2024–25 Metal Ligaen season
Sports season
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The 2024–25 Metal Ligaen season was the 68th season of the Metal Ligaen, the top level of ice hockey in Denmark.[1]
| 2024–25 Metal Ligaen | |
|---|---|
| League | Metal Ligaen |
| Sport | Ice hockey |
| Duration | 1 September 2024 – 25 April 2025 |
| Teams | 9 |
| Regular season | |
| Playoffs | |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Odense Bulldogs |
| Runners-up | Herning Blue Fox |
Teams
The league consists of 9 teams.
| Team | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Aalborg Pirates | Gigantium Isarena | 5,000 |
| Esbjerg Energy | Granly Hockey Arena | 4,200 |
| Frederikshavn White Hawks | Scanel Hockey Arena | 4,000 |
| Herlev Eagles | Martinsen Arena | 1,740 |
| Herning Blue Fox | KVIK Hockey Arena | 4,105 |
| Odense Bulldogs | Odense Isstadion | 3,280 |
| Rungsted Seier Capital | Saxo Bank Arena | 2,460 |
| Rødovre Mighty Bulls | Rødovre Skøjte Arena | 3,600 |
| SønderjyskE Ishockey | SE Arena | 5,000 |
Regular season
Each team played 48 games, playing each of the other eight teams six times: thrice on home ice, and thrice away from home. Points are awarded for each game, where three points are awarded for winning in regulation time, two points for winning in overtime or shootout, one point for losing in overtime or shootout, and zero points for losing in regulation time. At the end of the regular season, the team that finishes with the most points is crowned the league champion.
The Herning Blue Fox finished top of the regular season, qualified for the 2025–26 IIHF Continental Cup.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | OTW | OTL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Herning Blue Fox | 48 | 30 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 201 | 105 | +96 | 103 | Qualification to play-offs |
| 2 | Odense Bulldogs | 48 | 24 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 168 | 131 | +37 | 90 | |
| 3 | Rungsted Seier Capital | 48 | 24 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 152 | 155 | −3 | 81 | |
| 4 | Aalborg Pirates | 48 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 163 | 135 | +28 | 77 | |
| 5 | Esbjerg Energy | 48 | 16 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 148 | 135 | +13 | 75 | |
| 6 | Frederikshavn White Hawks | 48 | 19 | 5 | 4 | 20 | 133 | 144 | −11 | 71 | |
| 7 | SønderjyskE | 48 | 17 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 164 | 159 | +5 | 69 | |
| 8 | Herlev Eagles | 48 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 137 | 144 | −7 | 62 | |
| 9 | Rødovre Mighty Bulls | 48 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 38 | 93 | 251 | −158 | 20 |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following shows the top players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of regular season.[2]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mathias Bau Hansen |
Herning Blue Fox | 45 | 33 | 37 | 70 | +30 | 28 |
 Darien Craighead |
Aalborg Pirates | 44 | 27 | 41 | 68 | +15 | 75 |
| Morten Poulsen |
Herning Blue Fox | 48 | 34 | 31 | 65 | +42 | 12 |
| Troy Lajeunesse |
Aalborg Pirates | 46 | 26 | 31 | 57 | -2 | 44 |
 Eric Gotz |
Aalborg Pirates | 48 | 10 | 46 | 56 | +13 | 14 |
| Brandon Estes |
Odense Bulldogs | 48 | 14 | 38 | 52 | -2 | 39 |
 Joakim Thelin |
Odense Bulldogs | 48 | 23 | 28 | 51 | +12 | 45 |
| Maxime Trepanier |
Herlev Eagles | 43 | 25 | 25 | 50 | +9 | 26 |
| Theo Keilin |
Rungsted Seier Capital | 45 | 16 | 32 | 48 | +28 | 14 |
| Derian Plouffe |
Herning Blue Fox | 39 | 17 | 31 | 48 | +35 | 10 |
Leading goaltenders
The following shows the top goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the regular season.[3]
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | GA | Sv% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathias Seldrup |
Herning Blue Fox | 35 | 2103:00 | 73 | 90.32 | 2.08 |
| Nicolaj Henriksen |
Esbjerg Energy | 25 | 1524:23 | 56 | 92.18 | 2.20 |
| Niklas Lundström |
Odense Bulldogs | 22 | 1312:16 | 50 | 91.87 | 2.29 |
 Tadeas Galansky |
Frederikshavn White Hawks | 39 | 2308:00 | 97 | 91.35 | 2.52 |
| Emil Zetterquist |
Herlev Eagles | 41 | 2421:12 | 102 | 91.40 | 2.53 |
| Georg Sørensen |
Aalborg Pirates | 43 | 2522:26 | 115 | 89.10 | 2.74 |
| David Grubak |
Rungsted Seier Capital | 35 | 2021:05 | 93 | 91.14 | 2.76 |
Playoffs
Eight teams qualify for the playoffs. The Odense Bulldogs defeated the Herning Blue Fox in the Finals to qualify for the 2025–26 Champions Hockey League.
