Release from 28.01.2023

Carinthian Derby in hot phase of the Regular Season

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The hot phase of the Regular Season has long started. On Sunday, the fans of the win2day ICE Hockey League will be offered the fourth - and so far probably the most important - Carinthian derby of the season as an absolute highlight on the main channel of Puls 4. In addition, the Moser Medical Graz99ers and the HC Pustertal fight in long-distance duels for important points in the race for the pre-playoffs. EC Red Bull Salzburg and HC TIWAG Innsbruck - Die Haie, meanwhile, are on the verge of qualifying for the quarterfinals.

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win2day ICE Hockey League, 29.01.2023:

17:30 Moser Medical Graz99ers - HCB Südtirol Alperia
Referees: PIRAGIC, SIEGEL, Bärnthaler, Snoj | PPV-Livesteam

The Moser Medical Graz99ers will face the most difficult of all possible opponents in their race for the top-10 on Sunday. HCB Südtirol Alperia is currently the measure of all things in the win2day ICE Hockey League. The South Tyroleans are now without a loss of points for six games and have thus set their own season record. Only EC Red Bull Salzburg recorded more wins in a row in the current season - the Red Bulls remained unblemished in seven games around the turn of the year. This season league record could now be set by HCB on Sunday. A negative series of four games could last end the Graz99ers, when they defeated HK SZ Olimpija 4:1 on Friday. This much-needed success increased the lead over eleventh place back to four points. In the three encounters with Füchse so far this season, there has been nothing to pick up for the 99ers. The Styrians only managed two goals in three games against one of the strongest defenses in the league. Besides Salzburg, Bozen is the only team that has not conceded 100 goals in total (89). Graz scored even fewer goals than Bolzano this season. With 82 goals, only the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg have scored fewer. In their 40th game of the season on Friday, the Styrians scored at least four goals for the eighth time. The league leader, on the other hand, managed that more than half of its previous games (21 of 41).

17:30 spusu Vienna Capitals - EC Red Bull Salzburg
Referees: FICHTNER, NIKOLIC M., Durmis, Jedlicka | PPV-Livestream

The spusu Vienna Capitals missed the big chance on Friday to get some breathing space in the fight for the direct quarterfinal qualification. Despite leading twice against the direct competitor, they had to admit defeat in the end with 3:5 at EC-KAC. The Caps are still in sixth place, but that could change as early as Sunday, as the Klagenfurters - who play the Kärntner derby on Sunday - are only one point behind them. EC Red Bull Salzburg, on the other hand, is on the verge of clinching the second of six quarterfinal tickets in the win2day ICE Hockey League for the time being. Salzburg is still one point away from the fixed qualification. Even if they fail to do so on Sunday, they will still be in the quarterfinals as long as EC-KAC does not take three points from the derby. Salzburg got into this comfortable starting position by winning five games in a row recently, only in the first of the last five games they could not take the maximum number of points. Against Vienna, however, the reigning champions had to accept a bitter 0:3 defeat in the last encounter, but this was already a month ago. The duel on Sunday is not yet the last meeting of these two teams. In the penultimate game of the Regular Season, Salzburg and Vienna will meet once again.

17:30 Steinbach Black Wings Linz - HC Pustertal
Referees: HUBER, NIKOLIC K., Bedynek, Gatol-Schafranek | PPV-Livestream

In the middle of the race for the Top-6 are also the Steinbach Black Wings Linz. Their lead on the seventh place is still two points - but the Upper Austrians have played one game less than their two closest competitors from Vienna and Klagenfurt. Almost more is at stake on Sunday for HC Pustertal, who are currently losing out in the race for the pre-playoffs. The gap to tenth-placed Graz is four points - but a direct duel with the Styrians is still outstanding. Three defeats in a row brought the Wolves, who just extended the contract with head coach Tomek Valtonen, into this precarious situation. The Black Wings are also not necessarily among their favorite opponents, they lost the previous two duels against the Upper Austrians, in which they scored a total of only three goals but conceded seven. In the past five games, the team from Linz has alternated between victories and defeats. The most recent defeat was 1:3 against Innsbruck.


17:30 HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana - HC TIWAG Innsbruck
Referees: SMETANA, TRILAR, Puff, Zgonc | PPV-Livestream

HC TIWAG Innsbruck has good chances on Sunday to fix the entry into the quarterfinals. To be able to celebrate this coup already on Sunday, the Sharks would need one point more than the KAC can conquer in the Carinthian derby. For HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana, who have not won in their last seven league games, the pre-playoffs have become a distant memory. Even if it would still be mathematically possible, the recent departures of the Slovenians - Marc-Olivier Vallerand and Carl Neill have left Ljubljana - speak against a recovery under neo-coach Antti Karhula. For Innsbruck, the main goal is to secure home advantage in the quarterfinals. Currently, Innsbruck has a comfortable 18-point lead over fifth-placed Linz, but the playoff opener at the TIWAG Arena is not yet in the bag. Most recently, the Sharks suffered a bitter defeat in the top match against HCB Südtirol Alperia. They managed to take a 3:1 lead in the final period before the Foxes put in a furious finish and eventually prevailed 6:3. In the three duels between Innsbruck and Ljubljana so far this season, the Tyrolean team has won each time, never scoring less than four goals.

18:00 EC-KAC - EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV
Referees: HRONSKY, ZRNIC, Konc, Riecken | Live on Puls 4

For the EC-KAC it comes on Sunday to probably the most important derby so far this season The Klagenfurter are after their recent success against the spusu Vienna Capitals only one point behind the Viennese and thus behind the last place for direct playoff qualification. The derbies so far this season have been hard to beat in terms of excitement. Two of the three meetings found their winner only in the penalty shootout. The last one was decided by Thomas Vallant in the final minute. In their home arena, however, Klagenfurt are a force to be reckoned with, at least in derbies. Villach has not won a derby in Klagenfurt since February 2, 2016. Since then, 16 (!) home victories of the KAC followed in a row, in which only once a point was surrendered - and that was in the first derby this season. EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV, currently in fourth place, is playing it safe for the hot phase and announced the "back-up signing" of Jamie Fraser to have a quick additional option for potential dropouts in the VSV defense. The Carinthian derby will be broadcast LIVE on the main channel of PULS 4 (not on Puls 24) and is available in free stream.