The ICE Hockey League raises the curtain again after the first international break. During this, the Italian national team was in action in Sosnowiec, Poland – with ten players from HC Bozen, who played a central role in the first stage of the European Cup of Nations. There were two wins and one defeat for the Azzurri, and the Bolzano players collected a total of 14 scorer points. Particularly noteworthy is Matt Bradley, who shone in his national team debut with 2 goals and 3 assists. But now the focus is back on the league: HCB Südtirol Alperia is playing a double away trip, far away from the local Sparkasse Arena. The duel in Hungary against Hydro Fehérvár AV19 is on the program on Wednesday, November 12th (7:15 p.m.), and the top game against HK Olimpija Ljubljana follows on Friday, November 14th (also 7:15 p.m.). Both matches will be broadcast live on DAZN.
Fehervar
The first stop on the long away tour leads to Székesfehérvár, a town around 60 km from Budapest. The Hungarians had a difficult start to the season and are currently in ninth place in the table with 19 points (6 wins, 10 defeats). To initiate the turnaround, the club fired coach David Kiss and, during the break, hired 56-year-old Canadian Ted Dent, who most recently coached the Augsburg Panthers (DEL). In the first meeting on October 18th, Bolzano won 3-0 thanks to goals from Miglioranzi, Pollock and Schneider in the final third.
Olimpija Ljubljana
From Hungary we continue to Slovenia, where Bozen meets HK Olimpija Ljubljana. The new club management, which took over the team last year, has a clear goal: to return to the top and bring the cup to Laibach. The team is strong and the current second place shows the performance so far. Olimpija has the best offense in the league with 80 goals – 20 more than Bolzano – but conceded 48 goals, which is the worst defense in the top eight. It is the first appearance of the season at the Hala Tivoli for the HCB: In the first leg on October 5th in Bolzano, the Foxes won 4-2 after being 2-0 down.
The two best power plays in the ICEHL will also meet: the Slovenian one is 31.9% (22 goals from 69 powerplay situations), the South Tyrolean one is 26.4% (14/53).
The Foxes
In the league, the Foxes paused in third place (30 points), four points behind Olimpija and five behind Pustertal – however, both teams have played one more game and will meet on Wednesday. The goal for Bolzano is clear: a good restart after the break. So far, the team has the second-best offense (60 goals) and second-best defense (36 goals conceded) in the league.
Coach Kurt Kleinendorst is currently having to cope with a few absences due to injuries. In defense, Barberio and Di Perna are still out: the former will be examined again in these hours to better assess the healing process and give the green light for ice training. Di Perna, on the other hand, will be monitored day by day to determine the next steps. Missing from the attack is Brunner, who has started light strength training again after the hard blow in the game against KAC. They are joined by Cristiano Digiacinto, who suffered a blow during the tournament with the national team.
Live broadcast on DAZN
The two games – commented on by Luca Tommasini and Fabio Larcher – can be easily followed on any device: TV, tablet, PC or smartphone. As mentioned, access is also free: the content of the ICE Hockey League is freely accessible not only to DAZN subscribers, but also to all registered users.
This is how it works: If you don’t have a DAZN subscription yet, go to dazn.com/home, click on one of the free contents on the homepage and register for free with your email, first and last name.
Further information can be found here: https://www.dazn.com/it-IT/news/altro/come-funziona-la-modalita-free-su-dazn-e-come-attivarla/1n63xr4bv4gb8zw0uwdeq9cdq
Hydro Fehervar AV19 vs HCB Südtirol Alperia
Wednesday November 12th, 7:15 p.m. – MET Aréna, Székesfehérvár – Live on DAZN
Referee: Rezek, Siegel / Riecken, Vaczi
HK Olimpija Ljubljana vs HCB Südtirol Alperia
Friday November 14th, 7:15 p.m. – Hala Tivoli, Ljubljana – Live on DAZN
Referee: Sternat, Zrnic / Hribar, Seewald J.
www.hcb.net, Image: Vanna Antonello
