Release from 03.08.2021

Champion KAC has started the training camp

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On Monday, the EC-KAC started its team training. The reigning champions' preparation camp will last five weeks, and the team will finally start the new season on 3 September with the Champions Hockey League home game against French side Rouen.

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In April, the first season in the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League came to an end with the 32nd championship title in the club history of the EC-KAC. The Carinthians prevailed 5:3 in the fifth final game and won the "best-of-7" final series against HCB Südtirol Alperia 4:1. Klagenfurt thus managed to defend their title and win their sixth championship since the league was newly founded in the summer of 2000. After three months of summer training, - the almost unchanged - EC-KAC team returned to ice training on Monday morning. The first day of training opened with an off-ice session in the gym at 9.00 am, after which coaches Petri Matikainen and Juha Vuori asked for two 50-minute sessions on the ice. The coaching staff decided to go into the first week of training camp with five full blocks and four goalies - a total of 29 athletes.


Thomas Koch is entering his 23rd pro season, the 16th with the EC-KAC senior team.

Head Coach Petri Matikainen was satisfied with the first sessions: "I think the guys had a very good and productive summer. I want the boys to come to work in the dressing room every morning with a smile on their faces, just like last year. Then we work and develop step by step because we don't need to win in August, we need to be a team that grows and gets better throughout the year."

The EC-KAC will go to Slovakia from 17 to 22 August and will also take part in a preseason tournament. They will finally start the 2021/22 season at the beginning of September with four of the six group games in the Champions Hockey League. The first game will be at home on 3 September against French champions Rouen Dragons. Two days later, Denmark's reigning title holders, Rungsted Seier Capital, come to Carinthia.

Interview with Head Coach Petri Matikainen