After yesterday’s painful defeat against Budapest, the Steinbach Black Wings will face the next tough challenge tomorrow. In the fight for the turnaround, the Upper Austrians are visiting the second-placed team in the Pustertal.
The Stahlstadters had to narrowly admit defeat 2:3 in Budapest on Friday evening. Despite a courageous performance, in the end it was not enough to win the points we had hoped for. However, there isn’t much time to breathe deeply: the next tough opponent, the Wolves from Brunico, awaits tomorrow. Brian Lebler and CO. want to finally land the longed-for liberation there and give the starting signal for the race to catch up. But the task could hardly be more demanding. Although Linz won all four direct duels last season, a lot has happened in Bruneck in the summer. HC Pustertal has restructured its squad across the board and wants to attack fully this season. Last season, the Wolves secured a place in the pre-playoffs, but failed in the first round against eventual runners-up Klagenfurt 2-4.
There are high demands in the Pustertal for the current season, so 13 new recruits have been signed. Among other things, Rok Tičar moved from Graz to Bruneck. Together with JC Lipon, Austin Rueschhoff, Henry Bowlby and Cole Bardreau, he should provide an offensive threat. All of those mentioned bring experience from the AHL or other top European leagues. On defense, the Wolves secured the services of Jon Blum. The 36-year-old has years of experience from the AHL and NHL and has been under contract with EHC Munich for the last four years. With Markus Lauridsen, another veteran is coming to Bruneck, who spent a large part of his career in Denmark. There is also a new face in the Wolves’ line-up between the posts: 25-year-old Jakob Rabanser is set to take the next step in his young career in Pustertal. The major squad changes are already having an impact: In the new season, the Wolves are in second place in the table with 21 points. The only two defeats came against the Graz 99ers (0:4) and the KAC (2:3 n.V.).
Locker room update
After yesterday’s game in Budapest, the Steinbach Black Wings need to quickly look forward again. As was the case against Laibach, the start of the game came too late and the two late goals in the final period unfortunately resulted in nothing worth counting in the end. Head coach Philipp Lukas will probably be able to rely on Graham Knott again for tomorrow’s away game in Pustertal. Niklas Würschl is expected to be missing, as he has to take a break due to an upper body injury following a blocked shot. His place is taken by Michael Kernberger, who is moving back into the line-up and is supposed to strengthen the defense. In the next difficult away game, the people of Stahlstadt can look forward to loud support: a fan bus is making its way to Bruneck to cheer on Brian Lebler and Co. on site.
HC Falkensteiner Pustertal Wölfe – Steinbach Black Wings Linz
📅 Basic round 12: Sunday October 19th, 6:00 p.m., Intercable Arena
📺 Live stream: sporteurope.tv
blackwings.at , Image: BWL / Draxler
