Release from 01.09.2017

Caps and KAC lose CHL home opener

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On Thursday UPC Vienna Capitals (1:3 vs. finnish side JYP Jyväskylä) and EC-KAC (2:4 vs. CHL champion Frölunda) lost their first home games in this years Champions Hockey League. In addition, HC Orli Znojmo, who announced the signing of 23-year-old Czech center Petr Mrazek, and HC Bolzano earned preseason wins.

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In the opening minutes UPC Vienna Capitals and JYP both tried to find their luck on the offense. After four minutes the Finns took the lead by Henri Kanninen. Soon later Andreas Nödl and Riley Holzapfel missed chances for an equalizer. Late in the first the Caps survived a 5 on 3 JYP power play but early in the second they missed to score with a two men advantage, though. The visitors took the narrow lead into the third with the Viennese pressing for the equalizer. After Taylor Vause missed the best chance while being one man down, JYP's Puustinen doubled the lead with a pp marker. With the Caps having a man advantage, coach Serge Aubin pulled his goalie for a sixth skater. After winning the face off Juha-Pekka Hytönen made the game safe with an empty netter. With 17 seconds to go Sascha Bauer scored the consolation goal.
 
Frölunda also wins in Klagenfurt
Klagenfurt and Frölunda focused on their defense in the opening minutes with Marco Richter missing the first chance for the home side. Halfway through the first the CHL champion became stronger and Joel Lundqvist opened the scoring on pp. Three minutes later Mats-Rosseli Olsen added a second but KAC bounced back even before the first intermission as Richter found the back of the net with a man advantage. Early in the second it was all Frölunda and the Swedes added two more goals. Klagenfurt once again scored a late one by Matthew Neal with 56 seconds to go but the Caritnhians could not come closer in the third anymore.
 
Bolzano beats AHL champion
Bolzano had the better of the play early in the game but Rittner Buam scored first when Julian Kostner made the breakthrough after 16 minutes. After the restart Christopher Carlisle tied it and 83 seconds before the second intermission Daniel Frank turned the game around. In a final push the Alps Hockey League team tried everything but they could not tie it anymore.

Znojmo wins last preseason game
In the last prep game of the season Orli challenged MAC Budapešť, Hungarian Erste Liga attendant. Petr Mrazek was new in Znojmo’s lineup as the new signing was announced before the game. With Adam Raska being out for several months with a knee injury, the club decided to sign the 23-year-old Czech center. In front of 1600 spectators Znojmo took lead in the first and won the opening period. However, the visitors scored twice in the second period while Znojmo scored once, there was an equal state after two periods. In the last part Znojmo confirmed their better game style and scored three goals including the last one to empty hungarian net.

Champions Hockey League, 31.08.2017
UPC Vienna Capitals - JYP Jyväskylä 1:3 (0:1, 0:0, 1:2)
Goal Capitals: Bauer (60.)
Goals JYP:  Kanninen (4.),  Puustinen (53.),  Hytönen (56.) 
 
EC-KAC – Frölunda Indians 2:4 (1:2, 1:2, 0:0)
Referees: BAUER, LEMELIN, Seewald, Nothegger,  Zuschauer: 3.889
Goals KAC: Richter (20./pp), St. Geier (40.)
Goals Frölunda: Lundqvist(14.; 27.), Rosseli-Olsen (17.), Grundström (23.)

Preseason:
HC Orli Znojmo – MAC Budapest 5:3 (1:0, 1:2, 3:1)
Goals Znojmo: Beroun (7.), Číp (38.), Plíhal (52.), Biro (54.), Němec (59.) 
Goals MAC: G. Nagy (23.), Macaulay (39.), Brown (48.)
 
Rittner Buam - HCB Südtirol Alperia 1:2 (1:0, 0:2, 0:0)
Goal Ritten: 1:0 Julian Kostner (16.)
Goals HCB: 1:1 Christopher Carlisle (22.), 1:2 Daniel Frank (39.)