Liga Magna
Current season, competition or edition: 2019–20 season | |
 | |
| Sport | Ice Hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 12 March 1950 |
| Inaugural season | 1950-51 season |
| Commissioner | Michael Opreius |
| No. of teams | 22 |
| Country |  Latium (19 teams)  Gelonia (3 teams) |
| Confederation | Belisaria |
| Most recent champion(s) | Gwer Durnovaria HC (5th title) |
| Most titles | Rufus HC Aarhusium (10 titles) |
| TV partner(s) | |
| Sponsor(s) | Delpha |
| Relegation to | Liga Latii Campionata |
| Domestic cup(s) | Copa Glaciei |
| Related competitions | Thalassan Cup |
The Delpha Liga Magna de Hockey Glaciei (LMH), most commonly referred to as Liga Magna, is a professional ice hockey league headquartered in Latium composed of 22 member clubs. The LMH is considered to be one of the top professional ice hockey leagues in the world, and is second most popular professional sports leagues in Latium. Each season since 2001, the league's playoff champion is awarded the Verruscosi Cup (formerly Anicia Cup), named for league sponsor Delpha. Following each season, the league champion competes in the Thalassan Cup, an exhibition best-of-seven series against the Ghantish Hockey League champion.
The league draws many highly skilled players from all over the world and currently has players from approximately numerous different countries. However, Latins make up nearly 60% of the league's players.
The league recently renegotiated their television contracts in Latium and Vannois. LTC and LTCA will continue to hold broadcasting rights in Latium through the 2020-21 season. The new television contracts are worth a total of $550 million, the highest of any professional sports league in Latium with the exception of Liga Premier.
History
Ice hockey was first introduced to Latium in winter of 1890 by future emperor John XIII of Latium, who had recently attended the first playing of the Vikandi Cup in Ghant. Those close to the John claim that he was immediately taken with the sport and saw to see it introduced in Latium. Today, many Latin teams honor John XIII as the Father of Latin ice hockey. After its introduction, ice hockey was mostly confined to mountain towns or near the estates of various nobles who could afford to keep sheets of ice and proper refrigeration facilities nearby, with the first such facility built just outside of Castellum in 1893. By 1911, 6 teams (of which only 1 team remains today) formed the Latin Ice Hockey Championship, which eventually grew to become the second most popular sport in Latium, behind association football and the Liga Premier. The league would grow to incorporate smaller competitors, hosting up to 20 teams by the 1944 season before the outbreak of the Social War. League operations were put on indefinite hold for the duration of the war, with the 1946-47 season being outright suspended, Many called for the league to continue, including the rebel Orestes Cotta and members of the Imperial faction.
In March 1950, 9 franchise owners from the former Latin Ice Hockey Championship were invited to Domus Agrippae by The Duke of Adrianople to discuss the possibility of restarting league operations. The meeting resulted in the formation of the Liga Magna de Hockey Glaciei or the Liga Magna. On 12 October of the same year, the first puck drop took place in Castellum during a match between HC Alba Imperialis and Regis Adrianople HC, with 5 other matches to take place that week. As a 9 team league in its inaugural season, each LMH team played a total of 48 regular season games with no postseason play. The first postseason was introduced in 1960–61 season after expansion grew the league to 12 teams. Including former Latin Ice Hockey Championship titles, Gwer Durnovaria HC holds the most top-level championships with 22 (of which 13 are pre-LMH). HC Alba Imperialis previously held the longest at championship drought at 60 years before winning their first league title since 1951-52 in the 2015-16 season – it was their first championship since the introduction of postseason play. Currently, SI Vindóbona 1918 holds the longest championship drought, having not won since their first title in 1954.
