He is a symbol of HC Pustertal: JC Lipon. © Iwan Foppa / HC Pustertal

The man with the bloody face: This is how Pustertal's bad boy ticks

Five playoff games, five wins: HC Pustertal is unstoppable in the ICE Hockey League. One star player really blossoms in the postseason – and causes a stir with a bloodied face, but also with a touching story.

March 31, 2026

There are those iconic sports photos that you don't even need to see to visualize them. Diego Maradona and his Hand of God goal is one of them. Muhammad Ali, bent over his defeated opponent and wildly celebrating, is another. When HC Falkensteiner Pustertal looks back on its fairytale season in a few weeks, there will also be a photo that has already achieved iconic status. The star of the snapshot by Wolves photographer Iwan Foppa: JC Lipon.

Pustertal's bad boy, Pustertal's tough guy, Pustertal's new darling of many fans, collided with heavyweight Dennis Robertson in the second overtime of the decisive quarterfinal against Red Bull Salzburg. Lipon suffered a deep cut above his left eye. With blood smeared on his face, he ran off the ice, received four stitches from the doctors ("there wasn't time for more"), and returned to the ring. An image that describes the mentality, the resilience, the will of the Wolves better than any combination of letters ever could.

"I was a little shocked myself when I saw that." JC Lipon

“I have to be honest: When I took a closer look at the wound the next day, I was slightly shocked. It was awfully close to my eye,” Lipon said in an interview with SportNews —and smiles mischievously. “This is ice hockey, this is the playoffs, this is the best time of the year,” he adds, also smiling mischievously.

He once had another great hobby

Toughness, fearlessness, fighting spirit. These are the attributes that lured HC Pustertal away from the Straubing Tigers in the summer and brought the forward on board. These are the attributes that have distinguished Lipon throughout his entire hockey career. And these are the attributes that took him all the way to the pinnacle of ice hockey, namely the NHL, where the Canadian played nine games for the Winnipeg Jets.

A picture from days gone by: JC Lipon as a wakeboarder.

It wasn't always clear that Lipon would pursue a professional ice hockey career. During his childhood and adolescence, the man from Regina in central Canada was not only an enthusiastic hockey player but also a talented wakeboarder. Wakeboarding is an action-packed water sport where you stand on a board and are pulled across the water, gliding over waves and performing tricks in the air. "In my age group, I won the Canadian title and finished eighth at the World Championships," Lipon said.

Tragic loss of cousin

In the end, however, his heart belonged to ice hockey. And it wasn't long before Lipon experienced his first major highlight. In 2013, he was the only undrafted player selected to represent Canada at the U20 World Championship. In Ufa, Russia, JC was the 13th forward – alternating in that role with a certain Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon was then a rough diamond; today, the Colorado Avalanche forward is considered one of the best in the world.

January 18, 2016: JC Lipon (right) makes his NHL debut with the Winnipeg Jets. © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / MARIANNE HELM

There's a sad reason why Lipon became the player he is today. "I was 15 when my cousin Todd Davison died of cancer. He was also a hockey player, and a very good one at that. While not the biggest physically, he played incredibly hard and relentlessly. I always looked up to him. After his untimely death, I knew I had to work even harder and more seriously." Lipon explains that things came full circle a few years later. "My cousin Todd was from Winnipeg, and I was drafted by that team. At the time, I lived with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Michelle, who treated me like a son."

More than 100 boxing matches already

For a long time, Lipon wore his late cousin's number 34 in his memory. He did so even during his early professional years, when the Puster Valley forward was feared by his opponents. In one season in the American Hockey League, the ice hockey virtuoso racked up a staggering 163 penalty minutes. "Back then, I had between ten and fifteen boxing matches per season," says Lipon, who has to think and calculate briefly before answering the next question with a soft laugh: "In my entire life, I've been involved in more than 100 fistfights. I don't know how many I've won. But I always tried to pick on a big guy; then it's not so bad if you're the first one down."

JC Lipon is also the proud father of little Colt Jameson.

It is precisely this courage, this fearlessness, this touch of roguishness that characterizes Lipon and his handicap. On Sunday The Wolves started their semi-final campaign against Olimpija Ljubljana with a victory. on Tuesday (from 7:15 pm/SportNews(Live ticker) hopes for a second triumph in Slovenia. And perhaps, just perhaps, Lipon's photo with his blood-covered face will ultimately only land in second place among the most iconic images. A snapshot with the Karl Nedwed Trophy in hand – that would probably be unbeatable.

ICE Hockey League, Semifinal 2 (Best-of-Seven)

Tuesday, 19.15 p.m
Olimpija Ljubljana – HC Pustertal
Score in the series: 0:1

Fehervar AV19 – Graz99ers
Score in the series: 0:1