David Pföstl wants the title with Aosta. © Social Media

Explosive finale: A Meran man chases the big coup

The Italian Hockey League (IHL) final between SV Kaltern and HC Aosta is a heated affair. This is due in no small part to the opposing philosophies of the two teams. Before the fourth game of the best-of-7 series, we spoke to a South Tyrolean who plays for Aosta and asked for his perspective.

05 April 2025

HC Aosta has experienced an unprecedented rise in recent years. Within two years, the club has advanced from a lowly player in Italy's third-tier league to the number one favorite for the title in the Italian Hockey League (IHL). A significant contribution to this success has been made by the generous main sponsor Ares, led by its founder Dany Bahar, who was still chasing the hard ice hockey game last year. Since then, the club hasn't been gaining much traction. But that shouldn't matter to the Aostanians; after all, their success proves them right.

One of the five South Tyroleans playing for the club from the city of 35.000 inhabitants is David Pföstl. After five years in the United States, the 26-year-old spent the last four seasons under contract with his hometown club, HC Merano. This summer, he finally made the move to the club from the Aosta Valley. "I didn't need much time to settle in because I enjoy new adventures," reports Pföstl. Like almost all of his teammates, he plays the sport full-time – a luxury that even teams in the Alps Hockey League (AlpsHL), and even more so IHL clubs, can only dream of.

Aosta attracts with high salaries

But that's not the only thing that sets the club apart from the competition. In addition to three foreign players (one of whom always has to sit in the stands), the team also includes three dual citizens and two Ukrainians. By comparison, their final opponents, Kaltern, have only two foreign nationals in their ranks. Because almost all of the local players joined the team in the summer, the team spirit had to be formed first, says Pföstl. "But we managed that quickly. The ice hockey world is small, everyone knows everyone."

David Pföstl clears up in front of the goal. © Social Media / HC Aosta

Aosta lived up to high expectations in the regular season, finishing second behind Kaltern. Their only drawback: they lost all four matches against the Pikes. Pföstl and Co. broke this streak in the final, having won the first two games of the best-of-2 series. "We absolutely wanted to win the first game in Kaltern to secure home-court advantage. Ultimately, what matters is who wins now, not in the regular season," Pföstl said.

“I didn’t notice anything and honestly don’t know what happened.” David Pföstl on Alessandro Tura's stick hit against Florian Wieser

His team suffered its first defeat in Kaltern on Thursday. However, more than the 2:3, there was a performance that caused a stir, Florian Wieser brutally struck down with a bat by goalkeeper Alessandro Tura At that point, Pföstl was driving toward the players' bench, as can be seen in the video. "I didn't notice anything and honestly don't know what happened," he emphasized. No penalty was imposed, but the incident could still have repercussions.

One thing is certain: When Kaltern and Aosta face off for the fourth time in this series on Saturday (20 p.m.), fans can expect a heated exchange. "All of the games so far have been very close. In the end, it's the little things that make the difference. Discipline, grit, the special teams," Pföstl concludes.