The ICEHL champion Red Bull Salzburg is surprisingly deep in the results crisis. After the 1:4 defeat at the Graz99ers, the Bulls slipped out of the playoff ranks for the first time this season. The gap to league leaders HC Pustertal is already 14 points. Today, Fehérvár AV19, an immediate neighbor in the table, awaits – and a trend-setting game.
Don’t panic at the executive level: “No machines”
Despite the sporting decline, those responsible remain calm. RB ice hockey boss Christian Winkler, who manages both Salzburg and Munich, sees no reason for activism in the “Kronen Zeitung”: “No one is running around whistling La Paloma, but we are not panicking.”
Winkler also attributes the problems to the enormous strain on his players. Many professionals play for the league, Champions Hockey League and national team at the same time. Injuries in the last few weeks would have made the situation even worse: “Otherwise the players would be machines. We’ve had phases like that in the last few years – and in the end we were still at the top.”
Coach Manny Viveiros has full support
After master coach Oliver David left for Munich in the summer, Manny Viveiros took over Salzburg. Despite recent weak results, Winkler makes it clear: “Manny is a top coach. We are not thinking about changing anything in this position.” A change of coach is currently not an issue.
Viveiros demands: “We have to play smarter”
The head coach himself sees clear areas of work to be done: “Too often in the last few weeks, individual mistakes have led to goals being conceded. We give too much to the opponent.” Despite the negative results, the Canadian remains combative: “We have to stay together, pursue our path even more actively – then we can get out of the valley.”
Personnel concerns: Corcoran is definitely missing – question marks with Coe
Before the home game against Fehérvár, Salzburg has to rebuild its defense: defender Connor Corcoran is in North America for personal reasons and will not return until next week. It is still unclear whether striker Brandon Coe will play – he was missing in Graz without injury.
Derby week and pressure before the home game
After the game against Fehérvár, the next important game against Ingolstadt awaits on Wednesday. If Salzburg loses again, they could even fall to 8th place…
Image: EC Red Bull Salzburg
