The last three games before the Olympic break are on the program in the win2day ICE Hockey League on Sunday. Another real highlight awaits: HCB Südtirol Alperia and HC Falkensteiner Pustertal will meet in the South Tyrol derby in the Sparkasse Arena in Bolzano, which will most likely be sold out.
But the other two encounters also promise high excitement. In the Karawanken derby, EC iDM Heat Pumps VSV will host Olimpija Ljubljana, who have qualified for the playoffs since Friday, while league leaders EC-KAC will host the Steinbach Black Wings Linz. After these three games, the league goes into an Olympic break before play continues on February 14th with the FTC-Telekom game against VSV.
For the fourth and last time this season, the South Tyrol derby will take place on Sunday. Fifth-placed HCB Südtirol Alperia welcomes sixth-placed HC Falkensteiner Pustertal. Both teams are only separated by two points. In the three previous meetings, Bolzano has had the upper hand twice: there was a 9-1 win in front of the home crowd, followed by a 5-3 win away from home. Pustertal won the first duel in Bruneck 5:3. The current form easily speaks in favor of the guests, who have won three of their last five games, most recently with a 3-1 win against Villach on Friday. Bolzano, on the other hand, lost the last two games significantly – 0:6 in Linz and 0:3 in Vienna – and remained without a goal of their own. However, the Foxes are much stronger in front of their home crowd: in the last six home games they have always scored at least one point, winning four of them. Pustertal, on the other hand, only won three of the last twelve away games.
Villach before an important home game against Ljubljana
The EC iDM Heat Pumps VSV can gain some breathing room in the fight for the top 10 with a home win on Sunday against Olimpija Ljubljana. Villach currently holds the important tenth place in the table, but is only two points ahead of eleventh-placed Budapest. Ljubljana is fourth in the table and became the fifth team to qualify for the playoffs early on Friday with a dominant 5-1 home win against Salzburg. Overall, it was their fifth league win in a row. The VSV lost 3-1 in Pustertal and suffered one of two defeats from the last five games. A success against the in-form Olimpija will be a difficult undertaking, especially since the Carinthians have not yet won a game against the Slovenians this season (3:6, 2:3, 2:7).
League leaders KAC welcome Linz
In the third game of the day, league leaders EC-KAC welcomes eighth-placed Steinbach Black Wings Linz. The Red Jackets are still four points ahead of their first pursuers Salzburg and Graz in the table and therefore have a great chance to extend this further on Sunday. The KAC recently celebrated a 5-2 home win against Budapest – one of three wins from the last five games. The Klagenfurt team was also able to win three of the last five matches in front of their home crowd, but overall the KAC is only the seventh-best home team in the league. With the Black Wings, the eleventh best away team is now coming to the Heidi Horten Arena. The Upper Austrians have only won two of their last ten away games. Overall, the Linzers are in good form, with two wins in a row, most recently a brilliant 6-0 home win against Bozen. As eighth in the table, the Stahlstadters are currently five points ahead of eleventh place. They haven’t won a game against KAC this season (3:5, 3:5, 2:3).
win2day ICE Hockey League:
Sun, February 1st, 2026:
5:00 p.m.: EC iDM heat pumps VSV – Olimpija Ljubljana
Referees: NIKOLIC M., SMETANA, Bedynek, Zgonc
5:30 p.m.: EC-KAC – Steinbach Black Wings Linz
Referees: KAINBERGER, PIRAGIC, Nothegger, Wimmler
6:00 p.m.: HCB Südtirol Alperia – HC Falkensteiner Pustertal
Referees: OFNER, STERNAT, Fleischmann, Mantovani
All games will be broadcast on streaming partner Sporteurope.tv.
ice.hockey , Image: Vanna Antonello
