spusu Vienna Capitals starts in Bolzano in the semi-finals

Sposo Wien Capitals enters the semi-finals of the win2day ICE Hockey Championship tomorrow, Friday. There, Team Vienna meets regular season winner HCB Südtirol Alperia. The first match in the “Best of Seven” series starts at 7:45 p.m.

Increased defense, higher offensiveness

The spusu Vienna Capitals won a “best of seven” series against HC TIWAG Innsbruck 4:2, on Sunday a 5:1 win at STEFFL Arena led to promotion. The Caps have managed their first home win of the current playoffs, with wins in all three away games, and outside strength has been key to success. Head coach Dave Barr’s team was gradually able to get better control of Hay’s offense, which was the best in the ICE Hockey League winning 2 days in the regular season. While the Vienna team conceded four goals in the first two matches of the qualifying series, the Tyroleans could only score two goals in the third and fourth games. In Games Five and Six, Haie was only allowed to celebrate one goal per game. But not only defensively he runs smoothly, but also in attack. The Viennese team has the most efficient one-day playoff attack in the ICE Hockey League. Of the 179 shots on the opponent’s goal, 21 were scored, resulting in an efficiency of 11.73 percent. In the basic round, this was 9.97%. For comparison: Bozen has the second most effective attack out of all the remaining playoff teams with a hit rate of 9.85%. The Foxes needed 203 shots to score 20 goals. The Vienna team’s 21 playoff goals, along with Steinbach’s Black Wings Linz, are the most goals in the ICE Hockey League won in 2 days. Upper Austria, who were knocked out in the quarter-finals, needed 10 matches to do so, while the Austrians only needed six. Max Zimmer, the top scorer in the league, can also show the highest results. The American, who has scored 34 goals this season, is the top scorer in the playoffs with six goals from six matches. Zimmer and linemate Matt Bradley lead the qualifier standings with ten points each in this category.

Historical comparison of all HCB

HCB Südtirol Alperia, who won superiorly in the regular season, managed to eliminate Steinbach Black Wings Linz in overtime of the seventh quarter-final game. Bozen have won three out of four duels against Seposo Vienna Capitals this season. Only on November 19, the Viennese team was able to defeat the strongest team in the hockey league at home. Even in a historical comparison, foxes have the advantage. Bolzano has won two of the previous three match series against Vienna (2018 and 2021). Only in the 2016/17 championship season could Sposo Vienna Capitals defeat HCB. As in this season, the playoff duels between the Caps and Foxes always took place in the semifinals. Bozen goaltender Sam Harvey can claim the highest value in the ICE Hockey League’s last two games with a catch share of 92.6% (Main Round + Playoffs). The Foxes’ top scorer is Mitch Holts, who has 61 points (23 goals + 38 assists) this season. Also in the playoffs, the American was leading the indoor team standings with seven points. South Tyrol’s top playoff scorer is Luca Frigo, who scored five goals in seven matches.

Holiday season for Bauer and Belloni

Sasha Bauer and Yannick Belloni will not be available for Sposo Vienna Capitals this season due to injury. Both players have had successful surgeries in the past few days. Bauer has played a total of 40 matches this season, the last of which came against Innsbruck on 14 March. The 28-year-old scored 12 points (6 goals + 6 assists). Because of the injury, Belloni played only 22 matches, and the Carinthians scored three goals.

Grégoire focuses on defensive performance

“It’s going to be a tough series, Posen finished first in the regular season. They have it all, good offense, good defense and strong goalkeepers. It’s going to be tough, but we’ll be ready. We’ve been more defensive in the last two games. Goalkeepers are doing a good job, but our ability is strong.” Penalty kicks help us too. We have to keep going, because I think the way to the championship is through defense.” So the forward of the team caps Jeremy Gregoire.

Semi-final series at a glance

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Home match tickets available

Advance ticket sales for the first two home matches against HCB Südtirol have already begun. Tickets for the play-off matches at the Sposo Wien Capitals Stadium are available at Online ticket storeat the CS Hockey Store at STEFFL Arena, at the Vienna Ticket Pavilion at the State Opera and at the box office.