The Foxes stumble, but don't fall

In the home game against the latecomers from the Draustadt, HCB coach Kai Suikkanen sent Massimo Carozza and Tobias Brighenti to the stands and left Ivan Deluca on the bench; former Rittner Blaine Down had to pass for the guests. The 2.130 spectators in the ice wave probably hadn't even noticed the lack of these cracks, as HC Bozen was already leading 1-0. Angelo Miceli stole the ball from the VSV defense after 70 seconds and played to Marco Insam, who held out the ladle and made it 1-0. Ten spectacular minutes followed in which the Foxes literally outplayed their opponents.

Villach hits back hard Villach needed something, but then found the right answer: with lots of little nods, the Carinthians upset HC Bozen and lived up to their reputation as the “bad boys” of the league (an average of 16,5 penalty minutes per game). From then on, both teams wore themselves out in duels against the boards, with the petty referees whistling contributing to the game becoming increasingly disjointed and uneventful.

It wasn't until halfway through the game that things became more entertaining again - at least for the two dozen fans from Villach who had traveled with us. They were able to celebrate the equalizer in the 33rd minute by Brandon Alderson, who scored after a cross pass from Markus Schlacher. Less than six minutes later, the target hit the net again, but the goal from ex-Bolzano player Jerry Pollastrone was canceled due to goalkeeper interference. Then it was the Foxes' turn: Alex Petan passed it off to Markus Nordlund, who hammered the puck onto the goal post. Blunden becomes the match winner However, since this was one of the few crystal-clear chances, the spectators must have asked themselves in the final third at the latest: What about Bozen's parade block? Findlay, Blunden and Catenacci were never in the picture – until two minutes before the end! Then the Foxes' exceptional talent came into action: Brett Findlay saw the completely free Mike Blunden in the power play, who scored from close range and shot the HCB to a late victory.

The next league game is scheduled for Sunday in the Eiswelle, when last year's final opponent from Salzburg will be in Bozen. HCB Südtirol Alperia – EC Panaceo VSV 2:1 (1:0, 0:1, 1:0) HSBC: Irving (Smith); Nordlund-MacKenzie, Geiger-Campbell, Glira-Marchetti; Catenacci-Findlay-Blunden, Miceli-Crescenzi-Insam, Frigo-Kuparinen-Petan, Schweitzer-Bernard-Frank Coach: Suikkanen

VSV: Bakala (Schluderbacher); Fraser-Schlacher, Bacher-DeSantis, Wolf-Pelech, Winkler; Pollastrone-Sharp-Brunner, Alderson-Trivino-Lahoda, Lanzinger-Maxa-Kromp, Petrik, Wohlfahrt Coach: Unterluggauer

Gates: 1:0 Marco Insam (1.11), 1:1 Brandon Alderson (32.16), 2:1 Mike Blunden (57.54)

Viewers: 2.130 The other results from Friday: EHC Liwest Black Wings Linz - KHL Medvescak Zagreb 5:4 Goals: 0:1 Olden (6.40), 0:2 Sylvestre (9.52), 0:3 Sylvestre (22.07), 1:3 Schofield (34.48), 2:3 Rutkowski (39.25), 3:3 Rutkowski (42.49), 4:3 D'Aversa (56.24), 5:3 DaSilva (58.45), 5:4 Samuels-Thomas (59.59) Audience: 4.550

Moser Medical Graz 99ers - HC TWK Innsbruck 4:3 Goals: 0:1 Koper (10.06), 1:1 Weihager (14.06), 2:1 Oberkofler (32.51), 3:1 Yellow Horn (39.39), 3:2 Ross (47.37), 3:3 Lindner (50.58) , 4:3 Loney (53.12) Audience: 2.929

Klagenfurter AC - Spusu Vienna Capitals 7:2 Goals: 0:1 Vause (6.32), 1:1 Harand (17.03), 1:2 Fischer (22.05), 2:2 Hundredppound (42.06), 3:2 Petersen (45.57), 4:2 Bischofberger (47.43), 5:2 Kraus (51.41), 6:2 Wahl (52.21), 7:2 Gartner (53.05) Audience: 4.225

HC Orli Znojmo - Fehervar AV 19 4:3 Goals: 1:0 Mrazek (7.04), 1:1 Erdely (15.42), 1:2 Hari (24.57), 2:2 Matus (30.39), 2:3 Stipsicz (34.56), 3:3 Mrazek (38.38), 4:3 Braes (51.04) Audience: 2.526

EC Red Bull Salzburg - Dornbirn Bulldogs 4:3 Goals: 1:0 Schiechl (4.52), 2:0 Huber (6.46), 3:0 Trattnig (23.07), 3:1 Wolf (28.45), 3:2 Connelly (36.25), 3:3 Trotter (58.51), 4:3 Duncan (59.09) Audience: 2.491 The table: SP G U V TV P 1. Vienna Capitals 13 12 0 1 47:28 35 2. Graz99ers 13 10 0 3 53:38 28 3. HCB South Tyrol 13 9 0 4 36:23 27 4. Salzburg 13 8 0 5 54:37 24 5. Klagenfurt 12 7 0 5 35:24 21 6. Linz 13 5 0 8 32:40 17 7. Innsbruck 13 5 0 8 47:54 15 8. Fehervar 13 5 0 8 42:55 14 9. KHL Zagreb 12 4 0 8 29:45 13 10. Dornbirn 13 4 0 9 35:38 13 11. Villach 13 5 0 8 30:40 12 12. Znojmo 13 3 0 10 32:50 12

ICE Regular Season ICE	SP	TV	P
1. Klagenfurt	47	183:101	102
2. Fehervar	46	146:126	89
3. Salzburg	46	142:107	87
4. HCB South Tyrol	46	137:125	76
5. Linz	46	146:116	75
6. Villach	46	155:136	74
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The Foxes stumble, but don't fall

HCB Südtirol Alperia has returned to winning ways! The Foxes fought tough Villach at home late, but deservedly lost 2-1.

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