| Team | Titles | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HC Alba Imperialis | 23a | ||||
| Gwer Durnovaria HC | 23b | ||||
| AUA Phoenix | 12c | ||||
| Rufus HC Aarhusium | 10 | ||||
| HC Augusta Adrianopolis | 9d | ||||
| Internationalis Utica HC | 7e | ||||
| Heraclea HC Ares | 4 | ||||
| Espo Triaina SI | 4 | ||||
| Mediolandum HC Lycus | 3e | ||||
| Florentia HC | 3 | ||||
| SI Vindobona 1918 | 3f | ||||
| Lupi HC Colonia | 2 | ||||
| HC Ancia Invicta | 2 | ||||
| HCMO Leones | 2 | ||||
| HC Ravenna Militum | 2 | ||||
| Sant Seoirse HC | 1 | ||||
| Apollos Pola HC | 1 | ||||
| Titanas HC Beroea | 1 | ||||
| Rhenus SI Dynamo | 1 | ||||
| a Includes eighteen pre-LMH championships. b Includes thirteen pre-LMH championships. c Includes five pre-LHM championships. d Includes five pre-LHM championships. e Includes three pre-LHM championship. f Includes one pre-LHM championship. | |||||
The league first underwent expansion in 1953, adding 1 team; adding 5 teams from 1955 to 1963 and introducing a league playoff. Since 1996 the league has consisted of 22 clubs, and has relegated clubs to Liga Campionata since 1966. Currently the bottom three clubs are relegated each season.
Season Structure
Pre-season
Liga Magna teams play anywhere from 5 to 10 preseason games, and are free to organize their own pre-season schedule and training camps. Teams typically play a local, minor league team (most often an affiliate) as their first game of the pre-season. Teams often schedule preseason games against foreign teams. The most notable occurrence of this is by Gwer Durnovaria HC, which regularly schedules games against some of the best teams from around the world.
Regular season
Each LMH team plays a schedule of 60 regular season games, 30 at home and 30 on the road. Each team plays 2 games against the other 21 teams, home and away, to account for 42 games. The remaining 18 games are randomly allocated with preference given to historical rivals.
The league's regular season is based on a point system. A team is awarded three points for a victory, one point for a shootout victory, one point for an overtime loss, or no points for a regulation or shootout loss. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points in each division is crowned the regular season champion, and awarded the Duke of Adrianople Trophy. Teams that finish in the bottom three during the regular season are relegated to Liga Campionata, while three teams from Liga Campionata are promoted.
Playoffs
A total of ten teams earn a berth in the post-season playoffs for a chance at winning the Delpha Cup, featuring a first round, quarter-final, semi-final, and league final. Teams playing 1–6 in the regular season receive a first round bye. The remaining, seeds 7–10, compete in a best-of-five opening round. Each subsequent playoff round is reseeded, with the highest remaining seed facing the lowest remaining seed, and so on, in a best-of-seven series.
Higher seeded teams receive home-ice advantage for the first two games of each series, followed by the lower seeded team having the next three home games (two in the first playoff round).
Copa Glaciei
Copa Glaciei, officially known as Motori Galata Copa Glaciei, is the national knockout domestic cup competition of the Hockey Latium. The annual tournament is the longest continuous ice hockey competition in Latium, with the first tournament hosted by Emperor John XIII and Empress Alexandra in 1899. The tournament runs from the initial qualifying rounds in October to the final round in March. All professional or semi-professional ice hockey teams in Latium participate in the tournament.
The tournament's first round sees matches take place in the first week of October with games between all teams in Liga Auster and Liga Septentrio (division four) and all teams in Liga Nationale (division three) except the two teams relegated from division two in the season prior. Second rounds matches take place third week of October between winners of the opening round with the remaining two teams from Liga Nationale The third round sees the entrance of teams from Liga Campionata (division two); however, the reigning regular season champion of Liga Campionata does not participate until round four. Third round games generally take place in the second week of November. Liga Magna teams enter in the fourth round of the tournament. Each round sees matches randomly drawn from among the teams remaining in the tournament and continues in the single elimination format until the final which is traditionally held in late March. The final two rounds are hosted at the National Arena in Castellum, though the final has occasionally been hosted in other cities.
Prize money is awarded following victories in each round, with the tournament champion receiving as much as $2 million as of the 2018 tournament. The most recent champion is HCMO Leones of Liga Magna; it was their 2nd national championship.
Thalassan Cup
The Thalassan Cup is an annual, preseason exhibition best-of-seven series between the Liga Magna playoff champion of the preceding season and the Ghantish Hockey League playoff champion of the preceding season. Host of the first two games of the series is determined by coin flip, with the winner hosting games 1, 2, 6 and 7; and the loser hosting games 3, 4, and 5. Due to differing rules between LMH and the GHL, rules from the hosting team's league govern any given game. The first Thalassan Cup was hosted in 1990 and saw LMH champion Gwer Durnovaria HC face GHL champion Ghish Imperials in a best-of-seven exhibition series. Gwer Durnovaria became the first LMH team to win the series in 1993 after defeating the Lorazaina Lakers. HC Alba Imperialis is the most recent Latin champion of the challenge cup, becoming the first Latin team to win back-to-back Cups, in 2016 and 2017.
