Red Bull Salzburg has repeated as champion of Austria and the ICEHL after winning game seven on the road 6-2 over KAC Klagenfurt. It is Salzburg’s 13th national title and 11th league title since the club’s founding in 1990.
“It was such a close series,” said captain and playoff MVP Thomas Raffl. “The full distance in the semi-final and now in the final. That saps your strength and then you play against a team like Klagenfurt. Respect to the KAC, who were the best team in the regular season and gave us an incredible final series at eye level.”
Danish national team player Nicolai Mayer scored two goals in the decisive victory. He joined Salzburg late in the regular season from IF Björklöven in Sweden and recorded five points in the final four games, and then 11 points in 19 playoff games.
Raffl continued: “There are so many emotions now, as we played with an incredible team performance after losing the last game in Salzburg and today we deserved to win with a display of resilience. It just feels incredible!”
Both Salzburg and Klagenfurt had already qualified for next season’s Champions Hockey League from the ICEL along with Fehérvár AV19 from Hungary. Salzburg reached the semifinals of the European club championship in 2018-19.