Ritten wins top game | Sterzing makes it into the top 6

Two of the strongest teams in the Alps Hockey League faced each other in Klobenstein. Ritten and Salzburg played a fast-paced game right from the start, with the home side taking the lead through Giacomuzzi (11th). The Juniors replied less than three minutes later when Mackner equalised. After that, both teams had their chances, but the next goal was scored by Ritten. Eight seconds before the end of the period, Coatta made it 2:1 in the power play after Szypula's assist. Shortly after the restart, Coatta found the back of the net for a two-goal lead. A hard-fought second period followed, with some fights at times. Goals were only scored in the final phase. First it was Amorosa, who made it 4:1 for the Buam with a precise shot in the powerplay. Shortly before the break, Salzburg reduced the deficit through Myllymaa, also on the power play. The score remained 4:2 after 60 minutes, the Buam celebrated their sixth win in a row and once again proved their home strength: In their 14th game in the Ritten Area, the Blue & Reds were able to celebrate their 13th win.

The second-placed Zeller Eisbären also recorded a victory. The team from Pinzgau won 5:3 at Fassa. In the first period in particular, the teams had an open exchange of blows, with the visitors leading 3:2 after just twelve minutes. After the restart, Fabio Artner gave the visitors their first two-goal lead with his second of the night. The score was 5:3 by the 25th minute, and although the home side pressed for a goal in the third period, Zell am See managed to secure the win.

Bregenzerwald, Jesenice and Sterzing celebrate important victories in the race for the top six
EC Bregenzerwald is now in third place. The team from Vorarlberg beat Cortina 4:1. Although the Italians scored the only goal in the first period, the visitors turned it in their favour within 18 seconds shortly after the restart. In the 55th minute, Julian Zwerger scored his second goal to make the final decision. Bregenzerwald returned to winning ways after two previous defeats, while Cortina slipped to seventh place.

Jesenice won their away game in Neumarkt and moved up to fifth place as a result of Cortina's defeat. The visitors took the lead in the ninth minute through Tadej Cimzar. It was also the Slovenian forward who made it 4:1 in the 27th minute, also on the powerplay. Unterland failed to capitalise on their chances, with the Cavaliers scoring just one goal on 40 shots and failing to take advantage of five powerplay occassions.

In the race for the top six, Sterzing celebrated an important home win against Kitzbühel. The home side took an early lead through Adam Capannelli, but the Tyroleans turned the game in their favour in the first period. The Broncos took control again in the middle period with two powerplay goals within five minutes to make it 3:2. Kitzbühel were unable to counter this in the third period. In the 59th minute, Capannelli celebrated his hat-trick with an empty netter to make the final score 5:2. The Wipptaler improved to sixth place in the table.

Lustenau wins in Merano
EHC Lustenau scored six goals for the second time in a row and won 6:5 in Meran. The Vorarlberg side took the lead in the first period with a Kandemir brace. In the second period, the EHC, who scored three goals in the power play, pulled away to 6:3. The South Tyroleans made it exciting once more, but their fifth goal 13 seconds before the end came too late. Lustenau improved to eighth place in the table.

Val Gardena and Celje win after over time
Gardena recorded a comeback win in Linz, where the home side already led by three goals in the middle period. After the South Tyroleans equalised, the Steel Wings went ahead again, but Julian Senoner forced overtime. Anthony DeLuca was the match-winner with his second goal. The "Furie" thus gained revenge for their defeat in the first season meeting and moved up to twelfth place in the table.

Celje ended a ten-game losing streak. The penultimate team in the table prevailed 5:4 after over time against bottom team KAC Future Team, who had recently celebrated two victories. The Slovenians were already leading 3:0 in the 31st minute, but the Carinthians came back. Defenceman Nik Sirovnik scored the decisive goal in over time.

Alps Hockey League | 28.12.
Rittner Buam SkyAlps – Red Bull Hockey Juniors 4:2 (2:1,2:1,0:0)
Referees: EGGER, HOLZER, Pace, Rinker
Goals 1:0 RIT Giacomuzzi A. (10:03 / Insam M. ,Amorosa T. / EQ), 1:1 RBJ Mackner M. (12:52 / Sandholzer L. ,Haiböck F. / EQ), 2:1 RIT Coatta M. (19:52 / Szypula E. / PP), 3:1 RIT Coatta M. (21:25 / Amorosa T. ,Fink K. / EQ), 4:1 RIT Amorosa T. (36:17 / Coatta M. ,Szypula E. / PP), 4:2 RBJ Myllymaa K. (39:30 / Helander J. ,Zelenov V. / EQ)

Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan – EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 5:2 (1:2,2:0,2:0)
Referees: PINIE, SPIEGEL, Brondi, Hesina.
Goals 1:0 WSV Capannelli A. (03:44 / Livingston J. ,Hackhofer F. / EQ), 1:1 KEC Seto C. (05:58 / Rotter R. / EQ), 1:2 KEC Hochfilzer H. (07:04 / Lehtonen W. / EQ), 2:2 WSV Eisendle P. (31:07 / Maylan J. ,Topatigh D. / PP), 3:2 WSV Capannelli A. (35:51 / Topatigh D. ,Livingston J. / PP), 4:2 WSV Conci D. (48:47 / Cianfrone B. ,Livingston J. / EQ), 5:2 WSV Capannelli A. (58:38 / Maylan J. ,Niccolai A. / EQ)

