It was 1996 when the phone rang unexpectedly and a law firm from Munich was on the line. A lawyer who represented the interests of the NHL – the major National Hockey League – wanted to investigate a few Styrians. They had founded a “National Hobby League Graz” two years earlier and the abbreviation was similar to that of the best ice hockey league in the world. Suspicion grew overseas that people there in distant Styria wanted to make a big fuss with the name. “But we have credibly assured that we are simply a team that wants to play ice hockey,” says Sigi Hinterleitner. He heads the league, which plays around 500 games per season. “We have a total of 56 teams in which 1,500 players are registered,” he says shortly before the 30th anniversary celebration. On Sunday there will be duels with the 99ers in Hart near Graz in honor of the anniversary.
Siegfried Hinterleitner, chairman of the NHL Graz © Ebner
It was a handful of students from Carinthia who founded the “Frogs” in Graz in 1990 and were also responsible for creating the hobby league in search of playing opportunities. In 1994 the game was played under the NHL banner for the first time, with 25 teams in three performance groups. Due to a lack of ice time in the state capital, the teams also dueled in Celje, Ljubljana, Maribor, Zeltweg and in the open air in Bruck. After the Davis Cup, the “ice hackers” moved into the newly built Schwarzlhalle, and in 2007 they moved to Hart. The league relied on digitalization early on. “We started digitizing the game schedules in 1996 and later also the player passes. It was all done by hand – that’s unimaginable today.” The league grew steadily and enjoyed great popularity. “In 30 years we have played around 11,000 games.”
Of course, the players aren’t just amateur athletes. And so in the highest class (Group A) this winter you can see some players with a Bundesliga past. But the league is also a pioneer for talent. “Just a few years after we were founded, we began to offer children and young people the opportunity to learn and practice the sport of ice hockey without pressure to perform under expert guidance,” says Hinterleitner. For example, 99ers young star Paul Rainer took his first skating steps in the NHL Graz.
