Release from 01.04.2025

Zell am See and Jesenice are in the finals | Start of the final series on Saturday

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The finals of the Alps Hockey League 2024/25 are set: EK Die Zeller Eisbären and SIJ Acroni Jesenice will meet in the finals. While Zell am See will go down in history as the first Austrian AHL finalist, Jesenice will be in the final for the third time. The Slovenians won the title in 2023. Both teams entered the final with a sweep.

The start of the final series has been moved forward to Saturday, April 5. Game one of the best-of-7 series will take place in Zell am See.

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Zell am See confidently beat the Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan in the semi-finals to remain unbeaten in the playoffs. The “Polar Bears” won game four 3:0 - all goals were scored in the last six minutes of the game. Hubert Berger put the visitors ahead in the 55th minute, Philip Putnik increased the lead to 2:0 just one minute later and Maximilian Wilfan sealed the win with an empty-net goal. EKZ goalkeeper Max Zimmermann saved all 27 shots on his goal and celebrated his sixth shutout of the season. It was Zell am See's first ever appearance in the semi-finals - and now the Salzburg team are also in the finals. Sterzing, on the other hand, had to accept a semi-final exit for the second time in a row.

Zell am See will face the 2023 champions, Jesenice, in the final. The Slovenians are in the final of the Alps Hockey League for the third time and caused a minor surprise in the semi-final with a sweep against defending champions Rittner Buam SkyAlps. However, three of the four games were only decided in overtime. In the fourth game, Jesenice won 4:3 after extra time - Olli Valtola redeemed his team with the decisive goal in the 86th minute. The score was 1:1 until the 54th minute, before Jesenice pulled away to 3:1 with a double strike within 24 seconds. But Ritten fought back and equalized with a double strike of their own within 66 seconds. Particularly impressive: Ethan Szypula scored two goals for Ritten and finished the season with a total of 102 points. This makes him the first player in the history of the Alps Hockey League to surpass the 100-point mark in a season.

The start of the final series has been moved forward to Saturday, April 5. Game one of the “best-of-7” series will take place in Zell am See. This season, the Austrians have won four of the five encounters with the Slovenians so far.

Alps Hockey League, Halbfinale 4
Tue, 01.04.2025:
HDD SIJ Acroni Jesenice - Rittner Buam SkyAlps 4:3/OT (0:0, 1:1, 2:2, 1:0)
Referees: KAINBERGER, VOICAN, Rinker, Weiss | Spectators: 1.445
Final standings in the “best-of-7” series 4:0
Goals JES: 1:0 Lesnicar T. (33.), 2:1 Valtola O. (54.), 3:1 Lesnicar T. (54.), 4:3/OT Valtola O. (86.)
Goals RIT: 1:1 Szypula E. (37.), 3:2 Kostner S. (57.), 3:3 Szypula E. (58.)

Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan - EK Die Zeller Eisbären 0:3 (0:0, 0:0, 0:3)
Referees: HOLZER, SNOJ, Fleischmann, Jeram | Spectators: 524
Final standings in the “best-of-7” series 0:4
Goals EKZ: 0:1 Berger H. (55.), 0:2 Putnik P. (56.), 0:3 Wilfan M. (58./EN)