Simon Bourque scored a brace against Innsbruck. © HCI/Georgios Papacostantis

The last hurdle before the derby

Before the big derby showdown, South Tyrol's ICE teams have important tasks to complete on Friday evening. While the Foxes, as league leaders, face the Pioneers Vorarlberg, the Wolves are fighting for more important points at home against Innsbruck.

02 January 2025

From: do

On Sunday, all of South Tyrol's ice hockey fans will once again be looking to the state capital, where HCB Südtirol and HC Pustertal will fight for important points in the derby. But before this season highlight, both teams have one last hurdle to overcome on Friday evening in order to position themselves optimally for the duel with their rivals.

Things could hardly be going better for the Foxes. The white-reds are leading the ICE Hockey League table after 32 games and have won all of their last three matches. Even if the most recent games were not decided with total superiority, the Talferstädter always impressed with an indomitable fighting spirit and that certain "something" that enables the team to win even close games time and again.

The Bozen team will also be the favorites to face the Pioneers Vorarlberg on Friday at 19:45 p.m. in the Sparkasse Arena. The guests lost their most recent duel with the HC Pustertal, but showed significant improvements beforehand and will probably not give away any points lightly in the fight for the pre-playoff spots. Nevertheless, the HCB is the clear favorite against the eleventh-placed team, also because the Füchse have won all three duels against the Vorarlberg team so far this season.

Pustertal's positive trend

In the Pustertal valley, the mood among ice hockey fans is much more positive again. After a difficult phase in November, December brought a pleasing upturn, which the Wolves were able to confirm with two recent victories against direct competitors from Asiago and Vorarlberg. On Friday evening (19:45 p.m.) the HCP Innsbruck will host an opponent in the Intercable Arena against whom they should also gain points.

Tyler Coulter scored against Asiago. © Social Media

The Sharks have had a difficult season so far. The North Tyroleans are bottom of the league and have been waiting for a win for five games. A look at the previous duels between these two teams this season also speaks in favor of the Pusterer team: the HCP has clearly won its previous encounters against its rivals from North Tyrol with 4:1 and 5:1.

ICE Hockey League

Friday
EC KAC — Black Wings Linz (19:15)
EC Red Bull Salzburg — Vienna Capitals (19:15)
Fehérvár AV19 — HK Olimpija Ljubljana (19:15)
Asiago Hockey — EC VSV (19:45)
HC Pustertal — HC Innsbruck (19:45 p.m.)
HCB Südtirol — Pioneers Vorarlberg (19:45)