Release from 02.05.2023

Herburger returns to the KAC

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After ten years with engagements in Switzerland and Salzburg, forward Raphael Herburger returns to the EC-KAC. In 2009 and 2013 Herburger already lifted the Karl Nedwed Trophy with the KAC.

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Raphael Herburger, who last played three years in the highest league in Switzerland, is the first new addition to the EC-KAC. Herburger was born in Vorarlberg, and it was with his parent club, Dornbirner EC, that he first attracted attention with three strong years in the National League, then Austria's second-highest division. In the summer of 2008, at the age of just 19, the forward joined EC-KAC, for the team he played in the following five seasons, during which he recorded 102 scoring points (33 goals, 69 assists). In two seasons, 2009 and 2013, Herburger crowned himself champion with the KAC.

The second title win with Klagenfurt was followed by Raphael Herburger's first foreign engagement, he joined EHC Biel-Bienne in the then National League A, Switzerland's highest league, for three seasons. After his fourth World Cup appearance overall, the Vorarlberg native returned to Austria in the summer of 2016, but he remained without a title in four years with EC Salzburg.

The center spent the past three seasons back in Switzerland, with HC Lugano he always reached the playoffs, but was eliminated there in the quarterfinals each time. The 34-year-old has played 465 games in the ICE Hockey League (253 points), 315 games in Switzerland (116 points), 20 times in four Champions Hockey League appearances and 93 games for Team Austria, including five World Cup appearances and one Olympic appearance.

KAC General Manager Oliver Pilloni: "After the career end of Thomas Koch it was clear that we have a need for an Austrian center forward. Raphael Herburger was a natural choice: He has been living in Klagenfurt for 15 years, once celebrated great successes with our club as a young player and has since had a good career with long-term commitments to three renowned clubs. We have been in contact again and again over the past years and are pleased that it has now worked out with a return. Raphael Herburger is now a versatile center who has taken on very different roles at his last stations. His signing enhances our squad accordingly and opens up new options for us."