In the final sprint of the pre-season, the Steinbach Black Wings Linz meet a Slovak extra league one last time. With the HKM Zvolen, the Linzer welcomes the triple Slovak champions and four -time runner -up at the lower Danube region.
The Steinbach Black Wings Linz will play their penultimate test game for the upcoming Win2day Ice Hockey League championship next Tuesday. This time the HKM Zvolen from the Slovak Extraliga will challenge it. The regular season of the 2024/25 season ended the opponents in the 10th of a total of 12 ranks. Due to the poor placement, they had to qualify for the playoffs and were able to prevail clearly in the best-of-5 series against HC Slovan Bratislava. After the impressive quarter-final success against the first in the table, Zvolen finally had to surrender to the later master HC Košice in the semifinals.
In the Canadian Center Kyle Olsen, the team of head coach Peter Mikula not only found the top scorer within the team, he was also able to stand up in the list of top 5 goal scorers with his points. New in the Slovak squad are the two Canadians Branden Troock, who moved from the DEL to Zvolen and Jayce Hawryluk. With the 29-year-old, the Slovaks also fought an experienced NHL player. For two seasons he went on the ice for the Florida Panthers and played 57 games for her. He also played for the Vancouver Canucks in the 2020/21 season.
Two strikers are missing
The Steinbach Black Wings Linz were able to assert themselves against the HK Nitra and Budweis in the last two games. With strong self -confidence you will start the penultimate game of the test game phase tomorrow. Newcomer Travis Barron will not be able to play tomorrow due to registration formalities – he hopes for his first assignment on Friday. The Linzer also have to do without their number 97, Luka Maver. The center still struggles with a lower body injury, but is planning to fight for the Upper Austrians on the ice again at the start of the championship. The team is led on the ice by head coach Philipp Lukas tomorrow by goalkeeper Thomas Höneckl.
Statement Head Coach Philipp Lukas:
“We are slowly approaching the final phase of preparation and thus the last subtleties in our game. We are very satisfied with the progress so far, but there are still many points in our execution that we can improve. With Zvolen as a guest and Augsburg on Friday, there are strong opponents waiting for us.
www.blackwings.at, Image: BwL / Eisenbauer
