The “evergreen” breathes new life into Pustertal

At 36 years old, Rick Schofield is the oldest player in the HC Pustertal squad. And yet: When the going gets tough, when responsibility needs to be taken, when the cart needs to be pulled out of the mud - then Schofield is there. The center, who was missing for a long time this season due to an injury, led the Wolves to a 4-1 win in Innsbruck on Sunday, thanks to which the Pusterers are very close to the playoff zone again.

Schofield was successful with a brace in the six-point match against his neighbors in the table, although his goal to make it 3-1 could play a very important role. Pustertal had to serve five minutes of being outnumbered, but that's exactly when Schofield scored after a rebound and led the Wolves to victory in this delicate moment.

Things got tough between Innsbruck and Pustertal. © HCI / Georgios Papaconstantis

After two embarrassing defeats recently (3:6 in Asiago, 1:7 against Klagenfurt), the HCP is back on the road to success. And the performance of the team, which had to do without Alex Petan, also gives the Wolves fans hope. The effort was exemplary, goalie Andy Bernard exuded a lot of confidence, the defense took Innsbruck's top scorer Kevin Roy out of the game and Jason Akeson & Co. acted callously in front of the goal. In short: Pustertal was much hungrier than Innsbruck.

Playoffs just a blink of an eye away A look at the table shows that it was a good evening for the HCP: The top 6 – i.e. the direct playoff places – are within reach. Pustertal is level on points with sixth-placed Villach, just one point behind fifth-placed Linz and three behind HC Bozen in fourth place. They lost at home to the Vorarlberg Pioneers on Sunday. But the wolves also have one more match under their belt. The best scenes Goal instead of assist Mikael Frycklund storms towards the Innsbruck goal in a two-on-ice situation. Instead of passing to Dan Catenacci, the Swede does it alone - and scores to make it 1-0! Everything was done right (12.). Cracker There's a lot of power here: Jason Akeson takes the shot in the slot and hammers the disc into the net to make it 2-0 (26th). The next goal was just as powerful: Jan Lattner passed it back to Gordon Green, who gave Andy Bernard no chance with a slapshot (35'). Outnumbered After Innsbruck's goal, Pustertal's Christian Kasastul was provoked and forced to hit him with a stick - a match penalty! The Wolves also have to overcome being outnumbered for five minutes - and score with one man less! Veteran Rick Schofield pushes a rebound into the net and the score is 3-1 (36th). Him again Who if not him: Rick Schofield makes it 4-1 and makes the preliminary decision (46th). Now the ICE Hockey League is taking a short break. It continues on Tuesday, February 13th - with the fourth derby between Pustertal and Bolzano. There will be a lot at stake in the Intercable Arena, because the Foxes also have to worry about the playoffs after Sunday's defeat against Vorarlberg.

HC Innsbruck – HC Pustertal 1:4 HCI: Buitenhuis (Gratzer); Albano-Steffler, Jakubitzka-Halbert, Kerber-Krogsgaard, Schintler; Green-Mackin-Winkler, Roy-Rockwood-Peeters, Bär-Ulmer-Lattner, Ludin-Mader-Ploner Coach: O'Keefe

HCP: Bernard (Rabanser); Stanton-Messner, Kasastul-Ege, Glira-Atwal, Althuber; Hannoun-Frycklund-Catenacci, Morley-Schofield-Akeson, Deluca-Andergassen-Mantinger, Berger Coach: Vuorinen

Gates: Mikael Frycklund (11.36), 0:2 Jason Akeson (25.56), 1:2 Gordon Green (34.24), 1:3 Rick Schofield (35.54), 1:4 Rick Schofield (45.22)

Viewers: 2.700

The other games HC Bozen – Pioneers Vorarlberg 2:4 (click here for the report) Goals: 0:1 Macierzynski (12.39), 0:2 Pastujov (13.58), 0:3 Bull (22.17), 0:4 Metzler (30.16), 1:4 Frigo (38.20), 2:4 Thomas (56.30) Vienna Capitals – Black Wings Linz 2:1 Goals: 1:0 Cheek (30.05), 1:1 St-Amant (33.58), 2:1 Cheek (58.57) Audience: 4.890

EC KAC – Villacher SV 6:1 Goals: 0:1 Richter (15.21), 1:1 Hundredppound (21.23), 2:1 Fraser (24.54), 3:1 Vallant (26.29), 4:1 Petersen (50.36), 5:1 Bischofberger (51.14), 6:1 Hochegger (57.02) Audience: 4.407

Asiago Hockey – Red Bull Salzburg 2:3 nP Goals: 1:0 Stevan (6.52), 2:0 Finoro (39.33), 2:1 Bourke (45.12), 2:2 Thaler (53.59). Decisive penalty: Wukovits (65.00) Audience: 1.668

SP G U V TV P 1. EC Klagenfurt 44 30 0 14 168:97 93 2. Fehervar 43 28 0 15 140:117 85 3. EC Salzburg 44 28 0 16 133:103 82 4. HCB South Tyrol 43 25 0 18 122:110 71 5. Linz 43 22 0 21 138:111 69 6. EC Villach 43 23 0 20 143:129 68 7. HC Innsbruck 43 23 0 20 123:123 68 8. HC Pustertal 44 23 0 21 130:127 68 9. Olimpija Ljubljana 43 21 0 22 134:132 62 10. Vorarlberg 44 20 0 24 142:141 60 11. Vienna Capitals 44 16 0 28 109:158 48 12. Asiago Hockey 43 12 0 31 110:174 40 13. Graz99ers 43 11 0 32 83:153 32

	SP	TV	P
1. Ilves Tampere	6	24:7	18
2. KalPa Kuopio	6	24:8	17
3. Frölunda Gothenburg	6	21:11	15
4. Sparta Prague	6	18:9	14
5. Lukko Rauma	6	21:14	13
6. ERC Ingolstadt	6	23:15	12
View all

	SP	TV	P
1. EC Klagenfurt	43	153:103	91
2. Graz99ers	42	141:90	87
3. EC Salzburg	44	148:96	84
4. HCB South Tyrol	43	153:115	80
5. Olimpija Ljubljana	43	162:123	77
6. HC Pustertal	43	145:120	75
View all

tennis

hockey

Winter sports

football

Italy

International leagues

International

Learn More

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Favorites

The “evergreen” breathes new life into Pustertal

The Puster fan hearts have had to endure a lot in the last few days. But now the Wolves are back in business - also thanks to their “oldie”, who led the black and yellow to a vital victory in Innsbruck on Sunday.

Comments (0)