Dream start: This HCB is stronger than Corona

914 spectators spread out across 7200 seats at a safe distance, stewards constantly pointing out the requirement to wear masks, an almost empty fan curve and rhythmic clapping as cheers from the stands. All of this may have left a scary impression on the usual stadium-goers in Bolzano, but not on the 16 HCB cracks on the ice. They conjured up an impressive performance and brought the previously unbeaten Innsbruck team to their knees 6-1. Gazley and Fournier point out The Foxes' performance was remarkable for several reasons: Firstly, because not only was the starting goalkeeper Leland Irving missing, but also five strikers in Mike Halmo, Marco Insam, Brett Findlay, Ivan Deluca and Domenic Alberga. In addition to these players who tested positive for Covid-19 last week, the latest defensive signing Ben Youds was also unavailable.

The performance was also remarkable because six different players entered the scorers' lists, which is symbolic of the balanced, strong performance of all three lines. In fact, everyone from Bozen was able to convince that evening, from the new additions Dustin Gazley and Gleason Fournier to the supposed additional players such as backup Justin Fazio or the courageous Simon Pitschieler.

The spectators strictly adhered to the safety requirements. © DLife/Groppo

Already in the first minutes of the game it became clear: The Foxes are really keen on ice hockey! With incredible speed and fine passing, they immediately took the edge off Innsburck. The result? The 1-0 by Dustin Gazley, who put the second attempt into the goal completely unmarked. For the former Salzburg player it was only the first of a total of three scorer points that evening. Guest striker Felix Girard was able to equalize just a short time later, but the HCB avalanche could no longer be stopped. Before the break, assistant captain Daniel Frank and the extremely agile Fournier increased the score to 3-1.

The same pace continued in the second third: Stefano Giliati scored in the power play to make it 4-1. Since the puck bounced off a teammate's skate, HCI goalie Thomas McCollum was not at fault in this scene. However, the Tyroleans' new addition made anything but a good impression that evening. An example of this: Dan Catenacci made it 5-1 at the beginning of the final third when he pushed the puck through the goalkeeper's leg pads after a Gazley shot. After the sixth goal by Anton Bernard, who also used a rebound, McCollum made way for Rene Swette. Fan party in front of the ice wave The back-up, like the rest of the Innsbruck backline, had a lot of trouble with the eager Bolzano strikers, but he was able to keep his box clean in the final quarter of an hour. But this probably didn't bother anyone in the stands. The people of Bolzano were accompanied by thunderous applause and chants from the ice. At this point, one or two fans may have felt transported back to the atmospheric pre-Corona times in the ice wave.

By the way, it was atmospheric long after the end of the game in front of the gates of the ice stadium in the south of Bolzano, where the Ultras stayed for the 60 minutes. In return, the players dressed in T-shirts and shorts went out into the pouring rain and were celebrated by their supporters with chants and Bengali fire for this great start. HCB Südtirol Alperia – HC TWK Innsbruck 6:1 HSBC: Fazio (Tava); Robertson-Plastino, Fournier-Tauferer, Gios-Di Perna; Giliati-Catenacci-Bardaro, Frank-Bernard-Gazley, Frigo-Pitschieler, Miceli Coach: Ireland

HCI: McCollum (from 42.55 Swette), Danielsen-Lattner, Racine-Clarke-Saucerman, Wetzelsberger-Jaunegg; Sideroff-Girard-Gerlach, Mr. Winkler-Ciampini, Mader-Kromp-Paulweber, Hochfilzer-Muigg-Jennes Coach: Jonah Gates: 1-0 Dustin Gazley (4.21), 1-1 Felix Girard (10.04), 2-1 Daniel Frank (16.23), 3-1 Gleason Fournier (17.30), 4-1 Stefano Giliati (31.22), 5-1 Dan Catenacci (41.04), Anton Bernard (42.54)

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On Saturday morning you will find a picture gallery with the best impressions of the ice hockey restart in the ice wave! The other results from Friday: Vienna – Linz 5:3 Goals: 1:0 Campbell (2.20), 1:1 Lebler (21.09), 2:1 Campbell (34.34), 2:2 Lebler (35.06), 3:2 Hackl (35.49), 3:3 Pusnik (48.36), 4:3 Gauthier Leduc (51.51), 5:3 Loney (53.53) Audience: 1500

Graz-Dornbirn 1:2 Goals: 0:1 Fröwis (2.33), 1:1 Oleksuk (16.22), 1:2 Schwinger (26.18) Audience: 807

Fehervar – Klagenfurt 1:4 Goals: 0:1 Petersen (19.44), 1:1 Erdely (29.18), 1:2 Petersen (45.17), 1:3 Petersen (54.44), 1:4 Petersen (57.34) Audience: 1418 The table: SP G U V TV P 1. Vienna Capitals 2 2 0 0 12:5 6 2. Linz 3 2 0 1 9:6 6 3. Klagenfurt 3 2 0 1 8:6 6 4. Innsbruck 3 2 0 1 9:10 6 5. Salzburg 1 1 0 0 6:1 3 5. HCB South Tyrol 1 1 0 0 6:1 3 7. Graz99ers 3 1 0 2 7:8 3 8. Dornbirn 3 1 0 2 4:8 3 9. Bratislava 1 0 0 1 2:7 0 10. Fehervar 2 0 0 2 5:10 0 11. Villach 2 0 0 2 4:10 0

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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Dream start: This HCB is stronger than Corona

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