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The white and red celebrate in a sea of ​​black and yellow flags: Bolzano won perhaps the most memorable derby of all time. © 2024,Vanna Antonello

Bolzano's derby miracle: "After the 0:4 there were already stupid sayings"

Sensation, madness, miracle: Whatever you want to call it, HC Bozen achieved something with its incredible comeback in the derby against Pustertal that won't happen again any time soon. The HCB captain then gave us an insight into his emotional world.

From:
Thomas Debelyak

Daniel Frank strokes his curly hair in the mixed zone at the Intercable Arena. He looks down briefly. Thinker pose. “Hmm,” he finally says. “I've been here for a long time now. But I can’t remember winning after being 0-4 down.”


The HCB captain's analysis of what happened in the two and a half hours before seems surprisingly sober. Frank and his Bolzano entourage would have had every reason to jump to the ceiling for joy. In the derby against HC Pustertal, in the game that captivates ice hockey South Tyrol more than any other match, HC Bozen has one there Celebrated a victory that will probably be talked about for many years to come.

Luca Frigo (right) scored for Bozen to make it 2:4. © Ivan Foppa


After 22 minutes, the HCB was 0-4 behind against its arch-rivals from Bruneck in this match, which is so important for the table. A white and red debacle loomed as the 2900 Puster fans got in the mood for a black and yellow party. Nobody in the wolf pack could or wanted to believe that this game would take a crazy turn. The Pusterers acted too calmly, the lead was too big, the Foxes presented themselves too shaky. But then the Talferstädter suddenly flipped the switch, started the comeback of the year and won 5:4 after extra time.
“I still believed in our chance even after the 0-4 defeat.” Daniel frank

“Pustertal put us under pressure right away and just did things cold at the front. We were unlucky, and Andy (Bernard, Pustertal's goalie, editor's note) did a great job. I wouldn't have thought that it would be 0:4 so quickly," said Frank, who added with a grin: "I heard stupid sayings from some of my colleagues on the Puster team on the ice. Something like that is part of it, and it also gives you an extra boost. I have to say, I believed in our chance even after being so far behind, because the way we played wasn't 0-4 like.”

Players storm onto the ice, fans go wild

Brad McClure's 1-4 goal at the end of the middle third created a spark that turned into a blazing fire in the final period. Bozen seized the momentum, could no longer be held, felt that their opponents were losing self-confidence from minute to minute - and caught up goal by goal. When Josh Teves made it 5:4 in extra time after a pass from the outstanding Brad McClure, all of Bolzano's cracks stormed onto the ice - and many a fan who had traveled with him bared in the stands.

Bolzano's captain Daniel Frank (left) and Pustertal's Matthias Mantinger before the start of the match. © Ivan Foppa


Derby or not – Daniel Frank knows what was the most important thing that evening. "The points! And we need these two points very urgently because we definitely want to stay at the top.” In this case, the top is the top 6, i.e. the direct playoff places. With the overtime victory over Pustertal, the Foxes have taken a good step towards this goal, although the Wolves still have a chance of moving straight into the postseason in the remaining three games. The field is extremely close together. That's why Frank says at the end: "The joy today is of course huge, but we won't celebrate until we have the top 6 under our belts."

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