Bracket
| Quarter-finals (best-of-7) | Metal4 (best-of-7) | Finals (best-of-7) | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Herning Blue Fox | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Herlev Eagles | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Herning Blue Fox | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Aalborg Pirates | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Aalborg Pirates | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Esbjerg Energy | 0 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Herning Blue Fox | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Odense Bulldogs | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Odense Bulldogs | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | SønderjyskE Ishockey | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Odense Bulldogs | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Rungsted Seier Capital | 1 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | Rungsted Seier Capital | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Frederikshavn White Hawks | 1 | ||||||||||||
Quarter-finals
Metal4
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Finals
(1) Herning Blue Fox vs. (2) Odense Bulldogs
| 18 April 2025 | Herning Blue Fox | 5–6 | Odense Bulldogs | KVIK Hockey Arena | Recap | |||
| Mathias Bau Hansen – pp – 13:58 | First period | 3:55 – Joakim Thelin 12:43 – Radim Piroutek | ||||||
| Hjalte Thomsen – 5:57 Hjalte Thomsen – 15:49 |
Second period | 0:12 – Daniel Baastrup-Andersen 6:37 – Filips Buncis 9:14 – Brandon Estes | ||||||
| Brett Thompson – pp – 0:36 Oskars Cibuļskis – 15:43 |
Third period | 6:13 – Joakim Thelin | ||||||
| Mathias Seldrup (29 shots / 23 saves) | Goalie stats | Niklas Lundström (35 shots / 30 saves) | ||||||
| 20 April 2025 | Odense Bulldogs | 2–4 | Herning Blue Fox | Odense Isstadion | Recap | |||
| No scoring | First period | 1:51 – Brett Thompson 15:17 – Petter Hansson | ||||||
| Daniel Baastrup-Andersen – 0:42 Martin Larsen – 3:49 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 17:46 – Mathias Bau Hansen 18:46 – Martin Eskildsen | ||||||
| Niklas Lundström (20 shots / 16 saves) | Goalie stats | Mathias Seldrup (31 shots / 29 saves) | ||||||
| 22 April 2025 | Herning Blue Fox | 2–4 | Odense Bulldogs | KVIK Hockey Arena | Recap | |||
| Frederik Braendgaard – 2:13 | First period | 6:18 – Kristian Jensen 14:18 – Daniel Baastrup-Andersen | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 6:11 – Joakim Thelin | ||||||
| Brett Thompson – 12:11 | Third period | 11:09 – Radim Piroutek | ||||||
| Mathias Seldrup (28 shots / 24 saves) | Goalie stats | Niklas Lundström (32 shots / 30 saves) | ||||||
| 23 April 2025 | Odense Bulldogs | 3–1 | Herning Blue Fox | Odense Isstadion | Recap | |||
| Brandon Estes – 3:49 Markus Oden – 12:00 |
First period | No scoring | ||||||
| Magnus Boesen – 4:27 | Second period | 0:12 – Hjalte Thomsen | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| Niklas Lundström (35 shots / 34 saves) | Goalie stats | Janis Fecers (34 shots / 31 saves) | ||||||
| 25 April 2025 | Herning Blue Fox | 1–2 | OT | Odense Bulldogs | KVIK Hockey Arena | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 1:15 – Radim Piroutek | ||||||
| Maksim Popovic – 17:14 | Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Overtime | 2:34 – Markus Jensen | ||||||
| Mathias Seldrup (22 shots / 20 saves) | Goalie stats | Niklas Lundström (30 shots / 29 saves) | ||||||
| Odense won the series 4–1 | |
Statistics
Scoring leaders
The following shows the top players who led the league in points, at the conclusion of the playoffs.[4]
| Player | Team | GP | G | A | Pts | +/– | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mathias Bau Hansen |
Herning Blue Fox | 12 | 7 | 16 | 23 | +11 | 31 |
| Brandon Estes |
Odense Bulldogs | 14 | 6 | 12 | 18 | +6 | 29 |
| Derian Plouffe |
Herning Blue Fox | 12 | 4 | 12 | 16 | +12 | 2 |
| Morten Poulsen |
Herning Blue Fox | 12 | 8 | 7 | 15 | +9 | 2 |
| Emil Kristensen |
Herning Blue Fox | 12 | 3 | 12 | 15 | +14 | 2 |
| Joakim Thelin |
Odense Bulldogs | 14 | 9 | 5 | 14 | +7 | 2 |
| Victor Cubars |
Herning Blue Fox | 12 | 5 | 8 | 13 | +4 | 36 |
| Kristian Jensen |
Odense Bulldogs | 14 | 3 | 10 | 13 | +4 | 31 |
Leading goaltenders
The following shows the top goaltenders who led the league in goals against average, provided that they have played at least 40% of their team's minutes, at the conclusion of the playoffs.[5]
| Player | Team | GP | TOI | GA | Sv% | GAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niklas Lundström |
Odense Bulldogs | 14 | 847:27 | 40 | 89.90 | 2.83 |
| David Grubak |
Rungsted Seier Capital | 11 | 632:00 | 28 | 92.29 | 2.66 |
| Georg Sørensen |
Aalborg Pirates | 11 | 658:26 | 28 | 91.41 | 2.55 |
| Mathias Seldrup |
Herning Blue Fox | 12 | 742:04 | 26 | 91.72 | 2.10 |