We will have a new leader on Tuesday

Tue, 27.02.2018: KHL Medvescak Zagreb vs. HC TWK Innsbruck „Die Haie“ (17:30 Uhr, HRT live)
Referees: KINCSES, M. NIKOLIC, Nagy, Schauer.
>KHL Medvescak Zagreb (6.) and HC TWK Innsbruck „Die Haie“ (4.) will be in a fight for place 4 in the Pick Round on Tuesday. The Tyroleans are on fourth place with eight points from seven games, while the Bears are on place 6 with five points from seven games. The Croatians need a win with 3 goals difference to move up in the ranking to place 4. In case the Bears lose by two or more goals, they will be out of the race for place 4 and home-advantage in the Quarterfinals.

>The Bears try to end their bad home-run against HC TWK Innsbruck „Die Haie“ on Tuesday. The Croatians have been defeated in five consecutive home-games and have scored just eleven goals. But watch out: KHL Medvescak Zagreb has celebrated their last home-win against the Sharks on January 14th 2018 with 7:3 and the Croatians have managed their only three point win in the Pick Round in Innsbruck.

>KHL Medvescak Zagreb has been left without points in all (three) home-games in the Intermediate Round. All the other (eleven) teams have earned at least one home-win in the Intermediate Round.

>Both teams earned a win on Sunday. The Bears won in Salzburg after Overtime, while the Tyroleans beat EC-KAC at home (4:2).

>Tero Koskiranta of KHL Medvescak Zagreb has netted at least one goal in four consecutive meetings with HC TWK Innsbruck „Die Haie“.
Quotes:
Doug Bradley, Headcoach KHL Medvescak Zagreb: "The win in Salzburg gives us a big boost for the next games. We want to take the momentum into the next rounds and we want to celebrated against Innsbruck as well."
Jeremie Blain, defenseman HC TWK Innsbruck „Die Haie“: „We must be ready for the game and the battles and we must play smart in Zagreb!“

 

Tue, 27.02.2018: EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz vs. EC Red Bull Salzburg (19:15, SKY Sport Austria and Live-Streaming SKY TICKET )
Referees: GRUBER, STERNAT, Ettlmayr, Nothegger.
>EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz (3.) and EC Red Bull Salzburg (2.) will be in a fight for place 1 in the Pick Round in Linz on Tuesday. The Red Bulls are on place two with 19 points from seven games, while EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz is on place 3 with 17 points. Champion EV Vienna Capitals, who is on first place, will lose their leading positon for the first time 2017/18 on Tuesday. But the Caps have the chance to re-grab the lead in Klagenfurt on Wednesday. While the Red Bulls need just one point in Linz to climp on the top of the Erste Bank Eishockey League, the Black Wings must celebrate a three point win at home.
>EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz and EC Red Bull Salzburg are in a fight for a Champions Hockey League ticket as well. That team, that wins the Pick Round, will play in the Champions Hockey League 2018/19. The second placed club will earn the second Champions Hockey League ticket, in the case Vienna settles on place 1.

>EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz were convincing at home in the last weeks. The Upper Austrians have won nine consecutive home-games. But watch out:  Salzburg has won as the only team all (three) road-games in the Intermediate Round and was the last club, that has beaten Linz at home on December 22nd.
>The two most dangerous teams will face each other in Linz on Tuesday. The Red Bulls have scored 188 goals from 1686 shots on goal (scoring-efficiency: 11,16), while the Black Wings have netted 186 goals from 1.747 shots on goal (scoring-efficiency: 10,65%)…
>Brant Harris of EC Red Bull Salzburg has scored at least one goal in the last four meetings with EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz.
Quotes:
Troy Ward, Headcoach EHC LIWEST Black Wings Linz: „We expact a strong opponent from Salzburg.“
Raphael Herburger, Forward EC Red Bull Salzburg: "We must improve in the defense and everybody has to give 100% in Linz.“

 

Referees: BABIC, TRILAR, Hribar, Nemeth.
> Champion Vienna Capitals will lose the first place for the first time this season on Tuesday, but has the chance to re-grab the lead in Klagenfurt on Wednesday.
>Vienna Capitals have presented Emilio Romig as their new player. The 25 years old Austrian forward spent the last seven years overseas. The Power-Forward played for the Colorado Eagles in the East Cost Hockey League the first part of this season and scored 16 points (10G/6A) in 39 games.
>The Vienna Capitals have been defeated in two consecutive games. The Champion has lost even three consecutive games twice this season.
>EV Vienna Capitals left the ice as the winner in eight from the last nine meetings with Klagenfurt. The two teams met already twice in the year 2018, Vienna  won both clashes (4:1, 3:1).
>Riley Holzapfel of Vienna Capitals has scored at least one goal in all five season-meetings with EC-KAC.
Quotes:
Serge Aubin, Headcoach Vienna Capitals: „Emilio will help us, he has a good speed, is strong and has a great attitude. Besides he has experience from playing in North America.“
David Fischer, defenseman EC-KAC: „Vienna is a good team. The Capitals have dominated most season. The game will be a challenge.“

