First Carinthian season derby on Austrian National Day

win2day ICE Hockey League | Schedule:
Wed, 26.10.2022, 15.00: EC Red Bull Salzburg - Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey
Referees: HUBER, NIKOLIC M., Seewald, Wimmler | >> PPV-Stream

For EC Red Bull Salzburg the first ICE home game after more than two and a half weeks is coming up. So far, the Red Bulls have gained 2.3 points per game - more than any other team in the win2day ICE Hockey League. Only leader Bolzano also holds more than two points per game. This average should even be increased against last-place Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey. The newcomers to the league are not to be underestimated, however, as they celebrated a victory over the league leaders last weekend. On Sunday, the yellow-reds were beaten by the Moser Medical Graz99ers. Asiago's attack is based on the duo Giordano Finoro and Anthony Salinitri, who have scored 13 of the 28 goals for their team so far. No other team in the win2day ICE Hockey League has a similar dependence on one duo as Asiago. The counter-thesis is put forward by EC Red Bull Salzburg, who are one of three teams to have six players in their ranks who have already scored three or more goals. In the first duel of the season, the reigning champions prevailed 5:3. However, the league newcomer already led twice in this encounter. Only a strong third period brought the turnaround for the Salzburg side. The Red Bulls will again be without convalescents Lukas Schreier, Ty Loney, Thomas Raffl, Dominique Heinrich and Troy Bourke.

Wed, 26.10.2022, 16.30: EC-KAC - ED iDM Wärmepumpen VSV
Referees: STERNAT, ZRNIC, Hribar, Zgonc | >> PPV-Stream

After previously winning five out of six consecutive games, the EC-KAC suffered a setback last weekend: The Redcoats lost 5:3 to the Black Wings Linz on Friday night at the premiere in the new Heidi Horten Arena and were defeated 4:3 by HCB Südtirol on Sunday.The record champions, who now face four home games in a row every two days, are currently only ninth in the win2day ICE Hockey League standings. VSV will also go into the first local duel of the new season with a defeat, the Eagles lost 1:3 on their own ice to the defending champions from Salzburg on Sunday evening. Immediately before that, however, Villach recorded four wins in a row. Like the EC-KAC, EC VSV have also been weak in the special teams. The Blue-Whites are only in tenth place in the league-wide power play ranking, and in penalty killing they have the lowest success rate of all teams. Wednesday will be the 343rd time in history that the two teams faced each other in a competitive match, and the historical record of 180 wins to 143 (with 19 draws) is quite clearly in favour of the club from Klagenfurt. The Redcoats have won the derby in each of the last six seasons, with 22 of the last 27 direct encounters going to the record champions. Especially in Klagenfurt, the EC-KAC has been an unbreakable nut for the Eagles in recent years: Red and White have won each of the last 15 home games against Villach, which corresponds to the longest series of victories against the local rivals in front of their own crowd in derby history. The only currently active VSV player was goalkeeper JP Lamoureux in the last Villach derby win in Klagenfurt - on 2.2.2016 the Blue-Whites won 5:1. The KAC will have to do without forwards Johannes Bischofberger and Niki Kraus on Wednesday, the appearance of defender Clemens Unterweger is questionable. VSV are missing the long-term injured Julian Payr and Elias Wallenta.

Wed, 26.10.2022, 17.30: Moser Medical Graz99ers - HCB Südtirol Alperia
Referees: SIEGEL, SMETANA, Bedynek, Gatol-Schaffranek | >> PPV-Stream

The Moser Medical Graz99ers ended a three-game losing streak on Sunday. The Styrians won 3:2 in Asiago, with only four imports in the lineup. Graz are still waiting for their first home win this season, they only got two points from four games. Tomorrow, HCB Südtirol, the current league leader, will come to the Merkur Eisstadion. The Foxes have already scored 24 points this season and were able to win 3:1 in the first meeting between these two teams. The South Tyroleans could only win two out of seven matches in Graz in the last three seasons. With Mike Halmo (7+5), Mitch Hults (4+8) and Dustin Gazley (2+10) a HCB trio holds at 12 points each. Gustav Bouramman, Tobias Fladeby, Ken Ograjensek and Mike Zalewski will certainly be missing for the Grazers. Viktor Granholm is set to make a comeback and there is a question mark behind the appearance of Christian Engstrand. HCB coach Glen Hanlon can count on the return of Matt Frattin, but Diego Glück is still out.

