The Falcons Brixen have had a difficult season. © Falcons Brixen / Social Media

Review | With the red lantern into the summer break

The 2024/25 season was not an easy one for the Falcons Brixen. The Eisacktal team finished the championship in last place in the Qualification Round. SportNews, together with the president of the Falcons, Alex Gusella, takes a look back at the past.

28. February 2025

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The Falcons Brixen are known for sending a very young team into the race every year. This is due, among other things, to the farm team agreement with the Wipptal Broncos (AlpsHL) and the HC Pustertal (ICEHL). After the U19s, many players move to the Falcons to gain their first experience in adult hockey. If some of them manage to prove themselves or make it in the IHL, the next step is to the Wipptal Broncos. This means that the roster of the cathedral city team changes practically every year and new young players keep slipping into the team.

At the moment, the average age of the squad is a tender 19,36 years. "We want to continue to play with many young players in the future. That is our club philosophy and we will not change it. It would be nice to put some more experienced players at the side of the young wild ones so that they can learn even more," said President Alex Gusella when asked by SportNews.

Damian Leitner & Co. had a tough time. © Social Media / AIHG

Since the focus in Brixen is on promoting talent, sporting success falls by the wayside. Since the 2019/20 season, the South Tyroleans have not made it into the Master Round and have always had to make do with the lower places. The low point came this season, which they finished in last place for the first time.

Defensively too weak

It was already clear after just a few games that the battle for the red lantern would be a duel between Brixen and Como. Brixen had to wait until the seventh matchday before they managed to score their first three points at home against Como (7:2). This was followed by three more wins in the regular season, which the Falcons finished in 3th place. In the intermediate round, the team from the Eisack Valley only managed one more win (12:2 at home against Como) from 0 games. In keeping with the botched championship, Nicholas Pezzetta & Co. lost the second-to-last place in the table on the last matchday of all days against their direct opponents from Lombardy.

Alex Gusella (right in the picture) was also able to take some positive things from the season © Social Media

Although the Falcons' offense was not brilliant (89 goals), the Falcons' defense was often the team's weakness. In 36 games, Brixen conceded an impressive 209 goals (5,80 per game). Nevertheless, there were also positive developments. 18-year-old Marco Niccolai scored a total of 13 goals and 8 assists, and was thus involved in 24 percent of all goals.

Gusella commented on the sporting performance as follows: "Of course we are not satisfied with the results and want to improve in this regard, but we were still able to offer many players maximum ice time - including in the power play and when shorthanded."