 

Referees: PIRAGIC, SMETANA, Kaspar, Zgonc.
>HC Orli Znojmo (5.) and EC VSV (4.) are neighbours in the standing. The Czechs are on place 5 in the Qualification Round with nine points from seven games , while Villach is on place four with eleven points. The „Red Eagles“ have the chance to move up in the ranking to place 4 with three points. Both teams need the win in the Playoff race. Villach is four points behind place 2 in the Qualification Round, Znojmo misses six points.
>Both teams have had a bad run lately: The Austrians were left without points in all three games after the International Break, Znojmo has lost two consecutive games.
>HC Orli Znojmo is leading 3:2 in the season-clash. But watch out: Villach left the ice as the winner in the last two meetings.
>HC Orli Znojmo needs most chances to score a goal. The Czechs have netted just 129 goals from 1.655 shots (scoring-efficiency: 7.79%).
>Both teams have had problems to score lately: The Austrians netted not more than two goals per game in the last four rounds. The Czechs lost their last two games against Fehervar AV19 (1:2) and Moser Medical Graz99ers (3:4/OT) as well, even the „Red Eagles“ had much more shots on goal then their opponents.
Quotes:
Rostislav Docekal, Sport Manager and Coach HC Orli Znojmo: „We need to score more goals, we have opportunities to do so, but this has been our problem in the entire season. We hope to get three points at home against Villach!“
Niki Petrik, Captain EC VSV: "We must play better and more concentrated, otherwise it will not be enough."

 

Tue, 27.02.2018: HCB Südtirol Alperia vs. Moser Medical Graz99ers (19:45)
Referees: BERNEKER, K. NIKOLIC, Pardatscher, Sparer.
>Moser Medical Graz99ers are already out of the Playoff race. The Styrians will finish this season with games against Bozen (Tue/A), Villach (Fri/A) and Fehervar AV19 (Sun/H). The Styrians will settle between place 9 and 12.
>HCB Südtirol Alperia lost in Dornbirn on Sunday (1:4) and fell in the ranking of the Qualification Round to place 3. But the Italians still have the chance to make it into the Playoffs on their own. The Foxes need nine points out of their games against the Moser Medical Graz99ers (Tue/H), Fehervar AV19 (Fri/A) and HC Orli Znojmo (Sun/H).
>Both teams have had problems to score goals in the Intermediate Round: Bozen has netted just 17 goals from seven goals, the Styrians have scored only 14.
>Moser Medical Graz99ers try to end their bad road-run in Bozen on Tuesday. The Mur Citizens were defeated in four consecutive road-games and have allowed 20 goals. The Italiens on the other side have won two consecutive home-games.
>Moser Medical Graz99ers are leading in the season-clash 3:2. But watch out: Bozen has won the first meeting in the Intermediate Round in Graz 4:0.
Quotes:
Daniel Glira, player HCB Südtirol Alperia: „We need a better start into the game as in Dornbirn. We must avoid penalties and we have to be ready from the start“

 

Wed, 28.02.2018: Fehervar AV19 vs. Dornbirn Bulldogs (18:45, Live-Streaming M4, HUN)
Referees: PIRAGIC, SMETANA, Soos, Zgonc.
> Fehervar AV19 and Dornbirn Bulldogs will meet each other in the top-clash of the Qualification Round on Wednesday in Hungary. The Bulldogs, who are already qualified for the Playoffs, lead the ranking with 22 points from seven games, Fehervar AV19 has 15 points.
>Both teams were convincing in the last weeks: The Vorarlberger have collected points in five consecutive games (four wins). The Hungarians have collected points in their last four games, lately the Devils have celebrated two wins in a row.
>Fehervar AV19 had problems at home in the last weeks. The Hungarians earned just one win out of their last six home-games. Lately the Hungarians have lost at home against EC VSV (1:2/SO) and HC Orli Znojmo (2:3/SO) after Shoot Out.  
>The Hungarians have won bothe home-games this season against the Dornbirn Bulldogs 2:1.
>Brodie Reid of Dornbirn Bulldogs has netted at least one goal in the last two meetings with Fehervar AV19
Quotes:
Hannu Järvenpää, Headcoach Fehervar AV19: "We have a good run. The team works hart. We can not think too much, we just have to win our games.“
Martin Grabher Meier, Forward Dornbirn Bulldogs: „We showed a good team-performance in the Qualification Round and we want to continue the same way.“