The last two games before Christmas took place on Sunday in the Austrian Ice Hockey League: ATSE Graz took a big step towards the playoffs in the East Division with a 10-1 win against HDK Maribor. The WEV delivered a sensation away from the previously confident leader Sharks Gmunden with a 4-0 win and inflicted the Upper Austrians’ first defeat of the current season.
The ATSE Graz expected the HDK Maribor in the Styrian derby of the twin cities on the fourth Sunday in Advent in the East Division. The Graz team were ahead after 42 seconds: Cornelius Kaschnig won a face-off, passed it across to Luca Rodiga, who scored from close range to make it 1-0 (1st).
Exactly 16 seconds later it was 1:1, Maribor crack Danilo Tomašević moved down the left side into the attacking third and beat ATSE keeper Florianzeugswetter with a wonderful backhand lob to make it 1:1 (1st). Afterwards, the Graz team were unable to convert their first majority into a goal, but they took the momentum with them and continued to be superior. Towards the end of the first third there were emotions in the game for the first time, the ATSE was unable to take advantage of another power play.
In the second section, the Eggenberg team had to play two games when they were outnumbered, the Foxes from Slovenia didn’t play smart enough in this phase and couldn’t embarrass goaliezeugswetter. The ATSE was more efficient in front of the opponent’s goal: Mathias Werkl passed it across to Maximilian Schwarz, who made it 2-1 (29′). Afterwards a few pleasantries were exchanged. After tempers had calmed down again, Filip Matijević took advantage of a Maribor bad pass to make it 3-1 for Graz (36th).
Afterwards, the Draustadt team weakened themselves through indiscipline. Aljaž Ribič easily attacked a Lensemen after diving and was given a penalty for playing for two minutes. The hosts had a 5:3 advantage, Maximilian Schwarz hammered the target into the net to make it 4:1 (39th). Immediately afterwards, Maribor crack Jan Bizjak also received a game misconduct penalty. Matthias Kaltenegger increased the score to 5:1 with a nice shot (40th). In the final section, Maximilian Hohl was spot on in the slot and made it 6-1 for the ATSE (48th).
A little later, Nikolaus Zierer deflected a shot to make it 7-1 (50th). Exactly five minutes before the end, Cornelius Kaschnig increased the score to 8:1 for Graz (56th). Just 17 seconds later the bell rang again in the Maribor box, Filip Matijević scored from close range to make it 9-1 (56th). Clemens Lennkh made the score double-digit for the hosts 56 seconds before the end, making it 10-1 (60th). The ATSE increased its points account to 14 points after this sweeping victory in the table and can slowly plan for the playoffs.
WEV wins impressively at the Sharks Gmunden
League leaders UEHV CAM4DENT Sharks Gmunden met on Sunday in the East Division in the last Austrian Ice Hockey League game before Christmas Vienna Ice Skating Club. Both teams fought a hard-fought duel from the start, the Viennese had their first power play opportunity after just under five minutes, but failed to score. The sharks also left their first majority unused.
Both keepers – Tobias Windhofer at Sharks Gmunden and Moritz Merkader at WEV – kept their boxes clean in the first third. The first differences of opinion were also exchanged, towards the end the Upper Austrians still had the majority and no goal was scored until the first siren.
The second period began with two power plays in a row for WEV, but the offensive special teams had problems converting the numerical superiority into goals. The penalty killing initially worked perfectly on both sides. It was Theodor Fichtinger who gave WEV a 1-0 lead at five-on-five on the ice (26th).
Shortly after taking the lead, Jan Billa received a five-plus game disciplinary penalty from the Viennese team. The guests survived this tricky phase and scored another pinprick just before the end of the period: Andre Paule scored 17 seconds before the second siren to make it 2-0 for WEV (40th).
The Federal Capital team took a 5-3 advantage into the final period and took full advantage of this situation: Patrick Bolterle increased the lead to 3-0 after just 39 seconds (41st). A little more than three minutes later it was 4-0 for WEV, Lukas Kaider defeated Gmunden goalkeeper Tobias Windhofer (45th).
