Release from 27.03.2021

Semifinal series start Sunday night

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On Sunday, the playoffs of the bet-at-home ICE Hockey League will continue with the two "best-of-7" semifinal series. For the first time in ten years, the top four teams of regular season have qualified. Regular season champion HCB Südtiroler Alperia will host the spusu Vienna Capitals, which are still unbeaten in the 2021 postseason. On the other hand, EC-KAC and EC Red Bull Salzburg will play their eighth playoff series against each other. Both TV partners will report live on Sunday.

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Bet-at-home ICE Hockey League | semifinal #1 | Sunday, March 28th 2021:
Sun, 28.03.2021, 5.30 pm: HCB Südtirol Alperia - spusu Vienna Capitals
Referees: PIRAGIC, TRILAR, Riecken, Seewald. | >> LIVE AUF SKY SPORT AUSTRIA <<

  • Regular season winner HCB Südtirol Alperia entered the semifinals with a 4:1 win over iClinic Bratislava Capitals. After the opening defeat, Bolzano won four times in a row.
  • The spusu Vienna Capitals have not yet suffered a defeat in the current playoffs. They defeated Hydro Fehérvár AV19 4:0 in the quarterfinals.
  • The two teams are meeting each other for the second time in a postseason: VIC won 4:0 in 2017, HCB 4:1 a year later, with both crowning themselves champions afterwards. Eleven VIC players have appeared in the previous two series.
  • In the previous six season meetings, each team won three times. Four times the road team won, four times the game was decided by just one goal.
  • Of 53 duels against each other so far, VIC has won 32. VIC won the last two comparisons at the Palaonda.
  • Over the season, HCB (22,6%) and VIC (21,7%) are the best teams on the power play. Vienna's PP rating in the playoff climbed to 27,3%. The Caps are also league leaders in playoff PP (90%).
  • VIC goalie Bernhard Starkbaum is currently over 135 minutes of play without a goal against. He holds a 96,6% save percentage in the playoffs. Forward Ty Loney has recorded a total of nine points in the four quarterfinal games (5G|4A).
  • HCB forward Brett Findlay has scored a goal in each quarterfinal win over BRC and owns a four-game goal-scoring streak (20G|28A).
  • VIC forward Colin Campbell is scheduled to make his comeback Sunday after an 83-day injury layoff. He totaled 26 points (13G|13A) in 23 games this season.
  • Rafael Rotter is one point short of his 100th postseason point (35G|65A).
  • At HCB, Dylan Di Perna could return. Karl Stollery and Domenic Alberga will not be ready.

Sun, 28.03.2021, 5.30 pm: EC-KAC - EC Red Bull Salzburg
Referees: HRONSKY, STERNAT, Hribar, Zgonc. | >> FREE LIVESTREAM PULS24 <<

  • The EC-KAC reached the semifinals with a 4:1 in the quarterfinal series against EC GRAND Immo VSV. At the score of 1:1 the "Rotjacken" won three games in a row.
  • EC Red Bull Salzburg qualified for the semifinals with a 4:2 win over the Dornbirn Bulldogs. There, the six-time champions turned around a 0:2 deficit – being without defeat for four games.
  • The two teams are meeting for the eighth time in the postseason, with RBS holding a narrow 4:3 lead in the historical record. The seven previous confrontations ended in four cases only in a seventh and all-decisive game, including the two direct duels for the championship titles in 2009 and 2011. Against each other, the two clubs played 44 playoff games (23 wins RBS).
  • EC-KAC has won each of its most recent eight semifinal games on a season-long basis. In a semifinal game, the Klagenfurt side last lost on March 17th, 2017 at home against EC Salzburg (1:4).
  • EC-KAC won four of the six season meetings. The last game Salzburg won with 5:3. The last three meetings were won by the road teams.
  • RBS has won 78 of 144 games against KAC so far.
  • Of last ten games in Klagenfurt, each team has five wins.
  • Stadthalle Klagenfurt is not a particularly good ground for RBS goalie JP Lamoureux, who has not recorded a win there as a starter since October 6th, 2016. In four of his ten appearances since then, he has been substituted early. He did finish the quarterfinal series against DEC with two shutouts.
  • RBS will have to do without the suspended Austin Ortega for the opener of the semifinal series.
  • KAC forward Manuel Ganahl will play his 600th league game in Austria's top division on Sunday.
  • Martin Schumnig returns to the KAC lineup. The long-term injured David Fischer (no game so far this season), Paul Postma and Dennis Sticha (both out since mid-February) remain unavailable.


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HCB vs. VIC
3 248 x 2 166 © (c) HCB / Vanna Antonello
KAC vs. RBS
2 598 x 1 783 © (c) EC-KAC/Kuess