Bernd Brückler: "Goalies almost impossible to beat with the first shot"

EC Red Bull Salzburg won the opening game of the final series of the win2day ICE Hockey League at EC-KAC on Friday. After a playoff game remained goalless after 60 minutes for only the second time in league history, Paul Huber scored in the 65th minute to decide it. "I expected a close game. It wasn't an easy task, especially for Klagenfurt, who had to wait a long time for the next game after their sweep in the semi-final. Salzburg were in rhythm and had the euphoria from their victory in the deciding game against Bolzano. But it has to be said that the game on Friday could have gone either way. I believe that the series is only now really getting underway," analyses Bernd Brückler, who follows the league action very closely. The former goalie has his eye on Sebastian Dahm and Atte Tolvanen in particular, who have been a reliable back-up for their teams throughout the season: "The goalkeepers take centre stage even more in the playoffs. The two of them are really good. It's almost impossible to beat them with the first shot, you have to go for the rebound more. You have to get a lot of shots on goal and create traffic in front of them. Working directly in front of the goal is hugely important, that's how you achieve success," says the 42-year-old, who works as a player agent and also advises the board of HC TIWAG Innsbruck as an expert.


Bernd Brückler played 84 games for Salzburg and won one championship.

Born in Graz, he played in the Finnish Liiga and the KHL for several years. Brückler moved to Salzburg in October 2012. In his third season with the Red Bulls, he won the championship title, followed by a move to Klagenfurt, where the goalkeeper spent his last season as a professional. "My memories of both teams are very positive, I really enjoyed my time there. In Salzburg, the championship title was the crowning glory and at the KAC I got the chance to play a lot of games at the end of my career. They are top organisations and always worthy of playing in a final," reports Brückler.

On Sunday, the final series will take place for the first time in the Eisarena Salzburg, where the reigning champions have won their last six games against the KAC. However, since the 2017 final against the Vienna Capitals, Klagenfurt have won the second game in each of their four series in which they lost the opening game. "I expect a reaction from the KAC. It's very difficult to play in Salzburg, but Klagenfurt has enough quality in the team. I thin it will be another close game, there will probably be a few more low-scoring games in this series. It will be important for the KAC to get going on the powerplay. They have certainly worked on this after the opener in order to be able to generate even more pressure," says Brückler, who is already looking forward to the second clash. This will be broadcast on PULS 24 and Joyn from 17:05.