Pustertal sports director Patrick Bona: "We enjoy the moment"

After an absolute dream start with six wins out of the first six games of the season and 17 out of 18 possible points, the HC Pustertal recently lost three times in a row. After the 2:4 home defeat against Olimpija, a narrow 1:2 defeat at champion and league leader Salzburg followed. On Sunday, the South Tyroleans finally lost in a high-class match in Villach with 4:5 after shootout. However, the Wolves are still third in the table and are happy about the best start to the season so far since joining the league. Between round five and round seven, the South Tyroleans were even at the top of the table for the first time. A surprise for many, but not all, since Pustertal has strengthened the squad with some top-class names. PUS sports director Patrick Bona is pleased that they have made an immediate impact: "Of course, you always hope that all the new signing will hit the ground running. But it always takes a bit of luck that they fit in with their line partners and perform well accordingly."

Head coach Valtonen has a big hand in the current team
In total, three new signings, with David Morley, Jason Akeson and Alex Petan, already have ten or more points scored. A large part of the strong start is also attributed to Head Coach Tomek Valtonen, who also played an active role in the player signings. "With every new addition, the coach had a say. The team was put together with the coaching staff. In the end, the coach has to work with the players on a daily basis and accordingly it is also important to pick the respective players together," said Bona, who himself played for Pustertal between 2004 and 2018.

In goal, the Wolves were able to strengthen themselves with Andreas Bernard, who had a dream start with a shutout in the derby against his former club Bolzano. Overall, the club from Brunico is currently nine places and twelve points ahead of the capitals from South Tyrol, which makes the native of Bolzano Patrick Bona and the entire club accordingly happy: "I think this is already a great feeling for the whole club. It is a satisfaction for the hard work that everyone puts in. We're enjoying the moment, knowing full well that we can't lose focus and always have to keep working hard."

With his 33 years Andreas Bernard is no longer one of the Italian youngsters in the team. However, Pustertal is keen to give ice time to many young local players. A total of seven squad players are born in 2000 or younger: "Our young players are very hungry and give 100% every day to get as much playing time as possible. That was then also the reason to rely on more experienced players, so that the boys can learn as much as possible from them and develop further."

Playoff spot remains season goal
In terms of the season's goal, nothing has changed at the HCP despite the very strong start to the season with six wins from the first nine games of the season and third place in the standings. As in the first season, Pustertal wants to reach the playoffs: "I think this is a great moment now, which we enjoy of course. Nevertheless, we keep our feet on the ground and continue to work on our goals, our strengths and weaknesses every day. The goal remains the same: the playoff participation. Whether directly or via the Pre-Playoffs," explains Patrick Bona, who as a player with Pustertal won the Italian Cup once and the Supercup three times.

Association is becoming more and more professional
However, increased interest in the club has already been noticeable for months. Once again, the small town with just 17,000 inhabitants was able to sell more than 1,200 season tickets. The sports director greatly appreciates the great support: "In the region, HC Pustertal has been a household name for quite some time. Together with FC Südtirol and HC Bozen, we are one of the three big team sports organizations in South Tyrol. In our valley, people are definitely crazy about hockey, which was also shown by the spectator average of over 2,100 people in the moderate last season. The support of our fans and sponsors is great!"

With the increased interest in the HC Pustertal from fans and sponsors, the club has also constantly evolved in terms of professionalism: "We try to be as professional as possible. We are improving from year to year, we have been able to increase the number of full-time employees from year to year. These people have different backgrounds, and of course they bring us extremely forward in the organizational, marketing and sponsoring areas," Patrick Bona concludes.