Release from 07.12.2024

Home games for Top 4 on Sunday | Innsbruck signs forward

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In the win2day ICE Hockey League, five games of the 27th round are scheduled on Sunday. The top four in the table all have a home game. League leaders Hydro Fehérvár AV19 take on Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey, while their closest rivals HCB Südtirol Alperia face Olimpija Ljubljana. In addition, the team of the moment, third-placed Steinbach Black Wings Linz, will host HC TIWAG Innsbruck and the fourth-placed Moser Medical Graz99ers will face EC iDM Wärempumpen VSV. In addition, defending champions EC Red Bull Salzburg, who are currently fifth in the table, are back in action in the league after their brilliant victory in the quarter-final first leg of the Champions Hockey League and play at the Pioneers Vorarlberg.

Even before the game in Linz, Innsbruck, who are twelfth in the table, made a move on the transfer market. The Tyroleans signed forward Jeremy Bracco, who brings AHL, KHL and DEL experience with him. The 27-year-old American was most recently under contract with HKM Zvolen in Slovakia.

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Steinbach Black Wings Linz - HC TIWAG Innsbruck
Linz is still the team of the hour. On Friday, the Upper Austrians defeated the back then league leaders Bolzano 5:2 at home. It was one of nine wins from the last ten games for the Black Wings, who are already in third place in the table. On Sunday, BWL will host Innsbruck, who are twelfth in the table. The Tyroleans are currently in a form crisis, with just two wins from their last ten encounters. On Friday, they lost 1:5 at home to Pustertal, who are also in crisis, and have also lost against Linz in both encounters so far this season (2:2/OT & 1:3).

Ahead of the game in Linz, Innsbruck have strengthened their squad with forward Jeremy Bracco. The 27-year-old US-American brings AHL, KHL and DEL experience with him. Bracco was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the 2015 NHL Draft. Although the forward did not make the leap to the NHL, he impressed in other leagues. The winger played over 180 games in the AHL, almost 100 games in the KHL and one season in Finland and the DEL. With the Krefeld Penguins, for example, Bracco scored 54 points in just as many league games. Most recently, the right winger played for Zvolen in Slovakia.

Jeremy Bracco: “I'm very excited to join a good team with fanatical fans in a beautiful city. I'm looking forward to playing for this organization and helping the team get back on top quickly.”

Pioneers Vorarlberg - EC Red Bull Salzburg
Defending champions Salzburg face their first league challenge this week. During the week, the Red Bulls celebrated a brilliant 3:1 home win in the Champions Hockey League quarter-final first leg against Farjestad. It was one of nine wins from the last ten games for the fifth-placed team in the table, but they have played four games less than leaders Fehérvár, who have twelve more points than RBS. Pioneers Vorarlberg are still bottom of the table and have not won any of their last seven matches. They are already eleven points behind tenth-placed Pustertal. On Friday, the Vorarlberg team lost 0:2 at home to the KAC, the second game in a row in which the Pioneers failed to score. In total, they have been waiting 127 minutes and 14 seconds to score. In the direct comparison with Salzburg, they picked up a point in the first duel of the season (5:6/OT). In the second meeting, on November 27 in Salzburg, they were clearly defeated 1:5.

HCB Südtirol Alperia - Olimpija Ljubljana
Bolzano suffered a 2:5 defeat in Linz on Friday, ending their impressive run of six wins and dropping them to second place in the table. Ljubljana also failed to score: In Villach, the Slovenians squandered a 5:3 lead in the final 15 minutes. As a result, Ljubljana slipped to eighth place and are already seven points behind the sixth-placed KAC. Olimpija have been unsuccessful against Bolzano so far this season. A 2:5 home defeat in October was followed by a narrow 1:2 loss on penalties in November. Should the “Foxes” from South Tyrol also win their third game of the season, it would be their 400th league win.

Moser Medical Graz99ers - EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV
Graz and Villach will also meet for the third time this season on Sunday. The 99ers were victorious in both previous encounters (4:2, 6:4). The fourth-placed team from Styria suffered a clear 2:6 defeat at home to Fehérvár on Friday, one of four defeats in the last seven games. Villach, on the other hand, have been unbeaten for three games. On Friday, they turned a 3:5 against Ljubljana into a 6:5 home win. Before that, they had narrowly beaten the Pioneers (3:2) and Asiago (6:5). The Carinthians have already worked their way up to seventh place in the table, seven points behind local rivals KAC, who currently occupy the all-important sixth place.

Hydro Fehérvár AV19 - Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey
In the fifth and final game of the day, league leaders Fehérvár take on Asiago, who are eleventh in the table. The Hungarians clearly won 6:2 in Graz on Friday, celebrating their third win in a row and overtaking Bolzano in the table, who lost in Linz. With 54 points, they have a one-point lead over the South Tyroleans. Asiago have 24 points and are currently four points behind tenth-placed Pustertal. The team from Veneto has been waiting for a win for four games now, losing narrowly 2:3 at home to Vienna on Friday. The Italians have been beaten in both head-to-head meetings with Fehérvár so far this season (3:5, 1:4).

win2day ICE Hockey League:
Sunday, 08.12.2024:
15:30: Steinbach Black Wings Linz – HC TIWAG Innsbruck
Referees: KAINBERGER, SMETANA, Gatol-Schafranek, Sparer. | >> live.ice.hockey <<

16:00: Pioneers Vorarlberg – EC Red Bull Salzburg
Referees: NIKOLIC M., SEEWALD E., Fleischmann, Seewald J. | >> live.ice.hockey <<

16:00: HCB Südtirol Alperia – Olimpija Ljubljana
Referees: HUBER, Zrnic, Pardatscher, Rigoni. | >> live.ice.hockey <<

17:30: Moser Medical Graz99ers – EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV
Referees: GROZNIK, SOOS, Hribar, Riecken. | >> live.ice.hockey <<

17:30: Hydro Fehérvár AV19 – Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey
Referees: NAGY, REZEK, Muzsik, Vaczi. | >> live.ice.hockey <<