Two-time defending champion Red Bull Salzburg is back in the finals after a dramatic victory over the Bolzano Foxes
Red Bull Salzburg defeated the Bolzano Foxes 3-2 in overtime to win Game 7 of the ICEHL semifinals and advance to the finals, where it will face KAC Klagenfurt.
Tied 1-1 after two periods, the teams traded goals 1:23 apart with less than nine minutes to play. Italian national team winger Luca Frigo briefly gave Bolzano its only lead of the game when he fired a shot under the crossbar from a sharp angle, but former Colorado Avalanche prospect Troy Bourke converted Tyler Lewington’s pass to tie it back up with just 6:55 remaining in regulation time.
Just 1:59 into overtime, a slapper from the slot by Danish national team forward Nicolai Meyer deflected off a Bolzano defender and into the net to send Salzburg to the finals.
“That was a tough series,” said Meyer. “Everyone did their bit again to win as a team. We played our game, moved smartly with the puck and were the better team. So the win was well deserved.”
Salzburg’s victory sets up a finals matchup against KAC Klagenfurt, who swept Pustertal Wölfe in the other semi. The series starts on Friday in Klagenfurt.
The upcoming finals are a matchup of the ICEHL’s two most successful teams in recent years, each claiming two titles in the last four competed seasons – there was no champion proclaimed in the COVID-terminated 2019-20 campaign. It’s also a matchup of the “O.G.” of Austrian hockey against “new money”. Klagenfurt has won 32 Austrian titles – the first way back in 1934 – while Salzburg is slowly gaining ground and is now up to 10 – all in the 21st Century. Salzburg’s hockey club was founded in 1977 but rose to prominence after Red Bull became its title sponsor in 2000.
The semifinal win also qualifies Salzburg for a berth next season in the Champions Hockey League, joining Klagenfurt and Hungarian-based Fehérvár AV19 from the ICEHL.
The ICEHL is a 13-team multi-national league in Central Europe that grew out of the Austrian Hockey League, and the highest-ranked Austrian team at season’s end is still crowned national champion. Eight of its teams are based in Austria, three in Italy (including Bolzano), and one each in Hungary and Slovenia. In the past, clubs from Czechia, Slovakia and Croatia have also competed in the league.