| Most recent season or competition: 1998–99 Alpenliga season | |
| Sport | ice hockey |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Ceased | 1999 |
| Replaced by | International Ice Hockey League |
| Most titles | VEU Feldkirch (4) |
TheAlpenliga was an international professionalice hockeyleague which existed between 1991 and 1999. It was contested by club teams fromAustria,Italy andSlovenia.
In 1994-95 and 1995–96, the Alpenliga was part of a larger competition called theSix Nations Tournament (sometimes calledEuropäischer Ligacup orCoupe des Ligues Européennes), which pitted its top teams against members of the Atlantic League, another crossborder loop composed of French, Dutch and Danish clubs.
After 1999, the Alpenliga was replaced with theInternational Ice Hockey League (often shortened toInterliga), first contested 1999–2000. Eight clubs from Austria, Hungary and Slovenia including, HC Alba Volan, HK Acroni Jesenice, Dunaferr SE, Erste VEU Feldkirch, EC Klagenfurter, HK Olimpija Ljubljana, VSV Villach and WEV Wiener played the first season. The league winners were Villacher SV, and playoff champions were Klagenfurter EC.
After just one season, Austrian teams quit the International Ice Hockey League, and were replaced with Croatian clubs.Yugoslavian, Slovak and Polish organizations also made appearances over the years.The Interliga ceased operations following the 2006–07 season.