EK The Zeller Eisbären (1) – Wipptal Broncos Weihenstephan (5)
With first choice, the reigning champions chose the Broncos. While Zell am See won all eight games in the Master Round, the South Tyroleans – who only qualified for the top 5 on the last match day of the basic round – were only able to celebrate one win in the intermediate round. The Pinzgauers won four of the five duels of the season; In the Master Round they even celebrated two clear successes (7:2 and 9:2). This is the third time in a row that there will be a playoff duel between the two clubs. In the 2023/24 season, Vipiteno prevailed with a quarter-final sweep, and last season Zell am See took revenge with a 4-0 win in the semi-finals.
Statement Head Coach Marcel Rodman (EKZ):“It’s not easy to pick. The more you analyze who to choose, the more obvious the strengths of these teams become. Ultimately, we chose Vipiteno. The main reason for this is that we have played against them the most in the last two years and have mostly achieved good results. There are no secrets anymore – we know the players, the coaching staff and their playing systems. In addition, the journey is not too long. So we pick what we know – that is the motivation behind our choice. Still expect We have a strong opponent. They play hard, it won’t be an easy series and we have to be at our best. I expect them to be much stronger than in the last two games in which we played against them.
Statement Head Coach Johan Sjöquist (WSV): will follow soon
Red Bull Hockey Juniors (2) – HC Gherdeina valgardena.it (8)
Red Bull Hockey finished the basic round in first place, but slipped to second place in the Master Round and thus had the second pick. The Juniors have chosen HC Gherdeina valgardena.it as their quarter-final opponent. The South Tyroleans had to go to the pre-playoffs and won the series against Adler Stadtwerke Kitzbühel with a 2-0 win. Overall, it is the third quarter-final appearance for Val Gardena, which has never made it to the semi-finals. Salzburg, on the other hand, has already been in the semi-finals twice (2024, 2023) and in the quarter-finals two more times. So far this season, the juniors have won two of the three meetings.
Statement Head Coach Teemu Levijoki (RBJ): “We expect tough games. It’s the playoffs, so every game will be intense and physical. At this stage, all teams are strong, but we have to believe in our game and stay true to our system. Now we have some time to prepare and get ready for the series. The decision about the opponent was made together with the coaching staff and the team. We are convinced that it was the right choice and now the focus is on being ready when the series starts.”
Statement Head Coach Marcel Skokan (GHE): “It will be a very tough series against a young team that will certainly recover more quickly between games than us. We will use the next few days to prepare ourselves perfectly for it. To survive, we have to play aggressively, hard and fast, stay patient and consistently use our chances.”
HC Migross Asiago (3) – HC Meran/o Pircher (7)
HC Migross Asiago confidently qualified for the quarter-finals in its debut season. The Italians picked HC Meran/o Pircher as third in the Master Round. The South Tyroleans had to go to the pre-playoffs and won the series against EC Bregenzerwald with a 2-0 win. This is Meran’s third quarter-final appearance in the fifth AHL season; they have so far been denied a place in the semi-finals. The Adler have suffered two overtime home defeats against Asiago so far this season, and Meran also celebrated a 5-2 away win.
Statement Head Coach John Parco (HCA): “Playoffs are always a very special time of the year. Our series against Meran will certainly offer exciting ice hockey for everyone. We are looking forward to finally getting started and I wish all teams the best of luck.”
Statement Head Coach Christian Borgatello (HCM): will follow soon
KHL Sisak (4) – SG Cortina Hafro (6)
After third place in the regular round, Sisak fell back to fourth place with a mixed Master Round (only two wins from eight games) and will face Cortina in the quarter-finals, which was not chosen by the top three in the pick. The Italians fell short of expectations for a long time this season: After finishing ninth in the regular round, head coach Gaber Glavič’s team only qualified for the pre-playoffs on the last matchday of the intermediate round – which was followed by a 2-0 win over two-time AHL champion Ritten. The previous three season duels between Sisak and Cortina were hard-fought and each ended with just one goal difference – twice it even went to a shootout. Cortina – which reached the AHL final in 2023 – won two of the three matches.
Statement Head Coach Josh Siembida (SIS): “I think it will be a great duel. If you look at all the games we played against them this season, they were all one-goal games. So I think this series can go either way. The home advantage obviously helps us, especially with our fans behind us. I think the hall will be full, we will get a lot of energy from it, and since it is our first playoff series, we will of course be particularly motivated and excited.”
Statement Head Coach Gaber Glavic (SGC): “We found ourselves in a situation where we just had to wait for our opponent – there was nothing we could do about it. Sisak has been a very strong and dangerous team for any team this season. Of course the long journey can affect both teams, but we are really looking forward to the first playoff game in Sisak. They have great fans and there will probably be a full hall and a great atmosphere to play. We can’t wait for the series to start and the puck to be dropped in Game 1 will”.
All games live on Valcome.tv in the playoff pass for just €50
As usual, all playoff games will be broadcast live on www.valcome.tv. There is a special offer with the Playoff Pass: All games from the quarter-finals to the semi-finals to the decisive final game can be streamed for just €50.
