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The Foxes were once again thrashed by Olimpija Ljubljana. © Vanna Antonello
That's it! HC Bozen is eliminated
The mighty HC Bozen has suffered one of the greatest humiliations in its recent history: The Foxes are going on vacation after just five playoff games. The manner of their failure is devastating.
March 19, 2026
From the Sparkasse Arena in Bolzano
From:
Alexander Foppa
It's all over! HCB Südtirol Alperia suffered a crushing 1-4 defeat in their own arena on Thursday evening, thus also losing the quarterfinal series against Olimpija Ljubljana 1-4. The 3.200 fans in the Eiswelle arena were devastated.
The fans' message before the game was clear and unambiguous: "Show some balls or game over," read a large banner. But someone apparently missed the point. The Foxes completely slept through the opening period and only slowly began to fight back against elimination. Then, they fought vehemently, but ultimately unsuccessfully.
Bolzano's furious onslaught, fielding the same lineup as in their recent game in Slovenia, was capped by Cristiano DiGiacinto's goal, which erased the 1-0 deficit. It ended a 137-minute scoring drought for the South Tyroleans. While they pressed for the win in the final period, Ljubljana struck ruthlessly – and repeatedly.
Failing like that hurts.
Being eliminated in the quarterfinals is no disgrace, not even for HC Bolzano. However, the manner of their defeat is devastating. While HCB has always been a team that excelled in the playoffs, this time everything was different: With the start of the postseason, all their killer instinct suddenly vanished. This was compounded by countless defensive blunders and an inexplicable carelessness. And it was the same on Thursday.This is how Bolzano's last performance went
| A goal conceded was entirely predictable. | Ljubljana had the better chances early on. First, Mahkovec hit the post, and Harvey stopped Meyer's breakaway. But then the puck was in the net: Petan spotted Mahkovec, who fired a shot from the slot that found the corner of the net (13th minute). Brennan then hit the woodwork twice. |
| Bolzano, finally! | The Foxes finally snapped out of their lethargy of the past game and a half. Suddenly, they were swirling around like they'd been stung by a tarantula, creating chance after chance. But the puck just wouldn't go in. Gersich, Gazley, McClure, Gildon – they all failed to beat the outstanding goaltender Tokarski and their own shortcomings. |
| There it is, the gate | At the start of the final period, the long-awaited equalizer finally came: Mantenuto passed the puck behind the net to Frigo, who perfectly set up the wide-open DiGiacinto. The Italian-Canadian fired the puck into the back of the net (45th minute). Shortly afterward, Schneider even came close to making it 2-1. |
| Samuelsson, my God | Easy come, easy go. Bolzano finally scores, then concedes again. Samuelsson makes a needless run forward, opening up a lot of space behind him. Boychuk takes advantage, firing the puck into the top corner – 1-2 (52nd minute). |
| Now it's going to get bitter | Although HCB tried to rally, there was nothing more to be gained. On the contrary, Mahkovec (59th minute) and Boychuk (60th minute) further increased the score with two empty-net goals. |
After the game, there was initially a barrage of whistles and boos; only when the fans in the stands began chanting again did the rest of the stands offer a round of applause. The loudest cheers, however, were reserved for Olimpija forward Ziga Pance. He had led HCB to the championship in 2014. A moment that, for every Bolzano fan that evening, must have felt more distant than ever before.
HCB Südtirol Alperia – HK Olimpija Ljubljana 1-4
HSBC: Harvey (Vallini); Gildon-Seed, Samuelsson-Valentine, Miglioranzi-Barberio, Larcher; Schneider-Bradley-McClure, Pollock-Gersich-Gazley, DiGiacinto-Mantenuto-Frigo, Brunner-Misley-Frank, Gennaro.Coach: Shedden
Olympia: Tokarski (Kolin); Cosic-Brennan, McNeill-Halbert, MacWilliam-Gregorc, Crnovic; Meyer-Boychuk-Mehle, Sabolic-Petan-Mahkovec, Pance-Quince-Kapel, Bohinc-Bericic-Bukovec.
Coach: Cooper
Gates: 0:1 Marcel Mahkovec (12.04), 1:1 Cristiano DiGiacinto (44.44), 1:2 Zach Boychuk (51.11), 1:3 Marcel Mahkovec (58.58), 1:4 Zach Boychuk (59.42)
Viewers: 3.190
Final standings best-of-7 series: 1:4
The other ICE quarter-final matches:
Klagenfurter AC – Fehérvár AV 8:3Goals: 1-0 Mursak (0:19), 1-1 Cheek (2:57), 2-1 Schwinger (5:18), 2-2 Archibald (10:21), 3-2 Jensen Aabo (15:03), 3-3 Hari (18:50), 4-3 Nickl (20:24), 5-3 From (22:40), 6-3 Petersen (29:03), 7-3 Obersteiner (35:50), 8-3 Petersen (54:08)
Audience: 4.400
Best of 7 series: 2:1
EC Salzburg – HC Pustertal
Best-of-7 series: 0:4 – Pustertal in the semi-finals
Graz 99ers – Villacher SV
Best-of-7 series: 4:0 – Graz in the semi-finals
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