Release from 08.01.2021
© (c) HCP / Foppa / Optic Rapid
On Saturday, the Alps Hockey League will see a duel between leader HC Pustertal and last-place Steel Wings Linz. The Red Bull Hockey Juniors make their comeback at the Rittner Buam after a break of more than one month. While all three teams from Vorarlberg play on the road, the EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel fights at home to end its losing streak. HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice hosts Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan in the second game after the break.
Alps Hockey League | Saturday, January 9th:
Sat, 09.01.2020, 5.30 pm: HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana – EC Bregenzerwald
Referees: PAHOR, REZEK, Arlic, Bergant. | >> FREE LIVESTREAM <<
The gameday in the Alps Hockey League opens with a duel between two teams from the top-6. Second-placed HK SZ Olimpija Ljubljana, where Finnish newcomer Juuso Pulli will make his debut, hosts EC Bregenzerwald. Both teams have played 12 games, the "Dragons" are second with 36 points, the "Wälder" are sixth with 28 points. From the last five games, both have scored twelve points each - but this season they meet each other for the first time. In the last four duels against each other, Ljubljana has always scored, winning three times. The Austrians head to Ljubljana after Friday night’s game at Klagenfurt. While Julian Metzler is questionable, Jonas Kutzer and Bernhard Posch will return to the lineup.
Sat, 09.01.2020, 6.00 pm: HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice – Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan
Referees: BAJT, LESNIAK, Pagon, Snoj. | >> FREE LIVESTREAM <<
With HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice also the second Slovenian AHL club has a home game on Saturday, hosting the Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan. While the Slovenians remained scoreless in their comeback game last Tuesday, the "Broncos" recorded two wins (1x OT, 1x SO) against Fassa recently, but are still only 13th in the standings. Jesenice ranks ninth with 20 points and has played the fewest of all AHL teams with seven games so far. Against the South Tyrolean, the Slovenians are without defeat for five games, have always scored in the last seven games. Both teams still have weaknesses especially on power play, are there in the league comparison only 13th (JES | 17.9%) and 14th (WSV | 17.2%) place. WSV head coach Dustin Whitecotton is still without Tobias Kofler and Daniel Soraruf, and Renè Deluca is not expected to be available yet.
Sat, 09.01.2020, 7.00 pm: Steel Wings Linz – HC Pustertal Wölfe
Referees: BRUNNER, WIDMANN, Moidl, Reisinger. | >> PPV LIVESTREAM <<
In Upper Austria, the last-place Steel Wings Linz will receive the league leader HC Pustertal Wölfe. The leader has won its last five games on the row, while Linz has only won one game this year. The South Tyrolean, who have the best penalty killing in the league with 90.7%, are the clear favorites in this duel. In the past season, the "Wolves" won both games with 6:2 each. The Austrians are likely to have 17-year-old Canadian Francesco Arcuri available for the first time in this duel.
Sat, 09.01.2020, 7.00 pm: HC Gherdeina valgardena.it – EHC Lustenau
Referees: MOSCHEN, STEFENELLI, Cristeli, De Zordo. | >> PPV LIVESTREAM <<
For the first time this season HC Gherdeina valgardena.it (#11) and EHC Lustenau (#7) will meet. The South Tyroleans have been too inconsistent so far this year, apart from the start of the season they have not been able to celebrate two or more wins in a row. The Austrians, who will play their first game in 2021, have won six of their last nine games - and especially always performed well in Gardena. EHC took points from all six encounters in the Pranives, winning five times. Lustenau will have to do without Zintis Zusevics, who has moved to the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League to join the Steinbach Black Wings in 1992.
Sat, 09.01.2020, 7.00 pm: Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey – VEU Feldkirch
Referees: GIACOMOZZI F., LEGA, Carrito, Mantovani. | >> PPV LIVESTREAM <<
A duel of two neighbors in the standings takes place in Italy - fifth Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey challenges fourth VEU Feldkirch. Both teams have won recently, Asiago, the best powerplay team in the league (30.6%) returned to winning ways with a 3:0 over Jesenice. Vorarlberg have won their last three games in a row, each time narrowly winning by one goal difference. The last duel between these two teams so far was almost a year ago: on January 12th, 2020, VEU won 5:4 after penalty shootout, thanks to four goals of Kevin Puschnik. VEU has always scored in the last four games against Asiago.
Sat, 09.01.2020, 8.00 pm: EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel – S.G. Cortina Hafro
Referees: KUMMER, WUNTSCHEK, Eisl, Wimmler. | >> PPV LIVESTREAM <<
EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel, which held up well against AHL leader Pustertal on Tuesday, hosts S.G. Cortina Hafro. The Tyrolean side snatched a point from HCP in a 2:3 OT loss, while Cortina started 2021 with a 4:0 shutout win over Ritten. Nonetheless, Kitzbühel has been waiting for a win for seven games and is currently only in 14th place. The "Adler" are particularly struggling offensively, only managing to score 1.48 goals per game during their losing streak. Cottam Harrison is no longer available to Cortina, he switched to Pergine after eight points (4G | 4A).
Sat, 09.01.2020, 8.00 pm: Rittner Buam – Red Bull Hockey Juniors
Referees: BENVEGNU, LAZZERI, Bedana, Fleischmann. | >> PPV LIVESTREAM <<
The AHL comeback of the Red Bull Hockey Juniors after more than one month starts at the Rittner Buam - and the third-placed side from Austria has excellent memories of the South Tyroleans, who are in twelfth place: During the Return-2-Play phase there were two confrontations, which RBJ won with a total score of 16:2. However, the "Baum" showed reactions to these defeats and brought much better results, but they still have weaknesses when outnumbered (72% | #15).