Eerste Divisie

Utrecht withdraws from league

Two time Dutch champions IJshockey Club Utrecht have announced they will withdraw from participate in the Dutch second tier league, Eerste Divisie with immediate effect.

After a tough off-season the team managed to get a team together for the upcoming season but fell apart after playing an inelegibile player. The three point deduction and a fine were the official caution but off the ice the event led to the main sponsor pulling out and with him the coach and import players. Utrecht remained playing but were often short handed regstering the bare minumum number of players on the game sheet. The fact that they were rock bottom without having gained a single point after 13 games therefore is no surprise.

All games played so far this season will be nullified and because of this Utrecht automatically will relegate to the third tier league, Eerste Divisie B. Furthermore the withdrawal means the champion of the Eerste Divisie B will be assured of promotion to the Eerste Divisie while the runner-up will be playing a promotion-relegation best-of-three-series against the 7th seeded team of the Eerste Divisie at the end of the season.