Release from 18.01.2023
On Thursday the Alps Hockey League Intermediate Round starts with six games, which is divided into a Master Round and Qualfication Round A/B. All five teams of the Master Round have already fixed their playoff ticket and will play in a round robin for the home and pick right for the playoffs. In the Qualification Round, the remaining ten teams are in action, divided into two groups of five teams each. From both groups, the three best teams will qualify for the Pre-Playoffs, where the last three quarterfinal tickets will be played out.
Alps Hockey League | 19.01.2023:
Master Round:
Thu, 19.01.2023, 19:00: HDD SIJ Aroni Jesenice - S.G. Cortina Hafro
Referees: BAJT, OREL, Arlic, Bergant. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
The winner of Regular Season Phase 1, HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice, will start the Master Round with four bonus points. In the first game, last year's finalist will face S.G. Cortina Hafro, who got two bonus points after finishing third. In the first phase of the season, Jesenice won both direct meetings without conceding a goal (2:0 & 4:0). Last week, the Slovenians lost in the national championship final against HK SZ Olimpija with 0:2 victories. Thus, the win2day ICE Hockey League representative from Ljubljana secured the win of the Slovenian championship for the second time in a row. Cortina was last in action on January 6th in Merano and won clearly with 5:1. Before that, the Italians suffered three defeats in a row.
Thu, 19.01.2023, 20:00: Rittner Buam SkyAlps - Hockey Unterland Cavaliers
Referees: MOSCHEN, PINIE, Bedana, Fleischmann. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
In the duel Rittner Buam SkyAlps vs Hockey Unterland Cavaliers the fourth-placed team after Regular Season Phase 1 from Ritten (1 bonus point) will face the second-placed team Unterland (3 bonus points). League newcomer Unterland qualified for the Master Round with 17 wins and eight losses. Ritten made it into the Top-5 thanks to a strong finish, with three wins in a row. In the direct comparison, HCU always had the better end for itself in the Alps Hockey League so far (4:3/OT & 7:4). In the point scorer charts Santeri Haarala of Unterland is currently at the top of the league (46 points). On the Buam side, Jakob Cardwell leads with 41 points. In total he is fourth in the AHL.
Qualification Round A:
Thu, 19.01.2023, 19:30: EK Die Zeller Eisbären - Steinbach Steel Wings Linz
Referees: KAINBERGER, WIDMANN, Schweighofer, Seewald J. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
For the opener of Qualification Round A, the EK Die Zeller Eisbären will face the Steinbach Steel Wings Linz. The Polar Bears narrowly missed out the Master Round after finishing sixth in the first round and enter the Qualification Round group with six bonus points. The Steel Wings, who finished the first phase of the season in 14th place, received no bonus points. The home team was victorious in both direct duels this season. Overall, however, the Polar Bears have a clear lead in the H2H with 7:3. At home, the team from Pinzgau was overall very strong in the first phase of the season, with only four defeats, but three of them in the last five home games.
Thu, 19.01.2023, 20:30: SHC Fassa Falcons - HC Gherdeina valgardena.it
Referees: BENVEGNU, LAZZERI, Brondi, Ze Zordo. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
Just like the Steel Wings, the SHC Fassa Falcons did not get any bonus points. The Italians finished the first phase of the season in the thirteenth place. The HC Gherdeina valgardena.it, which finished Regular Season Phase 1 in tenth place, starts the Qualification Round in third place with two bonus points. Thus, the Broncos currently have a pre-playoff spot. Both teams have not been in good form lately. While Fassa has lost all of its last five games, Val Gardena has been defeated in five of its last six AHL games. Only at the currently best team in Jesenice they prevailed with 1:0. In the direct comparison, the home team kept the upper hand in both season duels.
Qualification Round B:
Thu, 19.01.2023, 19:30: EC-KAC Future Team - EC Bregenzerwald
Referees: BULOVEC, MEIXNER, Jeram, Kanyo. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
Without bonus points both the EC-KAC Future Team and the EC Bregenzerwald start into the Qualification Round B. Thus, both teams are currently outside the pre-playoff places. For the Future Team, Thursday will be the first game since December 8th, 2022. Since many players of the Klagenfurt team were nominated for the U20 World Championship in Canada, they finished Regular Season Phase 1 earlier than all other teams. In their last five games, the bottom team of the first phase of the season picked up one win. Bregenzerwald could also win only one of their last five games. In the direct comparison, ECB kept the upper hand in both meetings (6:0 & 3:1).
Thu, 19.01.2023, 20:00: EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel - HC Meran/o Pircher
Referees: HOLZER, LEHNER, Moidl, Spiegel. | >> PPV-LIVESTREAM <<
The EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel finished the first phase of the season in a strong seventh place and thus entered Qualification Round B as the top seeded team and with five bonus points. With one bonus point less, the HC Meran/o Pircher follows in second place. The South Tyrolean team finished the first round in eighth place. They were six points behind Kitzbühel. Both teams have won three of their last five games. In the H2H, Kitzbühel prevailed in both season duels (3:2 & 3:1).
Copyright: Max Pattis