The start of the Alps Hockey League Pre-Playoffs brought two home wins and one away win.
HC Meran/o Pircher beat EC Bregenzerwald 4-2, and HC Gherdeina valgardena.it also celebrated a home win against an Austrian team with a 7-2 win against Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel. SG Cortina Hafro also secured a 3-2 away win against two-time champion Rittner Buam SkyAlps. The second games of the best-of-3 series take place on Thursday. In the Master Round, the EK Die Zeller Eisbären won the derby against the Red Bull Hockey Juniors 3-1, thus securing victory in the Master Round and going into the upcoming playoffs as number one. HC Migross Asiago also celebrated an important 7:4 away win at KHL Sisak.
HC Meran/o Pircher made it 1-0 in the best-of-3 pre-playoff series with a 4-2 home win against EC Bregenzerwald and thus has the chance to secure a place in the quarter-finals on Thursday. The South Tyroleans were still 1-2 behind until the 50th minute. In the end, Rasmus Nousiainen was the match winner: he scored both the equalizer to make it 1-1 and the 3-2 game winner.
Val Gardena with a clear home win against Kitzbühel
HC Gherdeina valgardena.it also started the pre-playoffs with a home win. However, this was hardly at risk against Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel. The guests took the lead in the 14th minute in the 7-2 win, but Val Gardena turned the game around just a short time later with a double strike in the 15th and 16th minutes. By the 27th minute, the hosts had extended their lead to 4-1. Kitzbühel was able to reduce the score again in the 31st minute, but Val Gardena remained unimpressed in front of over 1,100 fans and increased to 5-2 just two minutes later. When Luke Moncada made it 6-2 when he was outnumbered in the 43rd minute, the hall shook – the victory was finally decided. It was the center’s third goal of the evening. Luca Biondi scored the final point two minutes before the end of the game, scoring a brace. For Val Gardena it was the first win against Kitzbühel since December 9, 2023 after six defeats in a row.
Cortina steals the home advantage from Ritten
The Rittner Buam SkyAlps were the only team to lose their home game. The two-time champion narrowly lost to the two-time finalist SG Cortina Hafro 2:3. It was only eight minutes before the end of the game that Oskari Kalajanniska scored the decisive goal for Cortina, after Tobias Graf had equalized for Ritten just four minutes earlier. Cortina had already taken the lead twice before, 1-0 and 2-1. However, Ritten could no longer find an answer to the third deficit, so that Cortina can secure their place in the quarter-finals in front of their home crowd on Thursday.
Zell am See wins Master Round
In the Master Round, EK Die Zeller Eisbären won the derby against the Red Bull Hockey Juniors 3-1 in front of 2,300 fans, thus securing victory in the Master Round and first place for the upcoming playoffs. In the seventh game of the intermediate round it was the seventh win for the Pinzgauers, while the juniors had to accept their third defeat in the sixth game. Salzburg remain second with 13 points, but are only one point ahead of third-placed Asiago. After a scoreless first period, Tim Coffman gave Zell am See the lead 32 seconds after the restart. In the 30th minute, Kilian Rappold increased the score to 2-0. Six minutes before the end, Maxim Eliseev reduced the score to 1:2, but just two and a half minutes later Tim Coffman made it 3:1 again – this time in the power play.
Asiago takes big step towards top 3 finish
In the second game of the Master Round, HC Migross Asiago beat KHL Sisak 7:4. This means that the Italians, third in the table, are already six points ahead of the Croatians with two games to go and only one point behind the second-placed Juniors. In a game full of goals, the score was already 3:3 after 13 minutes. The defensive lines then stabilized before Asiago made it 4-3 with a double advantage in the 33rd minute. Less than five minutes later, the guests, even outnumbered, increased the score to 5:3. In the final third the Italians finally made everything clear. Nick Porco was the only Asiago player with two goals. Ryan Valentini shined with a four-point game (one goal, three assists).
Alps Hockey League:
Tue, March 3rd, 2026:
Master Round:
EK The Zeller Eisbären – Red Bull Hockey Juniors 3:1 (0:0, 2:0, 1:1)
Referees: OREL, UNTERWEGER, Wendner, Wucherer
Goals EKZ: 1:0 Coffman T. (21st), 2:0 Rappold K. (30th), 3:1 Coffman T. (57th/PP1)
Goal RBJ: 2:1 Eliseev M. (55./PP1)
KHL Sisak – HC Migross Asiago 4:7 (3:3, 0:2, 1:2)
Referees: BERGANT, METZINGER, Markizeti, Miklic
Goals SIS: 1:2 Idzan V. (10th), 2:3 Dobric P. (13th/PP1), 3:3 Larionovs D. (14th), 4:6 Larionovs D. (52nd)
Goals HCA: 0:1 Porco N. (8th/PP1), 0:2 Rigoni F. (8th), 1:3 Gios G. (11th), 3:4 Chiodo L. (33rd/PP2), 3:5 Valentini R. (37th/SH1), 3:6 Calisti R. (48th), 4:7 Porco N. (60th/EN)
Pre-Playoffs:
HC Meran/o Pircher – EC Bregenzerwald 4:2 (0:0, 1:1, 3:1)
Referees: BULOVEC, SNOJ, Fleischmann, Ilmer
Goals HCM: 1:1 Nousiainen R. (34th), 2:2 Rein N. (50th/PP1), 3:2 Nousiainen R. (53rd), 4:2 Gellon D. (59th/PP1)
Goals ECB: 0:1 Rantanen J. (21.), 1:2 Tschofen M. (44.)
Rittner Buam SkyAlps – SG Cortina Hafro 2:3 (0:1, 1:1, 1:1)
Referees: LAZZERI, RIVIS, Cristeli, Grisenti
Goals RIT: 1:1 Kostner S. (27th), 2:2 Graf T. (49th/PP1)
Goals SGC: 0:1 Barnabo L. (11th), 1:2 Pietroniro M. (30th), 2:3 Kalajanniska O. (53rd)
HC Gherdeina valgardena.it – Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel 7:2 (2:1, 3:1, 2:0)
Referees: HOLZER, STEFENELLI, Cusin, Rinker
Goals GHE: 1:1 Moncada L. (15th), 2:1 Moncada L. (16th), 3:1 Biondi L. (24th), 4:1 Moroder S. (27th), 5:2 Esposito N. (33rd), 6:2 Moncada L. (44th/SH1), 7:2 Biondi L. (59th)
Goals KEC: 0:1 Waschnig L. (14th), 4:2 Pfeffer J. (31st/PP1)
alps.hockey , Image: EKZ / Radlwimmer