Teams
A total of 22 teams compete in the LMH. Of the current teams, 9 are founding members, previously participating in the Latin Ice Hockey Championship until 1946. The remaining clubs either were elevated from another league or were newly created expansion franchises. The oldest team participating in the league as of the current 2019–20 season is Gwer Durnovaria HC, founded in 1911.
| Team | City | Founded | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rufus HC Aarhusium | Aarhusium | 1941 | Olympiou Energia Arena | 15,981 |
| Lupi LC Ariminium | Ariminium | 1969 | Ariminium Arena | 13,000 |
| HC Augusta Adrianopolis a | Adrianople | 1933 | Sermo Arena | 17,500 |
| AUA Phoenix | Ascanium | 1919 | Celer Arena | 15,937 |
| Aurunca Equites HC | Aurunca | 1960 | Aurunca Arena | 14,147 |
| Caesena HC | Caesena | 1940 | BaudelaireArena | 15,203 |
| HC Caetot Guerreier | Caetot | 1952 | Caetot Civic Arena | 10,870 |
| HC Alba Imperialis b | Castellum ab Alba | 1921 | National Arena | 18,000 |
| HCMO Leones | Castellum ab Alba | 1955 | AirLatinii Arena | 14,004 |
| Valle Aurelia LC | Castellum ab Alba | 1978 | National Arena | 18,000 |
| Gwer Durnovaria HC | Durnovaria | 1911 | Gelonia Civic Center | 17,931 |
| Florentia HC | Florentia | 1945 | Olympiou Energia Stadium | 13,281 |
| HC Haenna Attica | Haenna | 1982 | GA Arena | 12,423 |
| Espo Tridentis SI | Espo | 1975 | Espo Arena | 13,000 |
| Mediolanum HC Lycus | Mediolanum | 1978 | VerruscosiTelecomm Arena | 14,510 |
| Ostia Dynamo HC | Ostia | 1955 | Neos Arena | 15,952 |
| Sant Seoirse HC | Oxonia | 1945 | ULBanco Arena | 14,488 |
| Apollos Pola HC | Pola | 1963 | Pola Arena | 13,300 |
| HC Ravenna Militum | Ravenna | 1955 | Ravenna Arena | 15,870 |
| HC Anicia Invicta | Entella | 1955 | Anicia Arena | 14,950 |
| Utica Internationalis | Utica | 1943 | CRG Arena | 15,200 |
| SI Vindobona 1918 c | Vindobona | 1918 | ULBanco Arena | 16,000 |
- a Formerly named Regis Adrianople HC.
- b Merger of two Castellum based teams, Velia HC and Alba Athletica.
- c Sporting club founded in 1918; hockey club first established in 1933.
Players
The major source of players comes from Latium, with 71% of all players currently under contract being Latin born or of Latin descent. Unique among LMH teams is Gwer Durnovaria HC, which only signs players of Gelonian descent or ancestry from the northwestern region of Gelonia within Latium. Since the most recent CBA in 2012, LMH clubs are not allowed to have more than twelve foreign (non-Latin or non-Gelonian) players under contract.
LMH teams recruit players from the youth leagues, promoting youth players to senior teams or loaning them out to their academy or other affiliate clubs in lower leagues. Every off-season, the league holds a foreign players draft to distribute signing rights for foreign born players.
Labor Issues
The first league wide labor stoppage took place in September 1974 with the formation of the HGCPL (Hockey Glaciei Consociatio Professio Ludi), following which owners attempted to lock the players out of the arenas until they denounced the union and agreed not to take part in the organization. The players announced a strike, garnering large public support following an attempt by the owners to use replacement players in preseason games; the league owners ended the lock-out after 24 days, resulting in the regular season being pushed back a month to accommodate for the lock-out.
The second and most significant labor stoppage occurred in July 2002, when league owners allowed for the previous collective bargaining agreement to lapse. League officials would go on to claim that it would have no effect on the season, but this proved to not be the case. The league remained locked-out until early November 2002 when owners and players union officials began negotiations again. The 2002-03 season officially began on New Years Day 2003, and remains the shortest season in league history, and imposed an increased luxury tax and reduction of limits on foreign born players. The current CBA expires after the 2021–22 season.