Release from 02.01.2024

Salzburg hosts Linz in top game on Wednesday

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The win2day ICE Hockey League continues with six games on Wednesday. The fourth-placed Steinbach Black Wings Linz face champions EC Red Bull Salzburg on the road. While the spusu Vienna Capitals host leaders Hydro Fehérvár AV19, HC TIWAG Innsbruck and EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV go head-to-head for the top six.

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win2day ICE Hockey League, 36th round:
Wed, 03.01.2024, 19:15: spusu Vienna Capitals - Hydro Fehérvár AV19
Referees: RENCZ, SIEGEL, Bedynek, Vaczi | >> live.ice.hockey <<

The Capitals and Fehérvár started the year 2024 with defeats. After three wins in a row, the spusu Vienna Capitals were beaten 1:6 by the EC-KAC on New Year's Day. Head coach Christian Dolezal's eleventh-placed team is nine points behind the pre-playoff places. Fehérvár have consistently performed well since the start of the season to take the lead in the table, with the "Devils" only stumbling recently. The 5-1 defeat against Ljubljana was their third loss in a row. The Hungarians also lead the away table with 30 points. No other team has collected more points on the road than Dávid Kiss' team. Fehérvár won the previous two matches against the Viennese.

Wed, 03.01.2024, 19:15: EC Red Bull Salzburg - Steinbach Black Wings Linz
Referees: K. NIKOLIC, OFNER, Nothegger, J. Seewald | >> live.ice.hockey << (free stream)

The third-placed Red Bulls won three games in a row over the turn of the year, and on Monday the champions left Graz with a 2:1 victory. Their neighbours in the table from Linz - the Black Wings are in fourth place - come to Salzburg with a 5-2 away win against Villach in their pocket. With 113 goals scored, Linz are the third best offense in the league after Klagenfurt (116) and Székesfehérvár (115). The Red Bulls are still three goals short of the 100-goal mark. In the two games so far, the Salzburg side has narrowly come out on top, once after shootout and once after overtime.

The game will be streamed live for free!

Wed, 03.01.2024, 19:15: HC TIWAG Innsbruck - EC iDM Wärmepumpen VSV
Referees: SCHAUER, ZRNIC, Fleischmann, Wimmler | >> live.ice.hockey <<

Innsbruck won 4:2 in Bolzano to start the year. With their third win in a row, the Tyroleans climbed into the top six, taking over the position of VSV. Villach were beaten 5-2 at home by Linz, making too many mistakes, especially in defence. Although the Carinthians recently won in Bruneck, head coach Marcel Rodman's team still has a lot of room for improvement away from home: five wins compared to ten defeats. The home team each won in the two duels so far this season, with the Tyroleans narrowly prevailing 3:2 at the end of November.

Wed, 03.01.2024, 19:15: HK SZ Olimpija - Moser Medical Graz99ers
Referees: SOOS, STERNAT, Muzsik, Snoj | >> live.ice.hockey <<

Olimpija started the new year with a brilliant 5-1 win at league leaders Fehérvár. Trevor Gooch scored a brace, the 29-year-old American prolonged his scoring streak to four games - he also has nine goals in his last nine games. After the narrow 2-1 home defeat against Salzburg, the gap between Graz and the tenth-placed Slovenians has widened to 14 points. This makes points against their direct rivals all the more important for the 99ers. The Styrians celebrated a 6-3 win on their last visit to the Tivoli at the beginning of December, but Olimpija won the first match of the season in Graz. With just 15 points from 15 games, the Dragons are the second weakest home team (behind Graz).

Wed, 03.01.2024, 19:30: BEMER Pioneers Vorarlberg - HCB Südtirol Alperia
Referees: HOLZER, M. NIKOLIC, Martin, Sparer | >> live.ice.hockey <<

The new year started with a disappointment for the Pioneers and Bolzano. The team from Vorarlberg was clearly defeated in Asiago - a competitor for the pre-playoff spots. The runners-up saw a proud home streak come to an end after nine wins in a row, meaning the "Foxes" failed to gain any breathing space in the race for direct play-off qualification. While the team from Feldkirch, unlike their upcoming opponents, have already scored over 100 goals this season, Bolzano's defence stands out: the South Tyroleans have the fourth-best defence in the league, having conceded just 82 goals. In the two meetings so far this season, the home team has come out on top on both occasions.

Wed, 03.01.2024, 19:45: HC Pustertal - Migross Supermercati Asiago Hockey
Referees: BERNEKER, TRILAR, Puff, Rigoni | >> live.ice.hockey <<

HC Pustertal announced that the club management has accepted coach Tomek Valtonen's offer to terminate his contract. The South Tyroleans won only two of their last nine games and - after a strong start to the season - slipped to eighth place in the table. Current assistant coach Kaspar Vuorinen will take over as interim coach and will be in charge of the team on Wednesday. Asiago come to Brunico with a sense of achievement. Tom Barrasso's team ended a four-game losing streak with a clear home win over the Pioneers on New Year's Day. The first two duels of the season were both home victories. However, with just seven wins from 16 games at the Intercable Arena, the Wolves are not exactly one of the league's strongest teams at home.