Continental Cup: These are the opponents of the Rittner Buam

Rittner Buam (ITA)

Ritten is one of the oldest ice hockey clubs in Italy and took part in the national championship as early as 1929. Today the “Buam” play their home games in the 2.000 spectator “Arena Ritten” in Klobenstein.

At the beginning of the 1980s, the club was still playing in Serie C. Ritten then remained in the second division until the 2000/01 season, when the team achieved promotion to Serie A1. In 2006, the “Buam” reached the final of the Serie A playoffs for the first time, where they lost 0-3 to HC Milano Vipers. Ritten also reached the final in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2015, but lost twice against HC Bozen and twice against Asiago. In April 2014, President Thomas Rottensteiner's club won Serie A for the first time. The master coach was Rob Wilson. This success has been repeated in the last two seasons, this time under the leadership of Finnish head coach Riku-Petteri Lehtonen.

The “Buam” are building on continuity again this year and confirmed almost the entire championship team. Only defender Fabian Ebner, backup goalie Roland Fink and Latvian attacker Janis Sprukts left the team, but Lehtonen has the returnees Andreas Lutz and Brad Cole at his disposal. The 31-year-old Lutz from Meran returned to the “Buam” after five seasons in Pontebba, four in Milan and two years in Asiago, where he was already under contract in the 2005/06 season. After nine months, Cole also returned to Klobenstein, where he will strengthen the Rittner for the rest of the season. Ritten has also signed two other top players: Canadian defender Bratton Stamler and American striker Kyle Jean.

10 titles for the “Buam”

The club won its first national title with the Supercup in 2009, when Bozen was defeated. The following year the “Buam” repeated their victory against Asiago. In mid-October this year, Lehtonen's team brought home their third Supercup when they clearly won the final against Milan with 8-3 goals. Ritten has also won the Italian Cup three times: in 2010, 2014 and 2015. The “Buam” were also crowned champions in the historic first season of the Alps Hockey League. In the final series they clearly brought long-time rivals Asiago to their knees with a 4-1 win. This was also the first international title in the history of the Rittner club.

Ritten is taking part in the Continental Cup for the third time this year, for the second time in a row. The third round took place in Klobenstein last year. Ritten made it into the super final, which took place again on Ritten in mid-January. The “Buam” lost the last, decisive game against the English champions Nottingham Panthers 1:4. With this defeat, the Rittners' dream of becoming the first Italian team to win the Continental Cup was dashed. In the end, Lehtonen's team had to settle for fourth place.

Nomad Astana (KAZ)

Nomad Astana is a very young club, as it was only founded ten years ago and has been taking part in the Kazakh championship since the 2013/14 season. Astana plays at the “Kazakhstan Sports Palace” in the capital Astana, which has a population of 875.000. In the first three KHC seasons, Astana always failed in the quarter-finals, and last year the club became Kazakh champions for the first time. In the final they defeated their neighbors from Temirtau and this year they are competing in the Continental Cup for the first time.

18 Kazakhs and 15 Russians in the team

The team has been coached by Yuri Mikhailis for four seasons. In addition to 18 Kazakhs, the team also includes 15 Russians. Twelve players even have KHL experience. The team's most famous player is 30-year-old Kazakh-Russian defender Artemi Lakiza with his 124 KHL games. Kazakh wing Yaroslav Yevdokimov, on the other hand, has the most points in the Astana uniform, with 142 scorer points (138 goals, 62 assists) in 76 championship appearances. The Kazakhs also have a very young team; with an average age of 22,64 years, they are the youngest team in Group E.

Grenoble Bruleurs de Loups (FRA)

Grenoble can look back on a great tradition. The club was founded in 1963 and plays in the “Patinoire Pôle Sud” in the city of Grenoble in southeastern France, which has a population of 160.000. The top club has won the French Ligue Magnus six times, most recently in 2009. The club also won the “Coupe de France” and “Coupe de la Ligue” four times each. Last year, Grenoble was eliminated in the semi-finals of the playoffs after finishing second in the regular season.

The 37-year-old assistant coach of the Slovenian national team, Edo Terglav, has been the French head coach for three seasons now. The squad includes 18 local players, six Canadians, two Slovenians, one Finn and one Czech. The crowd's favorite since this year has been 36-year-old striker Alexandre Giroux, who has 105 NHL appearances in addition to 47 KHL games. In the 16 games played so far, he has already achieved an impressive 18 points (10 goals and 8 assists).

Seven years ago in the final of the Continental Cup

This is Grenoble's seventh participation in the Continental Cup. In 2010, the French were in the Super Final as they hosted the final. Here they took fourth place, the victory went to the Austrian EBEL representative Red Bull Salzburg.

DVTK Jegesmedvek Miskolc (HUN)

The Hungarian club DTVK Jegesmedvek Miskolc was founded in 1978. The “Polar Bears” play their home games in the Ice Arena in Miskolc, a city with around 170.000 inhabitants. Jegesmedvek takes part in the Hungarian-Romanian MOL League.

Jegesmedvek Miskolc has dominated the league in recent years. The traditional club recently won three championship titles in a row, and in 2015 they even won the treble in addition to their first historic championship success. The Hungarians won the double in each of the last two seasons. This year too, things are going according to plan for Jegesmedvek, in the league they comfortably lead the table after 10 match days (9 wins, 1 defeat).

Hungarian Adrian Toth is the star of the team

Jegesmedvek Miskolc has been coached by 54-year-old Swede Mikael Tisell since the start of the season. The star of the team is Adrian Toth, who is only 26 years old. The Hungarian international striker is the most successful player in the club's history with a total of 244 scorer points (114 goals scored and 130 assists). Toth has been playing for the national team since 2010, and at club level he gained experience with the EBEL representative Fehervar.

The Hungarian Jànos Vas, however, has joined the team this year. The 94-time national player moved from Fehervar to the MOL league in the summer. In addition to 17 local heroes, the club also has eight foreigners. Three come from Finland: Jakko Leppänen (scored 2016 goals and 17 assists as a defender in the 9-31 season), Anssi Rantanen and Rasmus Kulmala. There are also three Romanians and two Canadians.

The Hungarian champions qualified for the third round in Klobenstein as winners of Group C. Miskolc won all three games very confidently. At the start they beat the Hungarians against the Spaniards from San Sebastian 5-0, then they defeated Zvezda Belgrade 4-1 and finally the Romanian hosts Corona Brasov 3-0. The Hungarians had previously failed three times in the second round.

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Continental Cup: These are the opponents of the Rittner Buam

From Friday to Sunday, four teams will fight in the Arena Ritten in Klobenstein for a place in the final round of the Continental Cup. Here we introduce the participants in detail.

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