HL Anyang

HL Anyang
CityAnyang, South Korea
LeagueAsia League Ice Hockey
Korea Ice Hockey League
FoundedDecember 1994; 29 years ago (1994-12)[1][2]
Home arenaAnyang Ice Arena
ColorsBlue, white
   
Owner(s)HL Group
General managerKim Chang-bum
Head coachPaek Chi-sun
CaptainPark Jin-kyu
Websitewww.hlicehockey.com
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away colours
Franchise history
1994–1997Mando Winia
1998–2004Halla Winia
2004–2005Anyang Halla Winia
2005–2022Anyang Halla
2022–presentHL Anyang
Championships
Asia League regular season7 (2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2023, 2024)
Asia League championship8 (2010, 2011, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2023, 2024)

HL Anyang (KoreanHL 안양) is a professional ice hockey team based in Anyang in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It is one of the founding and current members of the Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH).[3] Formed in 1994, it is the oldest professional ice hockey team in South Korea. The Halla Group contributes three billion won annually to run the club.[4]

At its inception the team was based in Mok-dong, Seoul and named the Mando Winia. In 1998 the team took the name of Mando's parent company, Halla. After the collapse of the Korean Ice Hockey League in 2003, they were the only team to survive. They joined four Japanese teams to create the new Asia League Ice Hockey. In 2005, the team moved to its current hometown of Anyang, where it plays its home games at the Anyang Ice Arena. After two years of finishing in fifth place, they became the first non-Japanese team to finish first in the regular season in 2008–09. However, they failed to defeat the Nippon Paper Cranes in the semi-finals. In the following season, Halla again finished in first and won the semi-final and final series giving them their first play-off series win and first Asia League Championship. The club captured their second AL title after the league cancelled the championship final due to the earthquake in Japan. Asia League announced Halla and Tohoku Free Blades as the co-champions. In 2022, the team rebranded as HL Anyang.[5]

  1. ^ "Anyang Halla Ice Hockey Club". anyanghalla.com. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
  2. ^ "Team History" (in Korean). Anyang Halla. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  3. ^ Claude Leblanc (11 March 2005). "Les hockeyeurs asiatiques veulent briser la glace". Courrier international. Archived from the original on 26 May 2005. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
  4. ^ Kim, Jae-won (25 February 2009). "Anyang Hall: Prince of Asian Hockey". The Korea Times. Retrieved 20 September 2009.
  5. ^ "HL 안양, 아시아리그 아이스하키 홈 개막전서 완승". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). 17 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.