In the end, the Viennese didn’t let anything go wrong, goalkeeper Moritz Merkader celebrated a shutout. With their third win in a row, head coach Philipp Ullrich’s team ended the defending champions’ winning streak of nine games and put themselves a nice Christmas present in the form of three points under the Christmas tree.
Ö Ice Hockey League – Division EAST:
ATSE Graz vs. HDK Maribor 10:1 (1:1.4:0.5:0)
Sun., December 21, 2025, 5:30 p.m., Graz Merkur Ice Stadium (Hall A)
Goal scorers ATSE Graz: Luca Rodiga (00:42 mins), Maximilian Schwarz (28:54 mins, 38:12 mins/PP2), Filip Matijević (35:42 mins, 55:17 mins), Matthias Kaltenegger (39:24 mins), Maximilian Hohl (47:31 mins), Nikolaus Zierer (49:21 mins), Cornelius Kaschnig (55:00 mins), Clemens Lennkh (59:04 mins)
Goalscorer HDK Maribor: Danilo Tomašević (00:58 mins)
UEHV CAM4DENT Sharks Gmunden vs. Vienna Ice Skating Club 0:4 (0:0,0:2,0:2)
Sun., December 21, 2025, 6:30 p.m., muki Arena Gmunden
Goalscorers Vienna Ice Skating Club: Theodor Fichtinger (25:23 mins), Andre Paule (39:43 mins), Patrick Bolterle (40:39 mins/PP2), Lukas Kaider (44:01 mins)
KSV Kangaroos free of play.
HDK Maribor vs. KSV Kangaroos 2:4 (1:0,0:3,1:1)
Sat., December 20, 2025, 6:30 p.m., Ledna dvorana Maribor
Goal scorers HDK Maribor: Rene Zernko (18:53 mins), Adi Drnda (57:12 mins/PP1)
Goal scorers KSV Kangaroos: Lukas Draschkowitz (24:21 min., 30:36 min.), Pierre Graf (25:06 min.), Stefan Trost (59:34 min./EN)
Vienna Ice Skating Club vs. ATSE Graz 3:2 (3:1.0:1.0:0)
Sat., December 20, 2025, 7:00 p.m., WEV Arena Heumarkt
Goalscorers Vienna Ice Skating Club: Patrick Bolterle (04:21 mins), Lukas Pohl (08:14 mins), Daniel Aschauer (16:04 mins/PP1)
Goal scorers ATSE Graz: Cornelius Kaschnig (11:49 mins), Cory Krenz (27:47 mins)
UEHV CAM4DENT Sharks Gmunden free of play.
Ö Ice Hockey League – Division West:
EHC Lustenau vs. HC Kufstein 4:2 (1:2.3:0.0:0)
Sat., December 20, 2025, 5:30 p.m., Rheinhalle Lustenau
Goal scorers EHC Lustenau: Christopher D’Alvise (09:53 mins, 39:02 mins), Manuel Metzler (20:10 mins), David Slivnik (20:53 mins)
Goal scorers HC Kufstein: Valentin Hammerle (04:33 mins), Aleksi Airaksinen (16:01 mins)
SC Samina Hohenems vs. WSG Swarovski Wattens Penguins 3:5 (1:2.2:2.0:1)
Sat., December 20, 2025, 5:30 p.m., Hohenems Ice Stadium
Goal scorers SC Hohenems: Ricards Purins (04:56 mins), Julian Payr (27:37 mins), Christian Haidinger (29:01 mins)
Goalscorers Wattens Penguins: Simon Gratzer (12:10 mins), Luca Venier (16:17 mins), Sandro Wille (25:48 mins/PP1, 59:55 mins/EN), Noah Polig (34:18 mins)
EHC Kundl vs. Dornbirner EC Bulldogs 3:1 (1:1,1:0,1:0)
Sat., December 20, 2025, 5:30 p.m., Eisarena Kundl
Goal scorers EHC Kundl: Raphael Bruimann (19:04 mins, 22:14 mins/PP1), Simon Brandner (46:44 mins)
Goalscorer Dornbirner EC: Sven Vugrinec (18:21 mins/PP1)
www.eishockey.at, Pic: Lothar Schneider
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