User:Latium/Sandbox II
Current season, competition or edition: 2022-23 Superliga season | |
| File:Gelonian Superleague.png | |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 22 June 2022 |
| Inaugural season | 2022–23 |
| President | Crixus Leuka |
| No. of teams | 18 |
| Country |  Gelonia |
| Confederation | CBIH |
| TV partner(s) | |
| Sponsor(s) | Ucayare |
| Relegation to | National League |
| Domestic cup(s) | |
| Official website | www.gsl.ge |
The Gelonian Superliga (Gelonian: Superliga Geloni; Latin: Superliga Geloni), or the Ucayare Superliga Geloni for sponsorship reasons, is the highest professional ice hockey league in Gelonia. The league was formed on 22 June 2022 and replaced the Gelonian Hockey League as the top level league in the Gelonian hockey league system.
The league is planned to consist of 18 teams that will play a regular season that runs from October to March, and playoffs from March until May. It is scheduled to begin play for the 2022–2023 season. As the top level league, promotion and relegation exists between it and the second tier National League.
History
In the early 20th century, ice hockey was first introduced to Latium, which at the time included Gelonia. Ice hockey quickly became popular among Gelonians, with numerous clubs based out of what is now Gelonia. A number of these clubs participated in the Latin Hockey Championship. Many Gelonian hockey clubs were tied to partisan groups in the violence that lead up to the 1945 Latin-Gelonian War, which resulted in the suspension of many Gelonian-based clubs.
Excluded from the newly formed Liga Magna following the peace between Latium and Gelonia, Copa del Rei was first awarded in 1951 in the absence of a Gelonian league. A year later, in 1952, the Gelonian Hockey League was organized. The opening game of the 1952 season between Gwer Durnovaria and Galatis Oxonia saw an attendance of 25,214, which remains a league record. The inaugural champion was Oxonia-based Sant Seoirse HC. The Gelonian Hockey League grew to 15 teams, and stable membership until the 1970–71 season when perennial champion Gwer Durnovaria departed for the Latin hockey league system, forced to enter in tier 3 Liga Nationale. Durnovaria was joined the following season by the exodus of 4 more clubs, including Sant Seoirse HC and Oren HC Durotrige. With the departure of 5 high profile clubs, the Gelonian Hockey League saw increasingly reduced attendance and revenue with clubs often serving as lower level affiliates to clubs in larger Belisarian leagues. This relationship led to a large number of Gelonian players to seek opportunities abroad.
In 2019, Crixus Leuka was elected President of the Gelonian Hockey Federation. As part of his election, Leuka promised a growth in Gelonian professional hockey to match that of its talent. By April 2022, the Bodadeg passed a law to expand the reach of the Hockey Federation, empowering it to pass regulations to require hockey clubs based in Gelonia to play in Gelonian-based leagues. On 8 May 2022, Leuka announced that the federation was considering withholding youth academy licensing to clubs based in non-Gelonian leagues. This act saw heavy backlash from Gwer Durnovaria who at the time were in the LMH playoff semi-final. It wasn't until 28 May 2022 that Leuka and Deputy President Rosula Iaca announced plans for the creation of an 18 team Superleague, and high level talks for the creation of a continental cup.
On 19 June 2022, Leuka resigned as president of the federation and was named the league's first president.
Game
Superleague games are composed of three 20-minute periods, with a 15-minute intermission between periods. If a regular season game ends in a tie after three periods, the teams play a five minute four-on-four sudden death overtime period. If a game remains tied after overtime, teams take part in a Shootout, with the team that scores the most out of five penalty shots win the game. If the shootout is tied after five shooters a side, until one team fails to score.
Teams are given one timeout a game. Additionally, a television timeout occurs during the first whistle after the 10-minute mark of each period. These television timeouts do not occur following a goal, penalty, or icing call.
Superliga games are played on a international-sized sheet of ice.
Playoffs
The game structure is nearly identical during the playoffs. The greatest exception is overtime, in which a tied game after 60 minutes of play is a 20-minute sudden death overtime. If no team scores after the first overtime period, a second overtime period occurs, and so on until the first team scores a goal. A 20-minute intermission break occurs between playoff periods.
Teams
18 teams participate in the Superleague. All 12 of the 14 teams that participated in the Gelonian Hockey League earned an automatic placement in the Superleague for the inaugural 2022–23 season. The thirteenth slot was granted to the champion of the previous second-tier, now third-tier, league, and a fourteenth slot for the champion of the relegation/promotion playoff. The remaining 4 slots were left open for teams participating in the first two tiers of the Latin leagues. A week following the league's creation, on 6 June, 2022, the front offices of Oren HC Durotrige and Superatia jointly announced that they would be exiting their respective Latin-based leagues to join the Superleague.
As of 5 July 2022, one slots remain open for the 2022–23 season as Gwer Durnovaria has yet to declare its intent to join the league or remain in the LMH, despite potentially losing its youth academy license. League President Leuka said that a lottery will be established to fill the last available slot should Gwer Durnovaria decide to stay in LMH.
2022–23 season
| Team | City | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assegonion HC | Assegonion | Arena | 6,150 |
| Callaecia Durnovaria | Durnovaria | Civic Center | 17,931 |
| Galatis Oxonia | Oxonia | Arena Nationale | 20,066 |
| Gangana HS | Oxonia | ULBanco Arena | 14,488 |
| HC Termantia | Durnovaria | Arena | 13,000 |
| HC Meud | Meud | Arena | 9,647 |
| HS Uxama Arevaca | Uxama | Arena | 5,060 |
| Interamicia HS | Nanoeda | Arena | 8,094 |
| Occilis HS | Villadonga | Arena | 3,900 |
| Oren HC Durotrige | Oren | Arena | 13,809 |
| Ranneg HC | Ranneg | Arena | 4,981 |
| Sant Seoirse HC | Oxonia | ULBanco Arena | 14,488 |
| Segobriga HC | Segobriga | Arena | 7,070 |
| Sekeiza HC | Sekeiza | Arena | 8,100 |
| Sevignega HC | Sevignega | Arena | 10,000 |
| Superatia HC | Amacia | Arena | 7,909 |
| Vaccaenas HS | Vaccaenas | Arena | 9,647 |