The Wipptal Broncos have celebrated 28 times in the last five games. © Oskar Brunner

Interim conclusion | Everything is still possible in the AlpsHL

After a break of almost ten days in the Alps Hockey League, the first teams will be fighting for points again on Tuesday. SportNews is using the break to draw an interim conclusion and also looks ahead to the coming weeks in the cross-border championship.

16 December 2024

From: none

A lot has happened in the AlpsHL since the first break at the beginning of November. While some teams are getting better and better, others are struggling with their form and now urgently need to score points over the holidays in order to qualify for the master round.

From a South Tyrolean perspective, the Rittner Buam have the least to worry about. The team from Klobenstein is currently in third place and should qualify directly for the quarter-finals without any problems. However, the Buam are unlikely to be 3% satisfied, as they keep dropping valuable points, especially at home. While the Ritten Arena has always been a real fortress in the past, it has been taken over by opposing teams again and again this season. The clear defeat against the Wipptal Broncos (1:5) in particular confirms this change. If Ritten wants to play for the big coup in the end, the Buam must be more consistent at home.

The Rittner Buam are currently in third place. © Max Pattis

The Unterland Cavaliers are a little further behind in the rankings (8th) and are in the middle of the battle to get into the master round. They are currently seven points away from moving up to 6th place, but with two fewer games under their belt than their direct competitors, anything is still possible. In any case, the Cavaliers fans are getting their money's worth in this championship. No fewer than 13 games (68 percent) ended with just one goal difference. If this trend continues, a few more fingernails will probably be lost.

The Broncos are in the fast lane

The northernmost team in South Tyrol has made incredible progress. The Wipptal Broncos have really turned things up since the last break and have been in the fast lane for a few weeks. The wild horses are now in 9th place, directly behind the Cavs. The offense was particularly impressive and so Eisendle & Co. scored an impressive 28 goals in the last five matches. Reaching the master round no longer seems utopian. If the blue-whites continue to act in this way, they will go even further up and the top 6 could even be possible.

Things are not going so well for the two teams from Merano and Val Gardena. Both the spa town and the Ladin team have been in a form crisis in the last week and are at the bottom of the table. The HCM has already reacted and fired coach Jarrod Skalde. In the meantime, Christian Borgatello will be in charge of Merano. The HC Gherdëina, on the other hand, has signed a striker in Emil Oksanen. Recently, the HCG also showed interest in Matteo Luisetti, but he ultimately moved to Aosta in the IHL. If both teams do not find the right solution, the season for Merano and Val Gardena could end sooner than later.

The HCG would like to give up the red lantern © Studio Kostner

As already mentioned, the championship will continue on Tuesday. Below we offer an overview of the matches of the five South Tyrolean teams in the Alps Hockey League and those in the Italian Hockey League.

AlpsHL, the games of the week

Tuesday 17 December
EC Bregenzerwald - HC Gröden (19.30)
Zell am See - Merano (19.30)
Unterland - Jesenice (20.00)

Thursday December 19th
Jesenice - Val Gardena (19.00)
Wipptal - Zell am See (20.00)
Unterland - Kitzbühel (20.00 p.m.)
Cortina - Ritten (20.30)
Merano - Bregenzerwald (20.30)

Saturday, 21. December
Sisak - Wipptal (18.30)
Kitzbühel - Ritten (19.30)

Sunday, 22. December
Celje - Ritten (18.00)
Val Gardena - Merano (20.30

IHL, the encounters of the week

Thursday December 19th
Kaltern - Brixen (20.30)
Fassa - Eppan (20.30)

Saturday, 21. December
Brixen - Eppan (18.00 p.m.)
Como - Three Peaks Dolomites (18.00)
Feltre - Kaltern (19.30)