High tension before the hot Salzburg derby: The Red Bull Hockey Juniors and the EK Die Zeller Eisbären will meet for the third time in the final of the Austrian championship in the Alps Hockey League. The final first leg will take place on Thursday in the KE KELIT Arena in Zell am See, the second leg will take place on Saturday in the Eisarena Salzburg. The duel will be decided in Champions Hockey League mode: the team that is ahead in the overall score on Saturday after the second leg is the champion.
The Red Bull Hockey Juniors and the EK The Zell Polar Bears In the current season – the matches from the completed first and second half of the season (= the first home and first away match) of the basic round of the Alps Hockey League among the Austrian clubs were used and evaluated – were able to qualify for the final after six games each.
The Hockey Juniors go into the title duel as first in the table with 15 points, Zell am See had twelve points and came second ahead of EC Bregenzerwald (6 points) and Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel (3 points). The final duel will be decided in Champions Hockey League mode: the team that is ahead in the overall score on Saturday after the second leg is the champion. The Red Bull Hockey Juniors will play the decisive second match at home in the Eisarena Salzburg. Before that, on Thursday in the KE KELIT Arena in Zell am See, both teams will be aiming for a good starting position.
In recent years, the Red Bull Hockey Juniors duel against the Eisbären from Zell am See has developed into a hot Salzburg derby. As the youngest team in the league with an average age of 18.8 years, the Juniors meet the experienced Eisbären, who are the “oldest” team in the league with an average age of 25.3 years.
The duel is also given additional spice by the fact that a number of former players from the Red Bull Ice Hockey Academy – Alois Schultes (keeper), Maximilian Egger, Devin Steffler, Sebastian Zauner (defender) as well as Alexander Lahoda and Aljaž Predan (striker) are playing in Zell am See – and are now competing against the up-and-coming cracks from the Hockey Juniors.
In 2023 and 2024, the Red Bull Hockey Juniors and EK Die Zeller Eisbären faced each other in the final of the Austrian championship in the Alps Hockey League. Both final derbies for the title were real thrillers back then. In February 2023, the Red Bull Hockey Juniors won the first leg away 3-0. In the second leg, the Zeller Eisbären managed a tie with a brilliant 3-0 in the final third – the third goal only came 33 seconds before the end with one more man on the ice – after a total of 120 minutes, then prevailed in overtime with a total score of 4:3 and became Austrian champions in the Alps Hockey League.
A year later, the Red Bull Hockey Juniors struck back and dethroned the defending champions from Zell am See. The Bulls lost the second leg of the final against defending champions EK Die Zeller Eisbären 1:2, but were crowned Austrian champions of the Alps Hockey League after their 3:1 home win in the first leg with an overall score of 4:3. Last year the title went to the Adler Kitzbühel, who were able to prevail against the Zeller Eisbären: The Tyroleans celebrated a 2-0 victory in the second leg of the final after a 3-1 in the first leg against the EK Zeller Eisbären and became champions with an overall score of 5:1.
Marcel Rodman, head coach of the Zeller Eisbärenrates the young Eisbullen strongly, but knows how they will cope: “It’s going to be an exciting week! We played against Salzburg three times, in the first game we had no chance and were really “skated out”. We won at home in the second and third meetings. I think we played both games very well, Salzburg were also strong. That’s also what I expect in the final: They are extremely strong as skaters, have great offensive quality and are very dangerous. It’s important to us that we skate at least as well and as much as they do. We have to stick to the game plan. I believe that we will have our chances, but nothing will be given to us, we have to earn it. It’s a strong opponent, I’m looking forward to the final and believe in my boys!”
Mika Haim, goalie for the Red Bull Hockey Juniorsexpects a close final: “We expect two tough games. We have to be very ready for the first away game in Zell am See and need a good start. The people of Zell always have good support from their fans, but we are even more excited about our own fans and hope for our home advantage in the second game!”
Final Austrian Championship Alps Hockey League 2025/2026
Final – first leg:
EK The Zeller Eisbären vs. Red Bull Hockey Juniors
Thu, February 12, 2026, 7:30 p.m., KE KELIT Arena
Final – second leg:
Red Bull Hockey Juniors vs. EK Die Zeller Eisbären
Sat., February 14, 2026, 7:15 p.m., Eisarena Salzburg
www.eishockey.at, Image: EKZ / Radlwimmer
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