Dieter Knoll: “Now it’s our turn”

For months, the club's headquarters on Galvani Street have been busy working on the team structure for next season. Knoll and head coach Tom Pokel were in contact with hundreds of players and advisors, extended five expiring working papers and signed three new players. The club management wants to report further enforcement soon. “With our budget we cannot compete with other clubs. In early summer, players sometimes demand horrendous salaries," says Knoll, describing the situation. "Now that most clubs in the top European leagues have their squad together, the prices are falling again. Now we also have the chance to land well-known players - without putting too much strain on our wallets.”

The defense is a concern

According to Knoll, the HCB already has several “big fish” on the hook, but the search for a defender has so far been unsuccessful. One possible candidate was David Makowski, who recently signed with league rivals from Fehervar. “We cannot offer a player like Makowski, who has never played in Europe before, an annual salary of 40.000 euros. We won't take part in that. We must continue to be patient when it comes to the defense question. The market doesn't offer much here at the moment. On the offensive, however, we are spoiled for choice. We will be announcing further new signings in the next few weeks.”

“Bernard must be convinced by Bolzano”

In addition to crowd favorite Nick Palmieri, Bozen has so far confirmed captain Alexander Egger, Marco Insam, Markus Gander and Daniel Frank. The future of Anton Bernard and Hannes Oberdörfer is still unclear. Bernard still has a valid contract, but is aiming for a move to Ritten. “Anton has to be convinced that he will stay in Bolzano, otherwise it doesn’t make sense. If he were to actually change clubs, the only option for us would be a swap deal and I don't see much leeway here with Ritten, for example." Oberdörfer, on the other hand, could fall victim to the EBEL's strict points regulations. The 27-year-old defender will score 2,5 points for the HCB next season. “He plays an important role both on and off the ice. That's why we want to keep him. However, if we don't find a young Italo defender who won't put a strain on our points account, we will unfortunately have to reconsider Oberdörfer's position,” said Knoll.

Frigo is coming, but Caffi isn't

HC Bozen will increase its contingent of Italian squad players with former Valpellice striker Luca Frigo. All that remains to be clarified is the final bureaucratic details. Meanwhile, Alex Caffi is no longer an option as a backup, said Knoll. “If Caffi moves back to Italy, we would have to pay some kind of compensation to his parent club Cortina. We are not ready for that.”

The HCB management team is still looking for two goalies. This is where Knoll could land the really big transfer coup. “The possible candidates also include Jaroslav Hübl, who has delivered excellent performances here, but we are currently in contact with three other goalkeepers. They are well-known players who I would never have thought would be able to play in Bolzano. However, our salary expectations are still far apart,” concludes Knoll. In any case, he seems determined to present one or two well-known players to the fans in this transfer window.

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Dieter Knoll: “Now it’s our turn”

At HC Bozen, the squad for the upcoming EBEL season will be completed in the next few weeks. In an interview with SportNews.bz, managing director Dieter Knoll rejects even the slightest criticism of the HCB's transfer activities and explains the current lull in the player market.

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