Full round for the start of the new season

The new season of the win2day ICE Hockey League is just around the corner. Thirteen teams from four different nations will open the new season of the multinational league this weekend. With the BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg and Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey, two completely new teams are also about to make their debut in the ICE.

The Regular Season, which starts on Friday and lasts until the end of February, will be played in a round-robin with 48 games per team. Thus, all thirteen teams will play each other four times in a total of 312 games. The top six teams then qualify directly for the quarterfinals. The teams in seventh to tenth place will play in the pre-playoffs in a "best-of-3" mode.

The new season started alrady at the beginning of the week with a two-day kick-off event in Velden am Wörthersee. On Monday evening, head coaches and key players played in the first win2day ICE Hockey League Charity Poker Tournament. The following day, the traditional season kick-off press conference took place again at Casino Velden after a two-year break. All information about the kick-off event can be found here.

win2day ICE Hockey League | 16.09.2022:
Fri, 16.09.2022, 19:15: Moser Medical Graz99ers - Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey
Referees: BERNEKER, RENCZ, Martin, Muzsik. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
After the elimination in the pre-playoffs last season, the Moser Medical Graz99ers want to play for the playoffs again in the upcoming season. For the opener, the Styrians will have to deal with league newcomer Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey. The Italians are the reigning champion of the Alps Hockey League and will participate in the ICE for the first time next season. The preseason was not that good for both teams. The 99ers lost in six of eight test games, but they also played against consistently very strong teams. Asiago played only three preseason games and lost two of them. On the Graz side, their youngest new signing James Livingston, who took part in team training for the first time on Wednesday, could make his debut on Friday. Ken Ograjensek, Mario Altmann and Daniel Woger will not be in the lineup.

Interview Daniel Oberkofler (G99):

Fri, 16.09.2022, 19:15: Steinbach Black Wings Linz - EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV
Referees: FICHTNER, SMETANA, Bärnthaler, Riecken. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
With a new head coach and new goals, last year's bottom of the table Steinbach Black Wings Linz will start the season on Friday against the EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV. Philipp Lukas took over as coach of the Black Wings. In the past season, the 42-year-old, who won the championship title with Linz as a player in 2012, coached the Steel Wings Linz in the Alps Hockey League. The Black Wings had a mixed pre-season. Although they won the first two games, this was followed by six defeats in a row. VSV is already in the middle of the competition. In the Champions Hockey League, last year's semifinalist has already played four games. After three defeats at the beginning, they prevailed in the last game clearly with 6:2 against Krakow. In the H2H between Linz and Villach last season, VSV won in three of four duels. Head coach Rob Daum will have to do without convalescent Felix Maxa (lower-body injury) and John Hughes, who is ill, is also questionable. Otherwise, Daum has the entire squad at his disposal. Newcomer J.P. Lamoureux will start in goal.

Interview Derek Joslin (VSV):

Fri, 16.09.2022, 19:15: HC TIWAG Innsbruck – Die Haie - EC-KAC
Referees: HUBER, PIRAGIC, Seewald, Zgonc. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
The EC-KAC starts the new season at the HC TIWAG Innsbruck - Die Haie. Last season they lost surprisingly early in the quarterfinals. In seven dramatic games, the team from Klagenfurt lost to the spusu Vienna Capitals. Innsbruck missed the jump into the postseason for the fourth time in a row. For the EC-KAC it will be the first of eight away games in a row due to the reconstruction works in the Stadthalle Klagenfurt. The preseason was consistently positive for the KAC, with four wins from six games. The "Sharks" from Tyrol, who are starting their 20th season in Austria's top division, won four of their seven preseason games. On the KAC side, Paul Postma and Samuel Witting return to the lineup.

Interview Petri Matikainen (KAC):

Fri, 16.09.2022, 19:40: EC Red Bull Salzburg - spusu Vienna Capitals
Referees: OFNER, STERNAT, Bedynek, Nothegger | >> LIVE ON PULS 24 <<
The first PULS 24 live match of the new season will be an absolute highlight match. The reigning champion EC Red Bull Salzburg will face the spusu Vienna Capitals. This will be a rematch of last season's semifinal, in which the Red Bulls kept the upper hand with 4:0. The game will start at 19:40. Before the game, there will be a ceremony to mark the retirement of Manuel Latusa. His former shirt number 15 will be hung on a banner under the roof of the Salzburg Eisarena and will no longer be awarded in the professional arena. So far, the honor has only been bestowed to one player; since 2018, the former shirt number 20 of Daniel Welser, Manuel Latusa's former teammate, has been hanging in the Salzburg Eisarena. For the Red Bulls, Friday will be their fifth competitive game of the current season. In the Champions Hockey League, they picked up three wins in their first four games, with all games going into overtime or shootout. The Capitals ended their preseason last weekend with a loss to the Augsburg Panthers. In total, they could only win two of their seven test games.

Fri, 16.09.2022, 19:45: HCB Südtirol Alperia - BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg
Referees: TRILAR, ZRNIC, Basso, Miklic. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
The second league newcomer BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg will play its first game in the win2day ICE Hockey League at the HCB Südtirol Alperia. For the hosts from Bolzano, last season ended already in the pre-playoffs. With a much changed squad and with Glen Hanlon as the new head coach, they should achieve more again next season. In the preseason they won six of their nine games. At the end of the preseason, however, they suffered a 0:6 defeat against local rivals Pustertal. Sam Harvey, Dylan Di Perna and Angelo Miceli have recovered from their injuries and are ready to play again. Therefore Bolzano will play with their complete squad. The Pioneers, who have won three of six test matches, have been missing a number of players. Before the season opener in South Tyrol, however, the team from Feldkirch announced relaxation. Only Tobias Reinbacher, Patrick Stückler and Matt Revel are definitely not available to Head Coach Mark Habscheid for the season opener.

Fri, 16.09.2022, 19:45: HC Pustertal Wölfe - Hydro Fehérvár AV19
Referees: GROZNIK, NIKOLIC K., Hribar, Pardatscher. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
The HC Pustertal Wölfe opens the new season with a home match against runner-up Hydro Fehérvár AV19. The South Tyroleans will play their second season in the ICE. In their premiere season they promptly made it to the quarterfinals. In this they lost against tomorrow's opponent from Hungary with 0:4. In total, they have won two out of eight games against Fehérvár so far. The preseason was extremely positive for the "Wolves" from Bruneck, with six wins from nine games. In the last test match, they celebrated a 6:0 prestige win over Bolzano. For Fehérvár, the preseason has already been over for a while. For the first time, the Hungarians are participating in the Champions Hockey League. However, a success in the highest European league has not yet been achieved (4 games - 4 defeats).

win2day ICE Hockey League | 17.09.2022:
Sat, 17.09.2022, 19:15: EC Red Bull Salzburg - Hydro Fehérvár AV19
Referees: BERNEKER, PIRAGIC, Martin, Zgonc. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
Already on Saturday it comes to the final rematch between EC Red Bull Salzburg and Hydro Fehérvár AV19. The Red Bulls kept the upper hand in the final series clearly with 4:0 victories, whereby two games were decided with only one goal difference and the other two games with two goal difference. Although in the recent past the encounters between Salzburg and Fehérvár were close in terms of the result, most of the time the Red Bulls prevailed. Nine of the last ten direct duels have gone to the team from Salzburg.