Release from 14.12.2017
Fr, 15.12.2017, 18:30: HC Orli Znojmo - Moser Medical Graz99ers
Referees: BABIC, M. NIKOLIC, Seewald, Soos
- The two neigbhours in standings (Znojmo is on the 9ths place, the 99ers currently ranked on place eight) booked wins recently, after three consecutive defeats.
- The home teams won the first two battles in this season.
- Colton Yellow Horn captured at least one scoring point in the past seven games against the 99ers (6 goals, 3 Assists.)
- The 99ers captured only nine points in 13 road games and is the third weakest away team so far.
- Graz won only one out of the past eight games in Znojmo (4:3 overtime win back in December 2016).
Erik Němec (HC Orli Znojmo): „The coach gives me a feeling of trust and with the increasing ice time I’m getting more and more experienced. We are a young team and there is still room for improvement. We are ready for the coming game and I’m convinced that we can start a winning streak.”
Robin Weihager (Moser Medical Graz99ers): „We have to focus on the details and keep our discipline. We are used to play many games in a short period, so we still have enough energy.”
Fr, 15.12.2017, 19:15: Dornbirn Bulldogs - EC VSV
Referees: KELLNER, STOLC, Schauer, Tschrepitsch
- With seven wins out of their last nine games Dornbirn climbed to fifth place
- Villach lost the last four games, two with new head coach Markus Peintner, and dropped to 11th place
- Just one day after the VSV game, the Bulldogs will host leader Vienna Capitals on Saturday
- The Bulldogs have not only won the firs two season meetings with Villach, they have a four-game winning streak against the Carinthians
- Dornbirn's Scott Timmins (3 goals) and Brodie Reid (2) as well as Villach's Miha Verlic (2) and Ryan Glenn (2), who extended his contract with the blue shirts during the week, have scored in both season meetings
Martin Grabher Meier (Dornbirn Bulldogs): „I'm happy for VSV coach Peintner and I'm convinced that he will do a good job. We must not underestimate our opponents only we beat Vienna lately."
Fr, 15.12.2017, 19:15: EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz - KHL Medvescak Zagreb
Referees: BALUSKA, LEMELIN, Angerer, Ettlmayr
- With a winning streak of four games the Blackwings recaptured the second place and increased their advance to the sevenths place.
- Medvescak lost the past five games and dropped to the sevenths place, the booked their last win on the 26th of November against their coming opponent Linz.
- The two teams are facing each other for the fourth time this season, Linz won two out of three duels so far.
- The Blackwings scored 94 goals this season and are leading the goal scoring statistics. The Croatians recently struggled with their offense and scored no goals in three of their past five games.
- Brian Lebler is the goal leader (22 goals) as well as the point leader (35 points) of this league. Tyler Morley of Zagred scored the second most points. Three players of the Blackwings are in the top-5 of the best scorer.
Troy Ward (Coach Liwest Black Wings Linz): „We had a good scoring efficiency in the past games and hopefully we can keep that against Zegrab. I’m very satisfied with our key players .They made the difference in the past games.”
Absentees: Jake Dowell and Jonathan D'Aversa
Connor Cameron (Coach Medvescak Zagreb): „It's hard to win games when you're two goals down, it affects your style of play and it's never easy, it's not high percentage you're going to win. Sometimes our player are looking for "pretty" goals instead of just scoring. Our goal for friday is 60 good minutes, its three possibilites, win, draw or lose the game.“
Fri, 15.12.2017, 19:15: HC TWK Innsbruck 'Die Haie' - Vienna Capitals
Referees: BERNEKER, K. NIKOLIC, Pardatscher, Sparer
- Both teams lost their past game in overtime and ended their winning-streak (Caps five consecutive wins, Innsbruck three consecutive wins.)
- The Vienna Capitals celebrated wins in the first two duels against Innsbruck.
- Hunter Bishop (HCI) scored in both duels of this season.
- The HC Innsbruck leads in scoring efficiency (10,78 %). The Vienna Capitals are the most dangerous team in powerplay (26, 8 pp %).
- The Vienna Capitals are leading the standings with a comfortable advance (+12 points to the first runner up). Innsbruck is ranked on the sixth place.
Rob Pallin, Headcoach Innsbruck: „It will be a very tough game. We need to reduce their time in puck possession and play a solid defense. The coming weeks are very important for us.”
Serge Aubin, Headcoach der Capitals „For Innsbruck every game could be a decisive game, so they are already in Playoffs mode. We need to be ready for that.”
Absentees HCI: no absentees
Absentees: VIC: Patrick Peter, Ryan McKiernan and Sascha Bauer are injured.
Fr, 15.12.2017, 19:15: EC-KAC - EC Red Bull Salzburg (Sky Sport Austria HD live)
Referees: PIRAGIC, SMETANA, Nagy, Nemeth
- Salzburg won all three duels against KAC so far. The most recent game (3:2 win for Salzburg) took place only a few days ago.
- Salzburg is on a winning-streak of three games, Klagenfurt got defeated in the past two games.
- The EC-KAC is the strongest team defensively at home. They received only 1,54 goals per game in average at home games.
- Two neighbors in standings are facing each other, the KAC has an advance of seven points.
- The EC-KAC scored the least goals of all top-6 teams., Salzburg scored the second most goals.
Thomas Hundertpfund, Stürmer EC-KAC: „An intense period of the season is starting. In the coming three weeks many preliminary decisions could be taken. We worked for a good position in the standings, but the last weekend was not satisfying. No we need to restart strong.”
Greg Poss, Headcoach Salzburg: „It’s tough to beat one team four times in a single season. We worked hard for making it possible and are fully focused. We are looking forward to a great game.”
Absentees KAC: Richie Regehr and Matthew Neal are missing.
Absentees Salzburg: Dominique Heinrich, Matthias Trattnig, Layne Viveiros and Alexander Rauchenwald are missing.
Sa, 16.12.2017, 17:45: Fehervar AV 19 - HCB Südtirol Alperia
Referees: M. NIKOLIC, SIEGEL, Gatol, Seewald
- With two wins Hannu Järvenpää had a perfect start as Fehervar coach and the Hungarians climbed to 10th place
- It has not been the same effect in Bolzano as new coach Kai Suikkanen only earned an OT win against Villach in four games
- In the previous two meetings this season each side won their home game but the result were very different (7:2 for Bolzano, 1:0 for Fehervar)
- The two weakest offensive teams will meet with Bolzano having 68 goals scored and Fehervar only 56
- In Erste Bank Eishockey Liga the two sides have met eleven times in Szekesfehervar with HCb holding the upper hand (six wins)
Hannu Järvenpää (Coach Fehervar AV19): „We play Bolzano next, they're going to battle hard. We'll be well-prepared for the game.“
Kai Suikkanen (Coach HCB Südtirol Alperia): „We concede easy goals against and always have to work hard to come back. We must change that against Fehervar.“
Sa, 16.12.2017, 19:15: Dornbirn Bulldogs - Vienna Capitals
Referees: KELLNER, K. NIKOLIC, Kontschieder, Nothegger
- The Caps have won two out of three season meeting with Dornbirn but the Bulldogs got the last
- The Caps have won seven out of eleven road games in Dornbirn
- Rafael Rotter has earned one point in each of the three previous meetings (one goal, two assists)
Dave MacQueen (Coach Dornbirn Bulldogs): „We are used to these back-to-back games. Vienna surely wants to take revenge.“
Mario Fischer (Vienna Capitals): „We learnt a lot from our defeat last Sunday and will do everything to bounc eback in Dornbirn.“