop of the Youth Hockey League (Asia Region), was successfully held at Taipei Arena from October 1-3, 2016 !

After meeting at the Shanghai stop earlier in June, the young players from Beijing, Harbin, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Wuhan were happy to reunite at the Taipei stop, new friends from Taipei joined the ice hockey games at this stop to make the ice rink even more lively !

To promote the passing on of ice hockey knowledge from seasoned professionals to the up and coming young players, an ice hockey exchange clinic was arranged for the participants of AYHL to learn from the pros – NHL Alumni Association member and former New York Rangers Captain Barry Beck, former Edmonton Oilers member Doug Lynch, Russian coach Nikolaev Vladimir, coach of the Chinese Taipei National Team Ryan Lang, along with former Chinese Women Ice Hockey Team member Tan Anqi, lead the players through an intensive ice hockey clinic to train the players both mentally and physically for the games.

Through these few days, players and coaches from different parts of the world gathered to play the sport they all love - ice hockey. It is through events like these that unites players and coaches from different regions and enjoy the sport as a family! Everyone had an amazing time at the tournament and are all looking forward to the next stop - Beijing ! 

2016-17 Youth Hockey League (Asia region)

Date : October 1-3, 2016
Venue : 台北小巨蛋

Participating Teams : 
Beijing : HOKAY Ice Center
Harbin : Harbin Future Stars Hockey Club
Hong Kong : Hong Kong Academy of Ice Hockey
Shanghai : FeiYang Skating Center
Taipei : Chinese Taipei Ice Hockey School 
Wuhan : Wuhan Dragons Ice Hockey Club