On Friday from 7:15 p.m. the highlight duel between the Vienna Capitals and the EC-KAC will take place in the STEFFL Arena. A well-filled STEFFL Arena is expected again for tomorrow’s encounter.
The previous season’s record of 5,050 visitors, which the Caps fans set last Sunday in the duel against the Moser Medical Graz99ers, will be topped again. In any case, the Viennese supporters can look forward to the return of some recently injured attackers. As usual, tomorrow’s game will be broadcast via sporteurope.tv.
The Vienna Capitals are in ninth place in the table with 13 points after ten games. On Sunday, the points streak that had lasted four games was broken with the 1:3 defeat against Graz. Despite huge injury concerns, the Viennese gained a total of eight points during that period against HC TIWAG Innsbruck, league leaders Olimpija Ljubljana and the top six teams HC Falkensteiner Pustertal and EC Red Bull Salzburg. At least four of the last six injured or ill strikers will return tomorrow. Marco Richter, who was ill, has recovered and will play against his former club, as will the returning Benjamin Lanzinger, Leon Wallner and Felix Koschek. The latter will play its first league game of the current season tomorrow. Jérémy Grégoire’s advanced training is going very well, but it is questionable whether it will be enough for him to play tomorrow. Senna Peeters, who has been injured for a long time, will not be an issue for the coming months anyway.
The EC-KAC, which is visiting Vienna, was a guest of the Finnish champions KalPa in the Champions Hockey League last night. In Kuopio, the Red Jackets suffered a 1:3 defeat, which sealed the end for the record champions after the regular round. The Klagenfurt team, who recently also had to struggle with personnel problems, have 14 points after eight league games. In the win2day ICE Hockey League, the red jackets recently won against HC Falkensteiner Pustertal, FTC-Telekom and the Steinbach Black Wings Linz. With eleven points (5 goals + 6 assists) from the first eight games, Nick Petersen is the EC-KAC’s life insurance on offense. The Viennese defeated the Klagenfurt team 3-2 after overtime in the pre-season. In competitive games, the record has been much more dismal in recent years. The Caps last won a league game against the Red Jackets on January 6, 2023. Since then, the Viennese have had nine competitive defeats against the Carinthians in a row.
Statement Linden Vey, captain of the Vienna Capitals
“Our start to the season was marked by a lot of ups and downs. Although we’re actually still at the beginning, we’ve already been through a lot when it comes to injuries. Now that some players are coming back, we’ll try to get started. With a fuller line-up, we’ll show what we can actually do. A win tomorrow against a good opponent could be exactly the initial spark we need.”
vienna-capitals.at , Image: HCI / PAPA Productions
