HCB: 6th place doesn't have to be a utopia

At the beginning of December the situation seemed hopeless: the HCB was far behind in last place in the table and the club management had to take action. The hapless coach Pat Curcio was replaced by Kai Suikkanen, who initiated a significant turnaround after a few games.

Already more points under Suikkanen than under Curcio In the 23 games with Pat Curcio on the boards, the Foxes won exactly the same number of points, i.e. 23. Under the leadership of Kai Suikkanen, 25 points have already been achieved - in just 15 games.

What both coaches have in common is the fact that the vast majority of HCB's defeats were by just one goal difference. Under Curcio, the “Füchse” lost 16 games, 9 of them by one goal difference; Under Suikkanen there have been 6 defeats so far, 4 of them by the minimum margin. This detail means that HCB has a significantly better goal difference than its neighbors in the table.

Zagreb match is extremely important If HCB Südtirol wants to achieve the coveted 6th place, then the next home game on Friday is crucial. Opponent Zagreb is currently sixth in the table and has 7 points more than HCB. With a 3-point win in regular time, the deficit would shrink to 4 points.

Should actually be again on Friday Assist specialist Austin Smith is part of the HCB squad , this would certainly be another plus point in the ice wave.

The fact that Zagreb still has a game to catch up on is only of relative importance in the fight for 6th place, as there probably won't be many points against leaders Vienna Capitals.

Bolzano's remaining calendar gives hope Speaking of Vienna: The HCB has to play against the Capitals twice in its remaining 6 games, including on Sunday in front of their home crowd. Apart from these two difficult games, the points tally in the other 4 games should be high, because the opponents, in addition to Zagreb, are twice bottom-placed Znojmo on the last matchday, Graz.

The other contenders for 6th place certainly don't have an easier remaining program ahead of them, as the following overview shows. Unlike the HCB, they all meet the other playoff contenders Linz, Salzburg, KAC and Innsbruck at least once.

Ebel remaining program basic round in the fight for 6th place

6. Zagreb 55 points HCB South Tyrol/A Innsbruck/H Vienna Capitals/A Znojmo/H Vienna Capitals/H (addendum) Fehervar/A Znojmo/A

7. Dornbirn 50 points Znojmo/A Linz/A Graz/H Fehervar/H Klagenfurt/A Klagenfurt/H

8. Fehervar 50 pts Graz/A Klagenfurt/H Salzburg/A Dornbirn/A Zagreb/H Salzburg/H

9. Graz 49 pts Fehervar/H Znojmo/H Dornbirn/A Salzburg/A Salzburg/H HCB South Tyrol/H

10. HCB Südtirol 48 p.te Zagreb/H Vienna Capitals/H Znojmo/A Vienna Capitals/A Znojmo/H Graz/A

11. Villacher SV 44 P.te Linz/A Salzburg/H Linz/H Innsbruck/A Vienna Capitals/H Vienna Capitals/A

12. Znojmo 43 P.te Dornbirn/H Graz/A HCB South Tyrol/H Zagreb/A HCB South Tyrol/A Zagreb/H

H= home game, A= away game

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HCB: 6th place doesn't have to be a utopia

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