Patrick Madsen (left) decides the derby. © Max Pattis

Of all people, a former Meran resident makes Ritten rejoice

The Rittner Buam won the Alps Hockey League derby against HC Meran on Saturday evening. A former Adler, of all people, played a decisive role.

18 October 2025

From: dl

The Rittner Buam have also won their third derby in five days. Against Merano There was a late 3-2 victory. The visitors had been leading 2-0. The win puts Ritten firmly at the top of the table. Merano, which was without Christopher Frederiksen and Jakob Fuchs on Saturday, suffered its fifth defeat of the season in nine matches.

Five seconds before the end of the double power play, Nick Rein gave Merano the lead after 13 minutes when he beat Colin Furlong with a hidden shot. Just over three minutes into the middle period, Ritten conceded its second goal on a counterattack. Rein fed David Trivellato, who fired into the empty net from close range.

Andy Bernard & Co. held their own against Ritten for a long time. © Max Pattis

The home team continued to push for a goal, and were rewarded after a good half hour. The indomitable Andy Bernard parried a shot from Fink, but Meran's No. 1 was powerless to stop Manuel Öhler's rebound. It wasn't until the final stages that MacQueen's team finally broke the deadlock. It took another power play to do this. Diego Cuglietta fed Welychka from behind the net, who beat Bernard with a precise shot into the far corner (55:04).

Less than three minutes later, Patrick Madsen gave the home side their first lead, poking the puck over the line from close range. It was a former Merano player who decided the derby: Madsen had made 49 impressive appearances for the Passerstadt team last year. That's why the Ritten team took notice of the 32-year-old Danish defenseman in the summer.

Clear defeats for Sterzing and Val Gardena

After nine days without a game, the Wipptal Broncos (without Alex Planatscher) suffered a 4-1 defeat against Red Bull Salzburg's reserve team on Saturday evening. Maxim Eliseev scored a hat trick for the current league leaders. Salzburg had already beaten EC Bregenzerwald 5-1 at home on Friday.

The Wipptal Broncos lost to Salzburg 2. © Oskar Brunner

After a strong start to the season, HC Val Gardena However, things got a bit rocky. The 5-1 away defeat against Jesenice was the Ladins' third consecutive defeat. With their third consecutive win, Jesenice climbed further up the table. The runners-up from Slovenia had a lousy start to the season.

AlpsHL: Saturday's games

Rittner Buam – HC Meran 3:2
0:1 Rein (13.01), 0:2 Trivellato (23.06), 1:2 Öhler (31.30), 2:2 Welychka (55.04), 3:2 Madsen (57.52)
Audience: 520

HDD Jesenice – HC Val Gardena 5:1
1:0 Bohinc (03.52), 1:1 Schiavone (22.39), 2:1 Adrovic (27.17), 3:1 Pecnik (29.40), 4:1 Svetina (37.40), 5:1 Jenko (51.26)

Wipptal Broncos – Red Bull Hockey Juniors 1:4
0:1 Maul (05.25), 1:1 Conci (14.26), 1:2 Eliseev (28.29), 1:3 Eliseev (35.15), 1:4 Eliseev (45.18)
Audience: 423

Adler Kitzbühel – Cortina Hafro (19.30 pm)

Zeller Eisbären – EC Bregenzerwald (7:30 p.m.)

HC Asiago – KHL Sisak (20 p.m.)