The win2day ICE Hockey League ends 2025 with a full round on Tuesday. In the top game, third-place Olimpija Ljubljana will face league leaders EC-KAC. In addition, the ailing EC iDM Heat Pumps VSV, among others, has to deal with the second-placed Moser Medical Graz99ers. With FTC-Telekom against the Vienna Capitals and Steinbach Black Wings Linz against Hydro Fehérvár AV19, there are also two direct duels in the fight for the top 10 on the program.
League leaders EC-KAC have been unbeaten in five games and are already eleven points ahead of third-place Olimpija Ljubljana. The Klagenfurt team also remained undefeated in their last five games away from home. The Slovenians, in turn, ended their three-game losing streak on Sunday with a clear 5-0 home win against Fehérvár. In the two direct duels so far this season, the away team prevailed.
Struggling VSV welcomes Graz | Finne strengthens the 99ers defense
No win from the last six games and only ninth place: EC iDM Heat Pumps VSV is currently in a crisis and is only two points ahead of eleventh place, the Vienna Capitals. On Sunday, Villach lost 4-1 at home to Bozen. Now there is a duel with the second-placed Moser Medical Graz99ers, who have won the last two home games and are still six points behind leaders KAC.nAgainst Graz, VSV was able to win the first duel away from home of the season 4:3, before a clear 1:6 home defeat followed. With a total of 19 home points, VSV is only in eleventh place in the home table, while the 99ers are the second best away team in the league.
Before the game in Villach, Graz strengthened its defense once again and signed Finn Kasper Kotkansalo. The 27-year-old received a contract until the end of the season and replaces the injured Frank Hora. Kotkansalo was most recently under contract with Luleå HF in Sweden. In his youth, he played for Boston University and was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the third round. However, there was no NHL appearance, instead the defender returned to Finland after his time in North America, where he played five seasons in the top league before moving to Sweden.
Vienna before an important away game in Budapest
Due to the 1:3 home defeat against KAC, the Vienna Capitals slipped out of the top 10 on Sunday, but are only one point behind tenth-placed Linz. On Tuesday, the Viennese will be playing in the capital duel against FTC-Telekom, which in eighth place is only three points ahead of the Capitals and has recently suffered two clear defeats (1:5 at Salzburg, 0:5 against KAC). Both teams will meet on Tuesday for the fourth time this season. So far, every game has ended with just one goal difference – always a home win. The Capitals retained the upper hand twice.
Linz wants to maintain top 10 against Fehérvár
The duel between the Steinbach Black Wings Linz and Hydro Fehérvár AV19 is also about important points in the fight for the top 10. Linz moved to tenth place on Sunday thanks to a 4-1 home win against Innsbruck, while Fehérvár remains in seventh place after a heavy 5-0 defeat in Ljubljana. However, the Hungarians’ lead is only four points over Linz and five points over eleventh-placed Vienna. For Linz it was the first win after four defeats in a row, while Fehérvár was able to win two of the last five games. In a direct comparison, the Hungarians have so far won both home games, while the Black Wings celebrated a clear 7-1 win in front of their own crowd.
Salzburg visits bottom team Innsbruck
Defending champion EC Red Bull Salzburg is currently the strongest team in the win2day ICE Hockey League. The sixth-place team has won all of the last seven games, the last defeat being against KAC on December 5th. On Tuesday, Salzburg will go into the game at HC TIWAG Innsbruck as clear favorites. The bottom team has only won two of the last ten games and is already 16 points behind tenth place. The direct comparison with Salzburg also gives the Tyroleans little hope: Innsbruck lost all of their last six duels against the Mozartstadt team, so far this season with 0:4 and 2:4.
Bolzano and Pioneers close the calendar year
The sixth and final game of the 34th round and the calendar year will be played by HCB Südtirol Alperia and Pioneers Vorarlberg. The fifth-place team from Bolzano has won four of its last five games, while the eleventh-place team from Vorarlberg has won two of its last five games. The Pioneers had no game on Sunday, having previously narrowly lost to Salzburg 3-4 after extra time. However, the Pioneers have had no chance against Bolzano so far this season: a 6-0 home defeat in September was followed by a 7-1 away defeat in November.
win2day ICE Hockey League:
Tue, December 30, 2025:
6:30 p.m.: FTC-Telekom -Vienna Capitals
Referees: SMETANA, SOOS, Gatol, Riecken
7:15 p.m.: EC iDM heat pumps VSV – Moser Medical Graz99ers
Referees: GROZNIK, ZRNIC, Muzsik, Wimmler
7:15 p.m.: Steinbach Black Wings Linz – Hydro Fehérvár AV19
Referees: NAGY, PIRAGIC, Vaczi, Zgonc
7:15 p.m.: HC TIWAG Innsbruck – EC Red Bull Salzburg
Referees: KAINBERGER, NIKOLIC K., Fleischmann, Sparer
7:15 p.m.: Olimpija Ljubljana – EC-KAC
Referees: NIKOLIC M., STERNAT, Bedynek, Hribar
7:45 p.m.: HCB Südtirol Alperia – Pioneers Vorarlberg
Referees: HOLZER, OFNER, Pardatscher, Puff
All games will be broadcast on streaming partner Sporteurope.tv.
ice.hockey , Image: VSV/STEFAN
