Release from 18.03.2026

KAC plays at home | Bolzano fights to avoid season-ending exit

Short text 412 CharactersPlain text

With Graz and Pustertal, two semifinalists of the win2day ICE Hockey League 2025/26 season are already determined, while the remaining two spots are still up for grabs. In the series between EC-KAC and Hydro Fehérvár AV19, everything is tied after two games. Further along is the series between HCB Südtirol Alperia and Olimpija Ljubljana. Bolzano trails 1–3 and faces a fight to avoid an early exit on Thursday.

Press release 1820 CharactersPlain text

EC-KAC started the quarterfinals with a 3–0 home win against Fehérvár but was defeated 1–2 in Hungary on Tuesday, evening the Best-of-7 series. It was Fehérvár’s first home win against KAC this season. In Klagenfurt, however, they are still searching for a victory, as the KAC also won both regular-season encounters (4–0, 3–2 OT).

Bolzano fights to avoid season-ending exit
Bolzano must win at home, trailing 1–3 in the series against Ljubljana. On Thursday, the Slovenians celebrated a 4–0 home victory – the first win on home ice in this series. Olimpija also won both games in Bolzano 3–2, including one in overtime. If the Slovenians win again on Thursday, it would mark Olimpija’s first semifinal appearance, having previously only reached the quarterfinals in their debut season in 2022, when they narrowly lost to Villach 3–4. Notably, the predecessor club from Slovenia’s capital even made it to the final. If Bolzano were to be eliminated, it would be the tenth time since the introduction of the quarterfinal pick (2012/13) that the fourth-placed team in the regular season fails to reach the semifinals. So far, it has only happened four times that neither the third-place team – in this case, already-eliminated Salzburg – nor the fourth-place team made it to the semifinals (2023, 2016, 2015, 2014).

win2day ICE Hockey League | Quarter Finals:
Thu, 19.03.2026:
19:15: EC-KAC – Hydro Fehérvár AV19
Referees: PIRAGIC, SCHAUER, Nothegger, Zgonc | LIVE on Sporteurope.tv (HUN commentary available)
Standings in the best-of-7 series: 1:1

19:45: HCB Südtirol Alperia – Olimpija Ljubljana
Referees: SMETANA, STERNAT, Fleischmann, Puff | LIVE on Sporteurope.tv (ITA + SLO commentary available)
Standings in the best-of-7 series: 1:3