HK RST Pellet Celje – EC-KAC Future Team 5:4 OT (1:0,2:2,1:2,1:0)
Referees: BAJT, BROCK, Jeram, Kanyo.
Goals 1:0 HKC Freidenfelds R. (10:37 / Panasenko B. ,Grahut N. / EQ), 2:0 HKC Dolinar T. (23:48 / Mintautiskis M. ,Sotlar J. / EQ), 3:0 HKC Sodja Zalokar G. (30:51 / Secen N. ,Cepon M. / PP), 3:1 KFT Piuk T. (33:24 / unassisted / 5:3 PP), 3:2 KFT Hochegger F. (34:04 / Gomboc L. / PP), 4:2 HKC Sotlar J. (43:47 / Cepon M. ,Golynsky D. / PP), 4:3 KFT Sunitsch M. (44:22 / Klassek S. ,Gomboc L. / EQ), 4:4 KFT Siftar A. (51:32 / unassisted / EQ), 5:4 HKC Sirovnik N. (64:33 / Panasenko B. / EQ)

Steel Wings Linz AG – HC Gherdeina valgardena.it 4:5 OT (1:0,2:1,1:3,0:1)
Referees: KAINBERGER, LEHNER, Eisl, Matthey
Goals 1:0 SWL Stöttner D. (04:50 / Aigner R. ,Moser A. / EQ), 2:0 SWL Grasser B. (34:22 / Haiböck M. ,Brikmanis A. / PP), 3:0 SWL Aigner R. (37:03 / Mosaad B. ,Saha M. / EQ), 3:1 GHE De Luca A. (39:12 / Luisetti M. ,Pitschieler S. / EQ), 3:2 GHE Schulze K. (48:28 / Messner L. ,Pitschieler S. / PP), 3:3 GHE Schulze K. (50:38 / De Luca A. ,Pitschieler S. / EQ), 4:3 SWL Aigner R. (51:40 / Stöttner D. ,Mosaad B. / EQ), 4:4 GHE Senoner J. (55:16 / Cristellon Y. ,De Luca A. / EQ), 4:5 GHE De Luca A. (60:54 / McGowan B. ,Luisetti M. / PP)

Hockey Unterland Cavaliers – SIJ Acroni Jesenice 1:4 (0:1,1:3,0:0)
Referees: LESNIAK, VIRTA, Bergant, De Zordo
Goals 0:1 JES Cimzar T. (08:34 / Jezovsek Z. ,Sersen G. / PP), 0:2 JES Svetina E. (22:48 / Marinkovic K. ,Sersen M. / EQ), 1:2 HCU Guerra A. (24:54 / Hällfors E. ,Sullmann M. / EQ), 1:3 JES Borse T. (25:34 / Svetina E. ,Logar M. / EQ), 1:4 JES Cimzar T. (26:47 / Jezovsek Z. ,Pance E. / PP)

S.G. Cortina Hafro – EC Bregenzerwald 1:4 (1:0,0:2,0:2)
Referees: SORAPERRA, WUNTSCHEK, Cristeli, Telesklav
Goals 1:0 SGC Lacedelli R. (17:49 / Cuglietta D. ,Carozza M. / PP), 1:1 ECB Kulintsev D. (20:26 / Embrich E. ,Lipsbergs R. / EQ), 1:2 ECB Zwerger J. (20:44 / Ranftl F. ,Schlögl R. / EQ), 1:3 ECB Zwerger J. (54:49 / Ossipov R. ,Ranftl F. / EQ), 1:4 ECB Schlögl R. (59:57 / Auvinen H. ,Kulintsev D. / EQ)

HC Meran/o Pircher – EHC Lustenau 5:6 (0:2,3:4,2:0)
Referees: RICCO, STEFENELLI, Fecchio, Wiest.
Goals 0:1 EHC Kandemir A. (12:46 / Wennlund M. / EQ), 0:2 EHC Kandemir A. (13:19 / Wennlund M. ,Wilfan M. / PP), 0:3 EHC Wilfan M. (23:01 / Wennlund M. ,Alasaari F. / EQ), 1:3 HCM Garreffa J. (23:26 / Borgatello C. ,Ritchie N. / EQ), 2:3 HCM Anderson C. (27:19 / Beber P. ,Borgatello C. / PP), 2:4 EHC Wennlund M. (29:27 / Auer J. ,Alasaari F. / EQ), 3:4 HCM Ritchie N. (32:54 / Anderson C. / SH), 3:5 EHC Moosbrugger L. (34:30 / Hrdina S. ,Haberl L. / PP), 3:6 EHC Alasaari F. (39:26 / Wennlund M. ,Wilfan M. / 5:3 PP), 4:6 HCM Garreffa J. (57:01 / Borgatello C. ,Gellon D. / PP), 5:6 HCM Garreffa J. (59:47 / Anderson C. ,McNally B. / EQ)

SHC Fassa Falcons – EK Die Zeller Eisbären 3:5 (2:3,1:2,0:0)
Referees: GIACOMOZZI, PIRAS, Formaioni, Rivis.
Goals 1:0 FAS Selin S. (02:57 / Forte F. ,Sylwander J. / EQ), 1:1 EKZ Widen F. (04:36 / Altmann M. ,Stiegler M. / EQ), 1:2 EKZ Berger H. (06:47 / Widen F. ,Altmann M. / EQ), 2:2 FAS Biondi L. (08:07 / Selin S. ,Näslund V. / PP), 2:3 EKZ Artner F. (12:07 / Huard N. ,Wilenius T. / EQ), 2:4 EKZ Artner F. (22:45 / Jennes C. ,Wilenius T. / PP), 2:5 EKZ Stiegler M. (23:08 / Berger H. ,Unterluggauer N. / EQ), 3:5 FAS Selin S. (24:46 / Näslund V. ,Biondi L. / PP)

Photo: Max Pattis