Daniel Gellon and HCM celebrated three victories in Asiago.

Coup in Asiago: Merano makes a furious start to the quarter-finals

What a surprise! HC Meran pulled off a major upset in Asiago in their very first Alps Hockey League playoff game. Meanwhile, the Wipptal Broncos let a wild duel against the reigning champions slip away.

March 10, 2026

From: alexander.foppa

HC Meran achieved a celebrated and well-deserved victory in Asiago. The tenth-placed team from the spa town defeated the fourth-placed team, led by their undisputed league top scorer Ryan Valentini, by a score of 4-2. The approximately 1.300 Asiago fans were stunned.

Meran started the game with high pressure, forcing Asiago into errors from the outset. The Eagles' aggressive play paid off as early as the third minute: Noah Frick played a long pass forward to Daniel Gellon, who was lurking at the blue line. Gellon beat two defenders and immediately fired a shot. The shot surprised former HCM goalie Rudy Rigoni and slipped through his pads into the net.

Merano as icy cold as the ice

Merano continued to apply pressure. Bolzano's loanee Enrico Larcher hit the post at one point, but midway through the game, the black and whites finally scored their second goal: Filip Cruseman deflected a shot from Reid Stefanson, deflecting the puck decisively.

Asiago briefly tied the game at 2-2 with a quickfire double at the start of the final period, but another impressive combination between Stefanson and Cruseman put Meran back in the lead – and this time for good! In the final seconds, Nick Rein added an empty-net goal to give the visitors a 4-2 victory and secure home-ice advantage in the series.

Wipptal can dream for a long time

The Wipptal Broncos also put on a really strong performance – at least for two-thirds of the game. After leading for a long time away against the reigning champions from Zell am See in front of almost 2.000 fans, they ultimately suffered a crushing 1-4 defeat.

In a wild game marked by fights and rough play, Connor Sanvido provided the first highlight. The Broncos forward put the visitors ahead 1-0 in the 6th minute. The Broncos then managed their lead skillfully – and whenever anything did get through to their own net, the at times outstanding Dominik Groh was there to make the save. He wasn't beaten until the halfway point of the game, when Kilian Rappold put him in the lead.

Zell am See and Wipptal engaged in a hard-fought battle.

Then events unfolded rapidly: First, Paul Eisendle and Gabriel Nitz, along with two Zell players, were sent to the penalty box after a fight. Then, in the final period, two more players from the home team and Wipptal's Fabian Gschlisser received a 2+2 penalty. The champions capitalized on this and took the lead for the first time on the power play through Christian Jennes. In the remaining ten minutes, Alexander Lahoda and Tim Coffman extended the lead to 4-1.

The third South Tyrolean quarterfinalist, HC Gröden, doesn't start their playoff campaign until Wednesday (7:15 p.m.) with their first away game against Salzburg's second team. Incidentally, more than 1.200 spectators were in attendance at each of the three opening games on Tuesday. That whets the appetite for more!

Quarter-final results, match 1:

KHL Sisak – SG Cortina 2:1
Goals: 1-0 Larionovs (12.14), 2-0 Dumcius (25.17), 2-1 Stoffling (35.12)
Audience: 1.543
Standing in the best-of-7 series: 1:0

EK Zell am See – Wipptal Broncos 4:1
Goals: 0:1 Sanvido (05.29), 1:1 Rappold (30.46), 2:1 Jennes (48.22), 3:1 Lahoda (51.42), 4:1 Coffman (57.49)
Audience: 1.908
Standing in the best-of-7 series: 1:0

HC Asiago – HC Meran 2:4
Goals: 0:1 Gellon (02.40), 0:2 Cruseman (29.41), 1:2 Porco (43.48), 2:2 Porco (47.33), 2:3 Stefanson (48.51), 2:4 Rein (58.53)
Audience: 1.270
Standings in the best-of-7 series: 0:1

Wednesday, 19.15 p.m
Red Bull Juniors - HC Gherdina