Marco Insam was disappointed after his Rittner Buam team's semifinal exit. © T. Debelyak

All South Tyrolean top teams on vacation: “It’s annoying”

The ice hockey season for South Tyrol's top teams has ended. Following the elimination of HCB Südtirol Alperia from the ICE Hockey League, the seasons of Ritten and Wipptal in the Alps Hockey League also came to an end on Tuesday evening.

02 April 2025

From: cst

After HC Bozen lost to Salzburg in the ICE semifinals, the Rittner Buam and the Wipptal Broncos also suffered defeat on Tuesday. Both teams lost the decisive Game 7 of their semifinal series. This means that all South Tyrolean teams playing in the ICE or AlpsHL are now on vacation.

In Jesenice the Rittner Buam had to beaten 3:4 in overtime Marco Insam still takes his hat off to his teammates: "We showed a lot of character when we came back from a two-goal deficit with six minutes left. In the end, it went against us in overtime. Nevertheless, I would like to compliment all the guys on their performance. But to be honest: It's pretty frustrating."

Final dream shattered in Sterzing

Instead of the defending champions, Jesenice advanced to the final for the Alpine title. There, the Slovenians will face the Zeller Eisbären, who won in Sterzing thanks to a late triple strike (all goals scored between the 55th and 58th minutes). won 3-0. For the Wipptal Broncos, a strong season comes to an end, but the dream of reaching the final has been shattered.

For Egon Gschnitzer, the Broncos' sporting director, one reason was crucial: "Zell am See has a roster of 25 professionals, so no one has to go to work the next day after a playoff game. That's why they were simply more relaxed and not as tired as many of our players." Gschnitzer cites the away games in Zell am See as an example. "We got home at 2 a.m., and in the morning, most of the squad went to work. Then we went straight to training, and then we were already playing again."

Delivered a thrilling series: Tyler Cuma, James Livingston and Max Zimmermann (from left).

Gschnitzer readily acknowledges the Zeller Eisbären's performance: "They were way too strong for us. Nevertheless, it was a great series, because Zell am See has an extremely good squad." He is also satisfied with the course of the season: "We had a difficult start; it just wasn't meant to be. From November onwards, you could see the team's potential. The way we eliminated Kitzbühel, who had become Austrian champions, in the quarterfinals in four games, showed the full quality of our players."