The EC Red Bull Salzburg continues the regular season of the Champions Hockey League this week with the away games against Ilves Tampere (Thursday) and Kalpa Kuopio (Saturday).
After the two opening victories in the home games against Tychy and Bremerhaven, the Red Bulls are now dealing with top Finnish ice hockey, which is a new challenge in the premier class. Departure to Finland is on Wednesday.
Starting position
The start of the 2025/26 Chl season went optimally with six points from two games. In both games, the Red Bulls were able to exert more pressure on the opponent in the decisive phases in both games with the Polish champions (3-1 with Empty Net) and the DEL third-placed after last year’s main round (3: 2) and were therefore also the deserved winner. The reigning champion of the Win2day Ice Hockey League showed an appealing performance both on the offensive and on the defensive. Against the two Finnish top teams-Ilves was third last season, Kalpa is the Finnish champion-a performance increase. Va The last fluctuations that have recently occurred in the second section should be quickly eradicated if one wants to score in the far north.
Ilves Tampere
With its 16 Finnish championship titles, Ilves Tampere is one of the most traditional ice hockey clubs in Europe. The ‘lynxes’ are also currently part of the best of Finnish ice hockey. In the last three LiiGa sockets, Ilves finished second in the basic round and took third place (which is played in Finland). Last season Ilves failed in the semi -finals with 2: 4 victories to Kalpa, the later Finnish champion. Ilves has already shown a great shape in the CHL with two initial away victories. The Finns won 3: 1 at the DEL representative in Ingolstadt and had a 7: 4 win in Northern Ireland against the Belfast Giants in Northern Ireland. This time the Chl encounter with the Red Bulls in Tampere is not held in the Nokia Arena, but in the Hakametsä, the former main hall of the Finn with a capacity of 7,300 spectators. Some Salzburg players should still know the hall; At her last appearance in this arena, the Red Bulls lost 2: 4 against Tappara in 2017. With Ilves, the Red Bulls recently delivered a highly competitive fight three years ago. At the first leg (then still a group phase), Salzburg lost 2: 3 to Overtime at home to return 2-1 after penalty shooting a week later.
Personnel situation
On the trip to Finland, the Red Bulls will continue to have to do without the convalescent Ali Wukovits, Vadim Schreiner, Peter Hochkofler, Troy Bourke and Mario Huber. Maximilian Wurzer is also not available after a lower body injury from the last game against Bremerhaven. For this, Maxim Eliseev has moved into the squad. The 19-year-old striker with Finnish-Russian dual citizenship came from Jokerit Helsinki to the Red Bull Eishockey Academy in the summer and could soon be debut in the Salzburg professional team.
Statement attacks Tolvanen
“We scored with a good team game in the first two Chl games. Now we are faced with the big challenge of playing against two of the best Finnish teams. We should have the second third in particular in mind, in which we have always fallen off.” In any case, we are very excited about the challenge. “
Champions Hockey League
Ilves Tampere – EC Red Bull Salzburg
Thu, 04.09.2025 | Tampere, 5:30 p.m.
ORF Sport+
Kalpa Kuopio – EC Red Bull Salzburg
Sat, 06.09.2025 | Kuopio, 4:00 p.m.
Orf on
www.redbulls.com, Image: EC Red Bull Salzburg
