Release from 05.03.2023

Quarter-Finals are set

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The playoffs in the win2day ICE Hockey League start on Tuesday, as the pairings for the "best-of-7" quarter-final series have been set since Sunday evening. The top 3 teams were allowed to choose their opponent for the quarterfinals for the eleventh time in league history. In addition to past season’s final remake between EC Red Bull Salzburg and Hydro Fehérvár AV19, the two Carinthian teams EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV and EC-KAC will meet. The other pairings are HCB Südtirol Alperia against Steinbach Black Wings Linz and HC TIWAG Innsbruck - Die Haie against spusu Vienna Capitals.

Liga host broadcaster PULS24 will show one game on each playoff gameday live, starting on Tuesday at 7.05 pm with the derby between Villach and Klagenfurt. The other games will be offered as PPV streams on www.live.ice.hockey.

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HCB Südtirol Alperia (1) – Steinbach Black Wings Linz (7):

  • Season record: 3 wins HCB | 1 win BWL
  • After missing the playoffs for the first time last season, the South Tyroleans won Regular Season 22-23.
  • For the third time, the Foxes enter the postseason as the top-seeded team.
  • The Black Wings qualified for the playoffs again after a two-year break.
  • It is a duel of two former champions (statistics since the league was founded in 2000/01): Bolzano (2014, 2018), Linz (2003, 2012).
  • Bolzano has won ten of its 15 playoff series so far. Linz also has a positive record with 19 series won to 15 lost.
  • The two clubs have faced each other in the playoffs three times before:
    • Quarterfinals 2015 (4:3 Linz)
    • Quarterfinals 2016 (4:2 Linz)
    • Quarterfinal 2017 (4:1 Bolzano)
  • In both the 2016 and 2017 quarterfinal series, the lower seeded team won.
  • The winner after the regular season has always qualified at least for the semifinals since the live pick was established
EC Red Bull Salzburg (2) – Hydro Fehérvár AV19 (8)
  • Season record: 4 wins RBS
  • Salzburg qualified for the playoffs for the 17th time in a row.
  • For Fehérvár, it was their eighth playoff qualification since joining the win2day ICE Hockey League (2007/08).
  • The teams faced each other in the final last season. In that one, the Red Bulls prevailed 4-0. 
  • The Red Bulls hold seven championship titles.
  • The runner-up after the regular season has always qualified for at least the semifinals since the live pick was established.
  • Salzburg has played the most playoff games of any team with 220 (142 wins).
  • The two clubs have faced each other two times in the playoffs:
    • Quarterfinals 2019 (4:2 Salzburg)
    • Finals 2022 (4:0 Salzburg)
HC TIWAG Innsbruck - Die Haie (3) – spusu Vienna Capitals (6)
  • Season record: 2 wins HCI | 2 wins VIC
  • Innsbruck qualified for the playoffs again after a four-year break
  • For the third-placed team after the regular season, three of the nine quarterfinal series (since the playoff pick was made) were lost.
  • Innsbruck has won only one of its ten playoff series so far (2003 vs. G99).
  • Vienna has always made it past the quarterfinals in the last five seasons (excluding the 19-20 campaign, which was cancelled due to COVID 19).
  • Vienna shares with Salzburg the number of "sweeps", eight series the two-time champion has gone without defeat.
  • The two clubs have faced each other three times in the playoffs:
    • Quarterfinals 2008 (3:0 Vienna)
    • Quarterfinals 2017 (4:0 Vienna)
    • Quarterfinals 2018 (4:2 Vienna)
EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV (4) – EC-KAC (5)
  • Season record: 2 wins VSV | 2 wins KAC (all four games ended with only one goal difference).
  • Villach is in the playoff for the fourth straight season, Klagenfurt last missed the postseason in 2014.
  • The KAC has won the title five times since the league's inception, while Villach has triumphed twice.
  • Klagenfurt's Thomas Koch is the record holder in game-winning goals in the playoffs with 14.
  • Since the live pick was established, the fourth-place team has advanced to the semifinals after the regular season only twice (in the last two years).
  • The two clubs have faced each other in the playoffs five times (since the league's inception):
    • Final 2001 (4:2 KAC)
    • Semifinal 2002 (4:2 VSV)
    • Final 2004 (3:2 KAC)
    • Semifinals 2011 (4:1 KAC)
    • Quarterfinal 2021 (4:1 KAC)