Top clash between Ritten and Zell am See

Alps Hockey League | 21.12.2023
Thu, 21.12.2023, 19:00: EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel - Steel Wings LINZ AG
Referees: KAINBERGER, OREL, Eisl, Pötscher. | >> valcome.tv <<
In the duel EC Die Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel against Steel Wings LINZ AG, two victorious teams from Tuesday will face each other. The Eagles narrowly won 5:4 in Merano, while the Steel Wings won 4:0 at home against the KAC Future Team. The two teams are only separated by four points in the table. Kitzbühel is eighth with 34 points, the Steel Wings have 30 points and are twelfth. Linz narrowly won the first duel of the season 5:4. Both Rafael Aigner and Kilian Rappold scored a brace.

Thu, 21.12.2023, 19:00: EC-KAC Future Team - SIJ Acroni Jesenice
Referees: LESNIAK, MILOVANOVIC, Javornik, Jeram. | >> valcome.tv <<
The EC-KAC Future Team has now been waiting for 17 games for a win and points. The last time the Klagenfurt team won was on October 7 against Kitzbühel. Defending champion SIJ Acroni Jesenice are also not in good form. The Slovenians have only won three of their last six AHL games, losing 1:6 at home to Val Gardena on Tuesday and slipping to seventh place in the table. As things stand, Jesenice would have to play for one of the two remaining playoff tickets in the Qualification Round. However, with 42 points, they have the same number of points as sixth-placed Cortina. The Future Team is bottom of the table with nine points. Jesenice clearly had the upper hand with a 7:1 win in the first head-to-head game of the season.

Thu, 21.12.2023, 19:30: EHC Lustenau - S.G. Cortina Hafro
Referees: HOLZER, SPIEGEL, Jäger, Rinker. | >> valcome.tv <<
The EHC Lustenau conceded a 1:5 derby defeat at the EC Bregenzerwald on Tuesday and are already eleven points behind the sixth place and S.G. Cortina Hafro in tenth place. The Italians were beaten 3:4/OT by Unterland on Tuesday. It was the first defeat for last season´s finalist after three wins in a row. Lustenau have been waiting for a point for three games now. The Vorarlberg side have only won one of their last five games at home. Cortina, on the other hand, have only won two of their last five away games. Both teams will face each other for the first time this season on Thursday. Last season, Cortina met Lustenau in the quarter-finals and won with a 4:1.

Thu, 21.12.2023, 20:00: Rittner Buam SkyAlps - EK Die Zeller Eisbären
Referees: RICCO, STEFENELLI, Abeltino, Grisenti. | >> valcome.tv <<
League leader Rittner Buam SkyAlps face second-placed EK Die Zeller Eisbären in the absolute top clash. Both teams have 53 points, with Ritten having the slightly better goal difference. After a brief slump in November, Zell am See is now back on track. They have won all four games so far in December. Ritten has been in impressive form since October 21. Out of thirteen games in this period, they only lost to Merano. On Tuesday, the South Tyroleans celebrated a 6:5/SO home win against Vipiteno. It was only their second home game in which they lost points. With 46 points, Tomi Wilenius (EKZ) is still the league's top scorer. EKZ-Goaltender Max Zimmermann also has the best save percentage (92.3%). Ritten still has the best defense with only 56 goals conceded. Zell am See won the first game of the season with 4:3.

Thu, 21.12.2023, 20:00: Hockey Unterland Cavaliers - Red Bull Hockey Juniors
Referees: LAZZERI, PIRAS, Brondi, Pace. | >> valcome.tv <<
The third-placed Red Bull Hockey Juniors visit the ninth-placed Hockey Unterland Cavaliers. Both teams are already separated by 16 points. On Tuesday, both the Juniors (8:3 - FAS) and the Cavaliers (4:3/OT - SGC) returned from the International Break with a win. For the Juniors, it was one of nine wins from the past ten games. This includes the 4:1 home win against Unterland on November 30th. It was the Young Bulls eighth win against the team from Neumarkt in their ninth AHL duel.

Thu, 21.12.2023, 20:30: HC Gherdeina valgardena.it - HK RST Pellet Celje
Referees: EGGER, VIRTA, Cristeli, Fecchio. | >> valcome.tv <<
The HC Gherdeina valgardena.it celebrated an impressive 6:1 away win at defending champion Jesenice on Tuesday. The 14th-placed team in the table led 4:0 after just 20 minutes. The HK RST Pellet Cekje is in 15th place, but is already eleven points behind Val Gardena and has not won any of its last eight AHL games. On Tuesday, the Slovenians lost 2:4 at home to Zell am See. With 26 goals scored, Anthony DeLuca of Val Gardena is currently the Alps Hockey League's top goal scorer and is already four goals ahead of his closest rival Nolan Ritchie (HCM). The 28-year-old scored a hat-trick against Jesenice. Before that, the Canadian even scored four goals against Kitzbühel. The forward did not score against Celje so far. But that's because the two teams are facing each other for the first time on Thursday.

Thu, 21.12.2023, 20:30: HC Meran/o Pircher - Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan
Referees: BENVEGNU, SORAPERRA, Cusin, De Zordo. | >> valcome.tv <<
Both the HC Meran/o Pircher and the Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan are on a losing streak recently. Whereas the Eagles from Merano have lost their last two games and have only won one of their last five, the Broncos have been beaten in all of their last three games. On Tuesday, the team in fifth place in the table narrowly lost 5:6/SO at league leader Ritten. The Broncos are nine points behind the Buam. Merano is thirteenth with 30 points. Vipiteno won the first duel of the season 5:2 at home.

Thu, 21.12.2023, 20:30: SHC Fassa Falcons - EC Bregenzerwald
Referees: GIACOMOZZI, MOSCHEN, Formaioni, Vignolo. | >> valcome.tv <<
The last full round before Christmas will be concluded with the game between the SHC Fassa Falcons and the EC Bregenzerwald. The ECB is currently the hottest team in the league, with eight wins in a row. The team from Vorarlberg has already worked its way up to the fourth place in the table. On Tuesday, they celebrated a 5:1 victory in the derby against Lustenau. Fassa, on the other hand, were clearly defeated 3:8 by the Juniors. For the Falcons, it was the first defeat after previously two wins in a row. The Italians are in eleventh place in the table. Roberts Lipsbergs is the main scorer for Bregenzerwald. The Dane has always scored at least one point in the last 18 games. In the entire season, the 29-year-old has failed to score a goal or make an assist in just three of 24 matches. One of these games was in Bregenzerwald's 5:1 home win against Fassa on October 1.