Wed, 26.10.2022, 17.30: Steinbach Black Wings Linz - BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg
Referees: BAJT, GROZNIK, Bärnthaler, Miklic | >> PPV-Stream

Seven wins and two losses is the impressive record of the Steinbach Black Wings Linz from the last nine games. For a while, the Upper Austrians were also at the top of the table, before HCB Südtirol Alperia regained the lead on Sunday. A win against the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg would keep the pressure on the Foxes, who currently have a one-point lead with one game less. The newcomer from Vorarlberg suffered three defeats after the surprise win against Bozen. Most recently, the Pioneers lost to the spusu Vienna Capitals after taking the lead. After five home games in a row, the Vorarlbergers now have to play on the road for the first time, where they have lost all four games so far and are still waiting for their first point. This is already the second meeting of the two teams this season. In the first encounter at the end of September, the Linz side won 3:2 on penalties. The Pioneers thought they had almost secured the three points. Stefan Gaffal - who also scored last week's top goal (see here) - forced overtime with ten seconds before the supposed end. The Pioneers Vorarlberg will have to do without the routine of captain Alex Pallestrang. He is out with a lower body injury. In addition, Luka Maver will not travel to Upper Austria due to his 1-game suspension. Donát Szita and the league newcomers could not reach an agreement, which ended the Hungarian forward's tryout.

Wed, 26.10.2022, 19.15: Hydro Fehérvár AV19 - spusu Vienna Capitals
Referees: FICHTNER, HLAVATY, Durmis, Konc | >> PPV-Stream

The spusu Vienna Capitals are currently the team of the hour. With five wins in a row, the Viennese have the longest running winning streak in the win2day ICE Hockey League. With their last victory against the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg, the Caps climbed into the top six for the first time this season. Just below the red line, on the other hand, is Hydro Fehérvár AV 19 - and that despite the fact that the runners-up of the previous season played three games more than the Viennese. A win in the eastern derby is enough for the Hungarians to leave the Caps behind them in the table. Fehérvár last beat the Steinbach Black Wings Linz - the game-winner was once again scored by Andrew Sarauer. The two teams will now play the first eastern derby of this calendar year. Last season, the home team won three out of four. Fehérvár will be wary of Matt Bradley, who is on a seven-game scoring streak: In the past seven games, the top scorer of the Viennese provided five goals and six assists.

Wed, 26.10.2022, 19.45: HC Pustertal - HC TIWAG Innsbruck
Referees: EGGER, LAZZERI, Cristeli, Pardatscher | >> PPV-Stream

HC Pustertal had a curious and eventful weekend. First came the parting of ways with head coach Stefan Mair. Interim head coach Phil Horsky then had to accept - in his first game in his new function - the highest defeat in the still short ICE history with 1:9 against his former team from Vienna. Only two days later, however, a clear reaction followed: With a 7:0 away win over HK SZ Olimpija, the highest victory since entering the league promptly followed. Filip Ahl (brace) and goalkeeper Tomas Sholl, who was named win2day top performer with his first shutout of the season, were particularly convincing. In the still young season, HC TIWAG Innsbruck's offensive has also been convincing so far. With 41 goals in eleven games, the Tyroleans clearly lead the scoring. In seven of their ten games so far, the Sharks have scored at least five times. It is also thanks to this offensive power that they are currently in fourth place. Adam Helewka, in particular, seems to be very difficult for opposing defenses to contain. With nine goals and seven assists so far, the 27-year-old Canadian leads the league-wide scoring and goal scorer rankings. The two teams have already met once in this year's preseason, with the Wolves gaining the upper hand with a 5:3 victory.