The last week of the win2day ICE Hockey League before the Olympic break opens with the 44th round on Tuesday and Wednesday. In the only Tuesday game, Olimpija Ljubljana meets Pioneers Vorarlberg. A day later, two top 6 teams will meet in a duel between HC Falkensteiner Pustertal and the Moser Medical Graz99ers. In addition, the EC iDM Heat Pumps VSV are fighting against the Vienna Capitals and the Steinbach Black Wings Linz against the HCB Südtirol Alperia for important points in the race for the top 10. League leaders EC-KAC and second place EC Red Bull Salzburg will also face the Hungarian teams. When it comes to the playoffs, Graz and Bozen can buy their ticket early on Wednesday.
Sixth-placed Olimpija Ljubljana will host twelfth-placed Pioneers Vorarlberg on Tuesday. The Slovenians are already 16 points ahead of seventh place, while the Pioneers are eleven points behind tenth place. Most recently, Vorarlberg ended a two-game losing streak with a 4-1 home win against VSV. Olimpija picked up six points from its Hungary road trip and is on a three-game winning streak overall in the league. In a direct comparison with the Pioneers, Ljubljana initially won two clear victories, but the last duel went to Vorarlberg.
Graz can secure the playoffs at Pustertal
The Moser Medical Graz99ers only need one point to qualify for the playoffs. The Styrians will still be qualified even if they lose after 60 minutes if the Vienna Capitals do not win in the parallel game against VSV after regular playing time. On Wednesday the third in the table will be visiting the fifth, HC Falkensteiner Pustertal. Both teams are separated by six points and are in good form. While Pustertal was able to win five of the last six games, Graz was only victorious in three of the last six encounters, but achieved seven wins from the last ten games. In the first three direct meetings with Pustertal, the Styrians clearly had the upper hand twice (4:0, 4:1). However, once the South Tyroleans celebrated a clear 4-1 win.
Bolzano can also secure the playoff ticket
In addition to Graz, fourth-placed HCB Südtirol Alperia can also secure their playoff ticket on Wednesday, provided they win against the Steinbach Black Wings Linz after regular playing time or Vienna lose points in Villach. Simply put: Vienna can’t get more points than Bolzano, then the South Tyroleans are through. For the ninth-placed Steinbach Black Wings Linz, the top 6 is no longer an issue, it’s more about securing the pre-playoffs. Points against Bolzano would be very important for that. The Black Wings’ lead over eleventh-placed Villach is currently three points, although they have played two more games. On Sunday, the Upper Austrians ended a three-game losing streak with a 3-2 win in Innsbruck, while Bozen suffered a 3-0 defeat in Vienna and suffered defeat for the first time after two wins in a row. However, the South Tyroleans have had few problems against Linz this season (7:4, 6:3, 3:2).
Strong capitals are visiting VSV
EC iDM Heat Pumps VSV experienced a setback in the fight for the top 10 on Sunday with a 1:4 defeat at the Pioneers. This means that eleventh in the table – which has won three of the last five games overall – is still one point behind tenth-placed Budapest, but has still played two fewer games. Now the in-form seventh-placed Vienna Capitals are visiting Villach. The Viennese have won all of their last three games – most recently against both South Tyrolean teams – and are six points ahead of VSV. However, two of the previous three direct duels with Villach went to the Carinthians, but the capital city team won the last meeting at the beginning of January.
League leaders KAC welcome FTC and sign strikers
On Sunday, league leaders EC-KAC narrowly lost 3-4 to Salzburg in the top game, meaning the Red Jackets are now only four points ahead of the Red Bulls. For Klagenfurt it was one of two defeats in the last five games. FTC-Telekom is in tenth place in the table and recently suffered a 3-4 defeat against Ljubljana, with the decisive goal only coming four seconds before the end of the game. Before that, however, the Hungarians surprised with a 4-2 home win against Salzburg. However, the success against the Red Bulls was only one of three wins from the last ten games, and they haven’t had a chance against the KAC either (0:5, 2:3, 2:6).
Before the game with FTC, the KAC strengthened its attack with Nolan Moyle. The 26-year-old center serves as a replacement for the injured captain Thomas Hundertpfund and signed a contract with the Red Jackets until the end of the season. Moyle is moving from the Detroit Red Wings farm team to Klagenfurt.
Salzburg competes with Fehérvár
Second-placed EC Red Bull Salzburg also faces a Hungarian team at home, namely eighth-placed Hydro Fehérvár AV19, who have lost all of their last six games and are now only five points ahead of eleventh place. The Red Bulls are now only four points behind leaders KAC, and with their 4-3 win in Klagenfurt they have already secured their playoff ticket as the second team. Overall, Salzburg only had to admit defeat twice in the last 18 games. The last meeting with Fehérvár was a while ago on November 16th, which Salzburg won 4-1 at home. In Székesfehérvár, however, the Hungarians retained the upper hand 3-2.
win2day ICE Hockey League:
Tue, January 27th, 2026:
7:15 p.m.: Olimpija Ljubljana – Pioneers Vorarlberg
Referees: PIRAGIC, SNOJ, Jeram, Zgonc
Wed, January 28, 2026:
7:15 p.m.: EC-KAC – FTC Telekom
Referees: HLAVATY, KAINBERGER, Gatol, Seewald J.
7:15 p.m.: EC Red Bull Salzburg – Hydro Fehérvár AV19
Referees: SMETANA, ZRNIC, Nothegger, Riecken
7:15 p.m.: EC iDM Heat Pumps VSV – Vienna Capitals
Referees: SOOS, STERNAT, Hribar, Puff
7:15 p.m.: Steinbach Black Wings Linz – HCB Südtirol Alperia
Referees: FICHTNER, NIKOLIC K., Bedynek, Durmis
7:45 p.m.: HC Falkensteiner Pustertal – Moser Medical Graz99ers
Referees: HUBER A., OFNER, Fleischmann, Pardatscher
All games will be broadcast on streaming partner Sporteurope.tv.
www.ice.hockey, Image: VSV/STEFAN
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