There are three home games on the program for the Pioneers Vorarlberg this week, with series champions EC Red Bull Salzburg visiting the Vorarlberghalle at the start.
The Pioneers continue to find themselves in a difficult phase. After 14 games, the team is in 13th place in the win2day ICE Hockey League with 8 points. The latest form shows that the team appears fighting, but often does not reward itself with points. In the last five games there was only one win (a 4-1 against Fehervar), compared to four defeats.
“Last weekend was obviously a difficult one for us with two games within less than 24 hours. We played a good game against the Capitals at 5 on 5, but the special teams duel went to the Viennese,” said head coach Johannes Nygard. Looking back on the previous away double, the Finnish man behind the bench continued: “The team showed morale against Graz, but overall we were simply not good enough offensively to take points.”
Look at the opponent
The reigning champions are currently in fifth place in the table (24 points), most recently suffering a 3:5 defeat at home against league leaders Pustertal. In the CHL, the Mozartstadters are in the round of 16, where they will face ERC Ingolstadt from the DEL on Wednesday next week. In the first meeting of the season, Salzburg won 4-1 in their own stadium, but in this game too, the Nygard cracks showed the potential to keep up with this strong opponent.
Burke likely to return
The master’s offensive is deep and can create danger from all ranks. To survive against the “Red Bulls” you need a disciplined game, a strong special teams performance and, above all, a passionate fight over 60 minutes. There is positive news from Nathan Burke; according to PIV head coach Johannes Nygard, the 26-year-old American is about to return to the Pioneers’ lineup.
